Manuel’s Tavern is proudly Democrat and has been since its founder, Manuel Maloof, opened the doors in 1956.
Brian Maloof, the youngest son who took over when Manuel died in 2004, remembers watching Reagan defeat Carter from the tavern in 1980, when he was 13. “That was a big deal,” he said. “Carter was a friend of my father’s and that hurt. The loss was heartfelt.”
Come Nov. 8, Maloof and hundreds of politicos and neighbor folks will pack Manuel’s— and a host of other Atlanta locales — to watch the presidential election results trickle in.
At Manuel’s, Maloof said he imagines the emotions will be running high from the outset of the evening at his bar Tuesday night. He jokes that they “won’t be screening” for registered Democrats, but the audience will be primarily blue.
“It’s the largest clash of differences of opinions that I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “I remember watching the presidential debates of years past and there were always a few points they agreed on. But these two don’t agree on anything.”
Neither, says Maloof, do their supporters. “Those that buy in to either candidate, they’re buying in hard,” he said. “It is very, very emotional.”
Maloof notes that unlike his father, a prominent DeKalb politician, he is not a political person. But he’s been following 2016 politics closely, getting some of his information from recent tavern visits from Bill Clinton stumping for Hillary and Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jim Barksdale “coming around for lunch a couple of times,” he said.
“There have also been a lot of discussions at the bar about the state’s ability to take over failing schools, so I’m sure that vote will be watched closely.”
As for the outcome of the presidential election, Maloof has hopes. “But I honestly have no idea who will win,” he said.
Angelo Fuster, a family friend, longtime Manuel’s patron and local media relations and public affairs consultant, expects an air of cautious optimism at the tavern election night. “And lots of people,” he said. “We had viewers wall to wall for all three debates. And we were overfilled in 2012 and 2008, probably 400 or 500 people each night.”
While the nation waits to find out, Maloof and his staff will be serving food and drinks to the Democratic faithful Nov. 8. “If the results get tight, we’ll start selling more hard liquor than beer,” he said.
He laughs at the thought of a vendor who tried to sell Manuel’s on serving a “Bad Hombre” margarita using some of the vendor’s ingredients. “I don’t think we’ll be selling any of those,” Maloof said.
Instead, he says he anticipates “business as usual. Election night will be just like any other really busy night at Manuel’s.”
Along with Manuel’s, Atlantans of any political stripe can head to these places to bite their nails during the election results in good company:
Manuel’s Tavern
Weather permitting, the Democratic bastion of a neighborhood tavern will expand into the parking lots behind the building with tables and chairs, a 20-foot projection screen and audio to blast out the election results. They’ll serve like it’s any busy night, including full food and liquor menus with 30 beers on tap and 60 in the bottle, both craft and traditional. 602 N Highland Ave. N.E. 404-525-3447
Red: AMC Avenue Forsyth 12
Blue: AMC Southlake Pavilion 24
Watch the election results at an AMC theater starting at 7 p.m. AMC Theatres has teamed up with CNN to broadcast the election on the big screen at 50 theaters nationwide, including two in Atlanta. Viewing begins at 7 p.m. for AMC Stubs members and up to two guests each. Locally, AMC designated Avenue Forsyth 12 in Cumming as the “Red” theater for Republicans and Southlake Pavilion 24 in Morrow as “Blue” for Republicans (sorry, Libertarians) though people of all political persuasions are welcome at either theater.
AMC Avenue Forsyth 12, 350 Peachtree Parkway, Cumming. 770-781-0634; and AMC Southlake Pavilion 24,7065 Mount Zion Circle, Morrow. 770-473-0719
Woof’s Atlanta
Woofs, which bills itself as “Atlanta’s only gay sports bar” is providing a comfy spot where voters can see which candidate will get in position to “change things” on same-sex marriage laws. All are welcome to the bar for $5 burgers and 75-cent wings on election night, along with its 27 TVs and full menu. 2425 Piedmont Road NE. 404-869-9422, woofsatlanta.com/
Atlanta Singles Social Networking
The Atlanta Singles meetup will socialize and eat a lot of comfort food at this multi-Meetup event open to supporters of all candidates, as long as they can stay civil. (And hey, what a great way to immediately sort out singles who don’t agree with you politically.) The event motto is “Come on out as long as you can take it.” 6:30 p.m., Hudson Grille, 6317 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. 404-554-8282
