A toast to 50 years at Manuel's Tavern
Feisty founder's spirit still presides
Published on: 08/04/06
DEL.ICIO.USFeisty founder's spirit still presides
Published on: 08/04/06
Manuel has not left the building.
Two years after he died, Manuel Maloof still lords over the tavern he opened in 1956 in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta. An urn of his ashes occupies an honored spot behind the bar, beneath a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, within sight of the cash register.
 FRANK NIEMEIR/Staff | ||
| Manuel's Tavern, a landmark at North Highland and North avenues, draws a colorful mix of reporters, professors, writers, business people, lawyers and politicians, even a few of Republican leanings. Once a beer-and-sandwich joint, it's now a full-service eatery. | ||
 FRANK NIEMEIR/Staff | ||
| The ashes of Manuel's Tavern founder Manuel Maloof sit under a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt at the tavern, which marks its 50th anniverary this week. | ||
 FRANK NIEMEIR/Staff | ||
| Brian Maloof, Manuel's son (right), congratulates Bill Harrell of Atlanta on the birth of a son the day before. The bar is like a family for regulars, often touchy about changes. | ||
 BILLY SMITH II/Staff | ||
| Manuel Maloof ran Manuel's Tavern and DeKalb County with salty, outspoken flamboyance. | ||
 FRANK NIEMEIR/Staff | ||
| Manuel Maloof's son Brian (left) with longtime employees Bobby Agee (30 years), Pat Glass (30 years), Curtis McBride (39 years) and Bill McCloskey (34 years). | ||
 JOHN SPINK/Staff | ||
| Manuel Maloof looks out from his favorite booth at his tavern. The famed watering hole remains pretty much as Maloof left it. | ||
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"I couldn't think of a more appropriate resting place," says Brian Maloof, who literally and figuratively works in his father's shadow as owner of Atlanta's most storied watering hole.
Manuel's Tavern is celebrating its 50th birthday this week. In a city of constant change, where only a handful of bars and restaurants have survived half a century, the people at Manuel's thought their golden anniversary sounded like a fine excuse to hoist one for old time's sake. They're marking the occasion with a series of events — specials, trivia nights and the like — culminating in a reunion of longtime customers and former employees on Sunday.
While some have compared Manuel's to Cheers, the TV bar where everybody knows your name, the analogy falls short. Manuel's is more than a friendly neighborhood tavern. It's a juicy slice of local color, a repository of Atlanta history, the wellspring of one of the most improbable political careers this city has ever seen.
Manuel Maloof was one-of-a-kind, a gruff, big-hearted man with an operatic temperament and a firm belief in hard work and the Democratic Party. Always opinionated, he ran for public office in the 1970s and became DeKalb County's first chief executive officer. They named the county administration building for him.
He was widely known as the godfather of DeKalb Democrats, and his saloon became a must-stop for local candidates and presidential hopefuls from Hubert Humphrey on. Republicans have been known to cross the aisle and hit Manuel's, too. Gov. Sonny Perdue stops by occasionally for lunch.
Maloof saw his tavern as a beery community center along the lines of the British pubs he enjoyed when he was in the Army Air Force during World War II. Like those pubs, it attracts a following that cuts across classes and professsions, from cops and reporters to blue-collar workers and shaggy intellectuals.
Brian Maloof — at 39, the youngest of his eight children — looks after the shop these days. Sometimes he doesn't know whether he's running a tavern or curating a museum. "I'm in trouble if I change anything around here," he says.
When he tried a new brand of hot dogs a few years ago, he was peppered with angry e-mails and notes scrawled on napkins. One customer who had come in to watch the Braves complained that the frankfurter outrage "ruined the game for me."
When he moved a portrait of former Gov. Zell Miller from the barroom to make room for one of his father, Maloof heard from friends of both men. Millerites were offended by the switch. Manuel's pals pointed out that he hated his portrait. The affair ended up on Fox's "Hannity and Colmes," which interpreted the move as payback for Miller supporting President Bush.
Maloof shakes his head. "I was just trying to put up a portrait of my Dad."
He's the spitting image of his old man: same noble beak, same olive complexion, same skedaddling hairline. But he's much more low key. He prefers to deflect the anniversary attention to a posse of husky men who have worked at the tavern more than 30 years.
From beer to tea
Bobby Agee and Pat Glass started on the same day in 1976. Bill McCloskey began in 1972 and has hung around so long they named a hamburger for him. Curtis McBride started in 1967 — during the same month Brian Maloof was born — and remembers a time when all the tavern offered was beer, hot dogs and a few sandwiches.
"The biggest change we ever made," Glass says, "was when we started serving coffee and tea. Manuel always thought coffee and tea sippers were just taking up space where beer drinkers could be sitting."
Despite all their grousing, some of those beer drinkers have approved of the tavern's evolution toward a full-service bar and restaurant.
Pete Schoen, a computer specialist who's been going to Manuel's since 1968, applauds one change in particular. "I don't mind," he says, "that they started hiring pretty waitresses instead of just lumberjacks."
Living scrapbook
Manuel's isn't much to look at from the outside. The tavern occupies a row of stone-faced storefronts at the corner of North and North Highland avenues. The buildings date to the early 1900s and at various times housed a pharmacy, deli, bike shop, beauty salon and Piggly Wiggly grocery.
But the joint comes to life inside, where the barroom and four adjoining dining and banquet halls are practically barnacled with bric-a-brac and memorabilia. It's like a walk-in scrapbook; there's a tale behind everything.
The long bar in the main hall came from the Tip Top Billiard Parlor in downtown Atlanta. Manuel's father, a Lebanese Catholic immigrant, ran the place, which drew patrons from the Fulton Courthouse across the street, which is how Manuel got interested in politics.
The bicycle suspended in the backroom belonged to Tommy Maloof, Brian's older brother, who managed the place and was the heir apparent until he died before his time in 2001.
The brass plaques at the barstools memorialize beloved customers who have gone on to that great tavern in the sky. One of them, a tribute to a Georgia Tech English professor, reads:
Bud Foote
A Scholar, A Friend, A Regular.
1956-2005.
He wasn't born in 1956; that's just when he started coming to Manuel's.
The painting of the "nekkid lady" facing the bar was left years ago by a struggling young artist who couldn't pay his tab. He used his wife as a model. There's another, more seductive version next to the ranks of liquor bottles.
Even the stuff that doesn't seem to have a story has a story. Awhile back, Brian Maloof took down a photo of a bomber squadron that had no apparent significance to the tavern. He immediately heard from a customer whose father had flown planes like those in WW2. The photo went back up.
Many of the trappings at Manuel's have to do with politics, naturally. The walls are dense with images of Democratic leaders from Roosevelt to the Kennedys to Bill Clinton (who feasted on fettucini Alfredo when he visited during the '92 campaign). Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter like to stop in when they're down the street at the Carter Center.
A shift toward GOP
Now that Manuel has departed, perhaps it's time to disclose another sign of changing times at the tavern.
"We've heard that some of the boys in the family have Republican leanings," says writer Paul Hemphill, a regular for four decades. "We've heard that Brian might be one of them."
A Republican running Manuel's? Could it be?
"Dad didn't like some of the people I voted for," Maloof says. "But I promised him I'd keep my politics out of here. We're definitely a Democratic bar."
And customers won't let him forget it. During a political function a few years ago, he allowed John McCain supporters to set up shop along with other campaigns. A woman confronted Maloof in tears, asking how he could allow a Republican presidential candidate into his father's sanctum sanctorum.
Actually, at least one opposition president has haunted Manuel's for years. In the back corner of the nonsmoking dining room, a portrait of Herbert Hoover lurks in the shadows. He was allowed inside, presumably, because FDR whipped him so thoroughly in 1932.
Elections always have been special at Manuel's, says McCloskey, the veteran employee. Maloof always insisted that his help cast a ballot. In case they needed assistance, he sometimes handed them a piece of paper with candidates' names scribbled on it and instructed, "Here's who you vote for."
Did everyone fall in line with the boss?
McCloskey hesitates. "I don't think I should tell you," he says, "as long as his ashes are here."
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Comments
By AJC Staff
August 4, 2006 5:05 PM | Link to this
Do you have any memories of Manuel’s that you’d like to share?
By daniel p mcgarity
August 5, 2006 5:19 PM | Link to this
I found this dive to be dark,dank and sticky. I was afraid something would crawl out of the wood work and bite me.
By Talon
August 5, 2006 9:40 PM | Link to this
I was at Manuel’s when a guy took a shotgun and blew the top of his head off in the parking lot. It musta landed fifty feet away.
It was cool.
By Bill Howell
August 6, 2006 9:26 AM | Link to this
In 1965 Sears employed 12 local college students as drivers to help the students pay for college. Manuel gave us hotdogs and let us study or play cards at a special table. A light delivery day would find 3 or 4 large trucks in Manuel’s tiny parking lot. When customers complained about the lack of parking space Manuel would run us off and yell, “to never come back”, but he always winked and we always came back.
By itsme
August 7, 2006 6:24 AM | Link to this
My husband and I took my intern to Manuel’s to celebrate her 21st birthday. We sat two tables away from Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter. No admonitions could stop could stop my eager intern from going to say hello. The Carters were there alone and were so gracious. We sat with them for a few memorable moments and chatted.
By John Genins
August 7, 2006 10:53 AM | Link to this
I can Certiy that Manuel’s was THE place for KAs, most Emory Folks & such Movers and Shakers (and Moes & Joes) from 1957 when I first went there through 2002.
Thanks for the Memories !
By John Genins
August 7, 2006 10:54 AM | Link to this
I can Certify that Manuel’s was THE place for KAs, most Emory Folks & such Movers and Shakers (and Moes & Joes) from 1957 when I first went there through 2002.
Thanks for the Memories !
By Ziza
August 7, 2006 3:10 PM | Link to this
My husband and I went there regularly for a while, but found the servers in the back rooms so rude, we stopped going.
By Roy
August 7, 2006 4:03 PM | Link to this
Manuel’s was “our place” during my years at Tech, the mid 70’s. I am glad to see Curtis is still around. He served us many a pitcher. Roy
By Buddy
August 7, 2006 4:40 PM | Link to this
One of the interesting things about the origin of Manual’s Tavern is that DeKalb was dry as a bone in those days. As I understand it that is why it is located just over the county line. Nearest place for a Dekalb resident to go have a brew, democrat or otherwise. And that explains why a guy with a bar in Atlanta was the godfather of DeKalb politics.
By Test
August 7, 2006 5:17 PM | Link to this
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/shared-gen/ap/FinanceGeneral/StewartSettlement.html
By loyal patron
August 7, 2006 5:49 PM | Link to this
best chicken wings and patty melt in the city. it’s about as no frills a bar you’ll ever find. want trendy? this ain’t it. and i for one would have it no other way…
…and if you stuck to the seats (see above), no worries, it probably was your own pretentiousness oozing from you that was the culprit.
By GBH grad
August 7, 2006 7:26 PM | Link to this
I loved Manuel’s when I was a nursing student at Georgia Baptist in the mid-70’s. I went there on a blind date and met the man I wanted to spend my life with. He wanted to spend the rest of his with me - but we never wanted to at the same time!! But we spent many nights at the Tavern dreaming of what it would be like. Great memories…
By Richard Moore
August 7, 2006 8:12 PM | Link to this
I first went to Manuel’s in 1968 in the company of Morris Shelton of the Atlanta Journal. At the same table was Manuel, Paul Hemphill, then a columnist with the Journal, and Captain Max Cleland,back home from Walter Read Hospital recuperating from his loss of three limbs in Vietnam, plus a carpenter and an electrician. Manuel loved to mix and match politicians and journalists with regular folks. I always thought he lost more than he gained by running for office. He was a great outsider.
By Martin
August 7, 2006 8:32 PM | Link to this
Manual’s is a place for people who aren’t stuck up.
If you need a waiter who wears a lot of “flair” (see the movie Office Space if you know not of what I speak), then you don’t need to go to Manuals.
But if you have a group of real people that you want to have a few beers with, take them over to Manual’s. It’s the most non-BS drinking joint you will find in Atlanta.
By Tom Catron
August 7, 2006 9:52 PM | Link to this
The name of the artist was Charlie “Dean” Chapman, and the model was his girlfriend, not his wife. She later became my sister in law, and her name was Toni.
Why was Manual’s brother Robert not mentioned ?
My dad was drinking at Manual’s before it was Manual’s. We lived on Ponce de Leon in the 40’s, and I went to Highland Grammer School around the corner on N.Avenue. The name of that service station across the street, by the way, was Ray’s.
By Steve Ward
August 8, 2006 10:44 AM | Link to this
I’ll always remember the most quotable pieces of graffiti from the men’s restroom ( who can forget the restrooms back in the early 70’s?) ” Lassie kills chickens” was my favorite.The political comment from when Mr. Maloof was running for the DeKalb County commission is a classic ” Bob Guhl wears elevator shoes” was directed towards his opponent at the time.
By Joey
August 8, 2006 12:44 PM | Link to this
My former roommate Jan became Manuel’s daughter-in-law when she married Manuel’s son, John. Jan, if you’re out there get in touch with me!
By Reecie
August 8, 2006 12:50 PM | Link to this
MANUEL’S TAVERN is the best! Real Atlanta, and revered location of my lst beer in public…still has the waiter I flirted with over 20 years ago. That’s a plus.
By Frank Owen
August 8, 2006 1:15 PM | Link to this
Manuel’s Tavern!!!!
A place wherw everybody knows your name. I was a patron of this fine BAR(legally) from’66 to ‘71. What I remember most is that during the Holidays Manuel would have his patron apperciation days. A masive buffett of ham,turkey and all the trimmings,no charge. The only reason I was not a bar fly after 71 is that I was transfered to Charlotte then.
By Amy
August 8, 2006 1:58 PM | Link to this
Manuel’s is like Cheer’s in real life. Everyone is really friendly and they remember you and what you like to order. (Maybe I go there too much!) It’s the place to go when you just want a beer and hang out with your friends, not worry about picking someone up or it being a meat market. Congratulations!!
By Cynthia
August 8, 2006 3:46 PM | Link to this
I love Manuel’s. It is so down to earth yet charming and fun. I am proud to have a place like this in Atlanta and am happy that Manuel’s spirit gets to be there all the time. I’m sure he enjoys that. :)
By Lucky
August 8, 2006 8:07 PM | Link to this
As great as the tavern was, and is, it would never have been the same without the “quiet strength” of Manuel’s brother Robert! He was the one who kept the home fires burning during Manuel’s political years. He was the one who was always behind the scenes while Manuel had a very successful political life. Please do not forget this hard working, dedicated, but quiet brother of Manuel’s who is as much responsible for this landmark’s success as anyone.
By Marshall S. Williams
August 8, 2006 10:50 PM | Link to this
1964: Fresh out of the Army. Stopped by Manuel’s with a friend for a beer. Went to UGA went to Manuel’s; went to Emory Law went to Manuel’s; went to work at Williams Bros went to Manuel’s; and, so on and on. Miss Tommy miss Manuel. Brian: do not f*** up. McCloskey, you didn’t know I was ahead of you, did you? Manuel used to say to me,”you old son of a b***, where have you been? Found me a place in the mountains?” Manuel, you now have your own, up there with God, to watch over us.
By Mimi
August 9, 2006 12:30 PM | Link to this
HELLO??? Where in the article is there any mention of Robert Maloof? Anytime I was in the tavern, it was Robert who was holding down the fort! How could he have been ignored throughout the entire article? Unbelievable!
By Jackie
January 8, 2009 10:43 PM | Link to this
I have really enjoyed this trip down memory lane. My parents were regulars at the Tavern from the late fifties till they died. Perhaps some of you might remember Mary and Wilson.
Yes, Robert was definitely an important person, very much in charge. I remember Bill and Pat very well also. Everyone at the bar was so good to my parents, but then, that’s what Manuels was, a caring place.
By propecia
May 27, 2009 11:29 AM | Link to this
Incredible site!