It's 2 p.m. at the Buffet, and Harold "Ted" Bair is parked at the bar with his usual drink, a bottle of Harp. The 82-year-old laughs and jokes with Peggy Barclay, the longtime bartender known to everyone as Miss Peggy.
Bair is part of the afternoon scene at the dive, which one patron described as a "United Nations of different cultures." The Buffet crowd includes students, lawyers and graveyard-shift workers who stop by at 6 a.m. after work for a quick beer before going home to bed. A few Tucson bars, such as the Shanty and the Mint Cocktails, are older, but have moved at least once over the years.
The Buffet, originally called Lantern Buffet, opened nearly 75 years ago at 538 E. Ninth St. It has remained at its original location longer than any other bar in Tucson, Bair said. Decades worth of scrawled phrases on the walls and generations of patrons show its endurance.
But there's a big change under way. Bair sold the place in July after 26 years.
The new owners plan to turn it into an upscale nightclub with valet parking and a rooftop restaurant.
Not really.
Other than a lot of cleanup in the back rooms and a plan to remodel the bathrooms, the Buffet will remain the same. "If it's not broke, we're not fixing it," said Lisha Smith, one of the new owners.
Next steps
At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the City Council will vote on whether to recommend the transfer of the Buffet's liquor license from Bair to the new owners β Lisha Smith, her husband, Bill Davidson, and her mother, Marilyn Smith.
"I think the Buffet is part of the fabric of a very distinctive neighborhood," said Councilwoman Nina Trasoff. "It's kind of a funky neighborhood bar. It fits in the area."
"(Bair) has kept it going all these years in its own unique way, and now we have a younger spirit moving in."
The transfer will keep the bar in the Buffet family.
Lisha Smith, an accountant, has kept the Buffet's books since May 2001. Late last year, Bair started encouraging her to buy it.
"The first time Ted asked me to buy the bar, I said, 'Are you serious?' He gave me first rights of refusal," Smith said. "It's like, 'Why did he think of me?' "
Bair said the bar had been for sale for a while β unofficially. "Just to see what I could get for it," he said.
Despite the talk, the sale still surprised his daughter, Robin Dutt, 51. "I was sure he'd pass away in the bar. (Being there is) what he does for fun."
Dutt, who lives in Safford, visits her dad at least once a month.
"He always said to find something you enjoy doing and then work isn't work. I think that's what has kept him going so strong for so long," she said. "It's been a very good bar."
State records show the Buffet has had a dozen owners or part-owners over the years, but Bair has owned it the longest.
The bar is part of the Iron Horse Neighborhood Association, which is roughly bounded by East Eighth Street, North Euclid Avenue, North Fourth Avenue and East Broadway. One of Tucson's oldest neighborhoods, it includes structures that date back to the late 1800s.
"The neighborhood is really proud of the institution that is the Buffet," said Jeff DiGregorio, the association president. And he said he was impressed that the new owners attended the last neighborhood meeting, which he said showed commitment. "We welcome them," he said.
Mel Lee, who owns Empire Laundry, agreed. "They're nice people," he said of the new owners. "Ted is a good businessman."
Lee, 40, practically grew up on the block that includes the Buffet. His parents opened Empire Market more than 40 years ago, and the family opened the adjacent Laundromat in 1973. Lee said some of his customers will put in a load of laundry and step next door for a drink.
The Buffet has a couple of video games, a nicely appointed jukebox and some televisions. While a mostly J-shaped bar takes up much of the room, a regulation-size shuffleboard table is crammed to the right of the bar, and a pool table is to the left. It's so close to the wall players must use shortened cue sticks to play from some angles.
A day in the life
When Bair saunters into the bar most afternoons, he often sits next to Barclay, who opens the Buffet at 6 a.m. six days a week. Miss Peggy's only day off is Sunday.
"Ted made (the Buffet) what it is," she said. "He is a wonderful, wonderful man. He'd do anything for his employees."
Decades ago, Barclay, whose large dark sunglasses hide luminous green eyes, used to work at a Downtown bar on North Scott Avenue called The Dutchman.
"Ted found me. I've been with him ever since," said Barclay, 77, who has worked for Bair for 22 years.
The Michigan native, who enjoys Foster's beer in a glass with ice, talked about former Buffet patrons who graduated from the University of Arizona but come back to visit, including one who works for the Pentagon.
"They come down here every homecoming," she said. "They introduce me to their families."
She reminisced about how, years ago, late actor Lee Marvin would stop in "when he wanted to hide out and drink Jack Daniels."
Buffet patrons sing the praises of Miss Peggy, too.
"She's like a sister or our mother," said regular Richard Pasek. "She finds places for people to stay and jobs for people.
"It's a neighborhood bar," he added. "We are a family β we help each other. It isn't all about drinking. It's about friends."
A huge loss
On Dec. 19, 2007, Bair's wife of 12 years, Jackie, was killed in a car accident.
She was driving home from baby-sitting one of Bair's four grandchildren, and a car containing three Singapore Air Force members crossed the center line and hit her car.
The 64-year-old, a retired Tucson Medical Center nurse, was minutes away from the couple's West Tucson home.
The decision to sell the bar became easy.
"I think it's 100 percent of the reason he sold it," Dutt said. "I loved Jackie β you've never met such a nice person. It's devastating. They'd sit down at night and play gin rummy and watch all the football and baseball games together. They had a lot of fun together."
Bair's son, Rex, agreed.
"After Jackie died, he just needed a change of pace," said the 48-year-old farrier who owns Natural Balance and Trim in Sierra Vista. "She was bubbly; she was a good person."
"I still get emotional about it," Bair said. "It's a very lonesome life."
Life before the Buffet
Bair, a Pittsburgh native, moved to Tucson in 1960 from Orlando, Fla. He sold his bar there, a neighborhood pub called Bair's Den.
"The desert grows on you," he said. "It was the best move I ever made."
Bair owned The Manhattan Club from 1960 to 1978. Purchased for $40,000, the Downtown bar was at 46 N. Sixth Ave., across from Sears, Roebuck and Co.
"It used to be a really busy place," he said. "When the working bars on West Congress closed, it started getting rough."
After selling the Manhattan, Bair said, he "loafed for four years" before he bought the Buffet for $200,000 in 1982.
That four-year period "was the most boring time of my life," Bair said.
Years later, the Manhattan was bulldozed to make way for the Ronstadt Transit Center, which opened in 1991.
Childhood memories
Neither of Bair's two children is still in the bar business, but they have fond memories of his bars.
"I'm very, very proud of my dad," Dutt said. "I think he's done very well."
Dutt started a 100-student charter school in Safford called Triumphant Learning Center in 1996. Before that, she and her younger brother worked in their dad's bars over the years.
"I was raised in the bar," Dutt said, referring to the Manhattan Club. "I'd get up every morning at 4:30. I swept it up, scraped gum off the floor, stocked the shelves. On Sundays, we did mopping."
Dutt later became the Buffet's first woman bartender. She said that the wife of the previous owner wouldn't let her husband hire female bartenders.
During Bair's tenure, the Buffet always has served Coors β and only Coors β on tap.
When patrons asked for a different draft years ago, Dutt remembered calmly pulling their "selections" from the same tap.
"I told them, 'If you want draft, you're going to drink Coors. You can call it whatever you want, but it's Coors.' "
Both of Bair's kids have two college-age children each.
Rex said that his dad is pretty special.
"He's likable; people get along with him," he said. "He worked all the time. He was a good role model; he's a smart dad."
Time for a change
Bair visited Panama in July. He loved it.
"Everyone is so friendly," he said. "Money's just pouring in. It's one of the top five retirement areas in the world."
Armed with maps and articles on Panama after his trip, Bair showed Buffet patrons where he's hoping to move and build a house in the near future.
One caveat: He wants to learn Spanish before he leaves Tucson.
Once that happens, Bair would like to move to DavΓd, a city near the border with Costa Rica.
"You can build a house there for $50 a square foot, and here it's $150," he said. "It will be a whole new life. Some people say I'm in my second childhood."
He plans to have a large house built, similar in size to his current 4,000-square-foot home in the Tucson Mountains.
"I always wanted to build my own house," he said.
Bair won't own any more bars, though.
"I'm too old and tired," he said.
"He's going to start a whole new adventure," Smith said.
The healthy-looking Bair is on his second pacemaker, and he's blind in his right eye.
"I'm running on three cylinders," he joked. "I've been very fortunate. Someone's looking out for me."
What makes the Buffet unique
β’ You can write on the wall. Any wall. Good luck finding space, though.
β’ The Jumbo is a 22-ounce glass of Coors that costs $2. Most customers order a Jumbo, even though 51 beers are available by the bottle.
β’ You get a Jumbo and a shot for a penny on your birthday (Arizona law prohibits bar and restaurant owners from giving away alcohol).
β’ Men must wear shirts with sleeves. If a guy is wearing a tank top, he's more than welcome to buy a Buffet T-shirt for $15.
For guys who don't want to buy a shirt, co-owner Lisha Smith said, the staff came up with the idea of buying garish Hawaiian shirts from Value Village to loan customers and put "Property of the Buffet" on the back.
β’ Years ago, the bar used to serve Buffalo Sweat, a shot that was created by mopping up whatever liquor had collected on the bar and squeezing it into a shot glass. That's not served anymore.
β’ The Buffet boasts a regulation-size shuffleboard table. Just give the bartender an ID, and you and your friends can play games for free.
β’ Pool players write their name on a chalkboard, wait their turn and play a game for a quarter.
β’ Hungry customers can order a $1 hot dog or $1.50 Polish sausage that's been soaking in a crockpot of beer. Chips are a buck a bag. Former owner Harold "Ted" Bair's pickled eggs are three for $1 or one for 50 cents.
"I told Ted, 'If you do not give me your pickled egg recipe, I will not buy the bar,' " said Smith, estimating that the bar goes through 10 dozen a month. "They're delicious."
β’ Other foods for sale are Brad Skattum's homemade jerky for $1 and Jerry Brewer's rattlesnake eggs for $1, which Smith described as similar to candy-coated peanuts.
β’ Let's not forget perhaps the most unusual thing for a dive bar to have: a bidet in the women's restroom. The bidet is no more, however. "It finally broke," co-owner Bill Davidson said apologetically.
"It was a novelty," said Bair, adding that the women's restroom also had a heated toilet seat. "I was looking out for you girls."
If you go
β’ What: The Buffet's rummage sale.
β’ Where: Parking lot of the Buffet, 538 E. Ninth St.
β’ When: 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Sept. 27.
β’ To reserve a table: 623-6811.
The Buffet plans to hold a rummage sale to get rid of almost 30 years' worth of lost-and-found items.
In true swap-meet style, people are welcome to sign up and use a table to sell their things.
Half of the Buffet's proceeds will go to the Iron Horse Neighborhood Association. The other half will go to Our Town Family Services, said Lisha Smith, one of the Buffet's new owners.
The neighborhood plans to use the proceeds for its beautification program of East Ninth Street, which includes litter collection, tree trimming and sidewalk sweeping.
