July 2010 Tavern report

This August marks six years of my on-again and off-again employment at Court Square Tavern. My long-term plan is to continue to work there at least three nights a week in order to amass my personal fortune.

Of course, this will take us actually increasing our business. I am confident that is happening as we are getting many more regulars. I have a great time there, as I've mentioned.

Tonight was one of the slow ones that are less than thrilling. I only had one party of more than two people, and they only had six beers between four people. I was pleased I managed to persuade one of them to try the Zatec Bright Lager, which had been recommended by one of our regulars, who spent years in Prague.

Of course, I was also pleased that he and his wife came in this evening. They chatted with a couple from New Jersey who are touring the area to view the homes of the presidents. They did Monticello today and are doing Montpelier tomorrow. They had eaten at Siips and walked up to the tavern. When they had arrived, I had a couple of sisters from Arlington who were also touring the area. We had a blast talking about old music, the precarious nature of our country's solvency and what form my novel is going to take.

On Thursday, we had two people who came in to celebrate their birthday. Both parties had a great time and I did as well. Last night was more of the same, me getting paid to be out. I enjoy running a pub, and tonight I was doing it solo again, but at least there were no food orders but a lone turkey pot pie with mashed potatoes.

The party of four who had six hadn't been in since before the fire. In the "smoky time" they said. I can remember when a cloud of smoke filled the place, but have little nostalgia for that sensation. Yet it's important to remember the character. We lost a lot of our die-hard regulars when we did not when smoky time did not resume when we re-opened.

I feel we're finally coming back into our own, and I think we're set to have a very busy fall. I'm working on some sort of a way for patrons to track how many of our 100 beers they've experienced. I'd like to find a way to get more people in to play our board games. I've got to get a handle on the whole foursquare thing.

The other day, a new regular came in and was talking to an older regular about the place of the bartender.

"A good bartender creates community by introducing people to each other," said Todd, who comes in for whatever bottled beer I've put on

He was not referring to me directly, but at the end of the day, I love providing the community with a pub that's not quite like any other place in town. And for me, I feel like I'm part of Charlottesville history. Very much enjoyed sharing this place with people from outside.