- ABOUT THIS BLOG
- Everyone has done it – you’re in a bar, looking for a scrap of paper to write a woman's name and phone number on, or just want to make a note to yourself so you don’t forget something. You grab a cocktail napkin.
- (In the TV series The West Wing, a political consultant decides that Jed Bartlet – played by Martin Sheen – should run for President. He takes a cocktail napkin and writes down the slogan, “Bartlet for America.”)
- I work in bars. Over the years, I’ve accumulated enough of my own cocktail-napkin notes to fill six liquor bottle boxes.
- Here are the people and stories that wound up in those notes -- real-life characters like Jackie Rabbit and Maude the Broad, the narcotics cops Paul and Sonny, mafia guys, some shameless tramps and one suicidal young man. You'll meet an old-time boxer who wants to take me into the gym to teach me his trade, and a woman who thinks God is on the stool next to her, urging her to have one more whiskey and ginger. It's life behind the taps.
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Check out the stories you’ve been missing in our Archives (below). And my sincere thanks to all of you who have visited here!
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Category Archives: Life on a Cocktail Napkin
GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST
Decorating the tree and finding a special gift . . . that‘s Christmas, right? Not entirely, at least not for bartenders. Remember the movie, It‘s a Wonderful Life? Jimmy Stewart struggles to find the true meaning of Christmas, and a … Continue reading
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A HOLIDAY THOUGHT
(This note is from Johnny D’s on Thanksgiving night.) Yup, Johnny D’s was open last Thursday. Johnny D’s is always open — Easter, Thanksgiving, even Christmas night. It’s a tradition that began when John and Tina DeLellis first opened the … Continue reading
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HOW I GOT MY NAME
A thought occurred as I was writing the last post. Someone out there reading about Free Beer, Joey Cigars, or Sal (no pizza!) — someone might read this blog and say, “Hey, I once knew a guy who met all … Continue reading
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JOHNNY D’S, HALLOWEEN 2010
(Here are some photos from the Johnny D’s party.) Booty Vortex was the perfect booking choice for Halloween Night at Johnny D’s. They’re a rocking disco/funk band — a bunch of great musicians having fun. (You can hear samples on … Continue reading
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DAVE
(This note is about one of our good friends at Johnny D’s) Dave is huge. He must be 6′ 7″, and more than three hundred and fifty pounds. I can’t imagine that he wasn’t a football player in college. He’s so … Continue reading
Posted in Life on a Cocktail Napkin
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