“Nobody ever brings anything small into a bar.”
Those wistful words, made famous by Jimmy Stewart in the film “Harvey,” are often quoted by devotees of venerable neighborhood taverns.
Atkins Park, which celebrates its 90th anniversary with a Prohibition themed dinner Feb. 29 and a Prohibition themed party March 8, is one of those kind of places.
The Virginia Highland bar and restaurant claims to be Atlanta’s oldest continuously licensed tavern. And if the walls could talk, they’d have plenty to say about what’s gone on there since it opened as Atkins Park deli in 1922.
Warren Bruno, who took over in 1983, is the founder of Atkins Park Tavern Restaurant Group, which nowadays includes Atkins Park Tavern in Smyrna and Ormsby’s on Atlanta’s west side.
“Over 30 years, the neighborhood and community have gone through a lot of changes,” Bruno said while sitting in a booth at Atkins Park one recent afternoon. “Honestly, it was a little seedy back then.”
Bruno remembers the TV repair shop that sold moonshine. And the alley (now Atkins Park’s patio) that would be scattered with empty bottles of cheap fortified wine.
“The clientele has obviously changed a lot over time, too,” Bruno said. “But the antics of some of the old regulars are things you always remember.”
“When I bought the place, there was an old fellow named Mr. Nass who owned a shoe store. My first day, he came in with his lunch pail and pulled out a dirty old glass. He put it up on the bar and pointed to a tap. I poured him a beer and he shoved a quarter at me. I said, ‘That will be a dollar.’ But he just waved at me. That was the way it was every day after that. He made his own rules.”
Bruno also remembers the day his daughter turned 21 and decided she wanted to mark the occasion by dancing on the bar and singing Bohemian Rhapsody. “So she did,” Bruno said.
Bruno, who is 63, came to Atlanta in 1971 and found work as a bartender at St. Pepper’s in Underground Atlanta and later the Playboy Club.
“I found my love,” Bruno said. “And I’ve just really loved it ever since.”
Bruno’s first Atlanta bar was Aunt Charley’s in Buckhead, which he bought in 1975 and sold in 1994. After that, he bought and sold many more popular gathering places, including Knickerbockers downtown, Groundhog Tavern in Underground Atlanta, Mike ’n Angelo’s in Buckhead, and Phoenix Brewing Company in Sandy Springs. But Atkins Park remains special.
“I think the theme of all of them, and especially here at Atkins Park, is a love of the business,” Bruno said. “If you gather other people who love it, too, you’ll survive. Some really great people have worked here. I feel like the guy in the front seat of the roller coaster. ‘Am I really driving? Am I having all the fun?’ ”
The 90th anniversary Prohibition party promises lots of speakeasy-style fun, with a special prohibition menu from chef Andrew Smith, live music by Blair Crimmins & The Hookers, who’ll play 1920s jazz, ragtime and blues, and a 1920s costume contest.
The anniversary is a big deal for Bruno, but at the same time he's dealing with something much bigger. For the past two years, he’s been battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and undergoing several rounds of chemotherapy, sadly, without much success.
Somehow, though, he remains upbeat.
“I’ve probably got one more bite of the apple,” Bruno said flashing a broad smile. “But a lot of people step off a curb and die. I’ve had two years of farewell parties. I’ve had two years to get down to the essence of what’s important and spend time with my family and the people that are important. Except for going through the hell of chemo, it’s been a great time. It’s been a gift.”
Asked what he’ll wear to the anniversary party, Bruno didn’t hesitate. “A nice black tuxedo with tails,” he said. “Something to celebrate.”
Preview
Prohibition Party. 6 p.m. March 8. Free.
749 N. Highland Ave. 404-876-7249, www.atkinspark.com.
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