Here's a short article from the local paper (The Louisville
Courier-Journal) about an old-fashioned bar that fits the
hard-boiled environment. I've been there, I know.
http://www.hce.org/Medicare/mcareHQI.html
<< Freddie's Bar & Lounge 42 years and
counting
Address: 220 W. Broadway.
Small print: 10:30-4 a.m., Mon.-Sat.; 1 p.m.-4 a.m. Sun. Cash
only.
Why you should go: You've seen this kind of bar before in
hundreds of old movies, or read about one in the writings of
Hammett, Chandler and Spillane - dark, even when the sun is
blazing; always open and stocked with regulars; quiet.
Freddie's is bar noir, a throwback to the days when bars were
meant for drinking and talking, maybe a little TV. You half
expect a Liston-Patterson fight to be playing when you walk
in, and it's true that Jimmy Ellis, Muhammad Ali, Ezra
Charles and Greg Page have all passed through Freddie's
door.
Just don't go looking for bells and whistles, except for a
killer collection of whiskey decanters.
"It's quiet in here because that's the way I keep it," owner
Freddie Scarlott, 83, said just before he left for a round of
golf. "It's not an accident. I don't take any bull."
Freddie's turns 42 this year, a fact announced on a banner
above the door that was hung by beer salesmen even though
Freddie didn't much want them to. There won't be a party for
a clientele that includes the wealthy, retirees, airline
gypsies, hipsters and Actors Theatre of Louisville
regulars.
"Hell, no, there won't be a party," Freddie said.
"It's seven days a week here, strictly business."
>From concrete to cocktails: A Louisville
native,
Freddie once thought he might be a boxer; he fought Golden
Gloves and was on the Navy team. He got wise and started
pouring concrete for a living, but the work dried up every
winter. He saved up for Freddie's, which became the first of
10 joints he's owned, including one in Florida.
"Most were within walking distance of here," he said.
"That was back when go-go bars were big."
He gradually sold off everything but Freddie's, which began
life as a church. He has made few changes in 42 years,
including bartender Jimmy Watkins, who has been there 27 of
them. "It's a neighborhood bar in a high-rent district,"
Freddie said. "If you've got something good, don't change
it."
Bottom line: They literally do not make them like this
anymore, and that goes for Freddie's and Freddie.
>>
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