Must Have Been Some Awesome Bar...

We moved into our home in 1990. At the time, I was just starting law school, and hubby (then boyfriend) and I were living together, along with various and sundry other housemates (who have since been replaced by our kids).

As soon as we had the telephone connected, the calls began.

(Telephone rings)

"Hello."

"Hi..... uh, is this Tequila Dan's?"

"Tequila ... What's that?"

"Tequila Dan's, it's a bar. Sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number."

* * * *

(One minute later, telephone rings again)

"Hello."

"Oh, I guess this still isn't Tequila Dan's, huh."

"No, no it's not. It's a house."

"Ok then. Bummer. Well, bye."

"Bye."

Similar conversations took place over many weeks, then months, and finally I asked one of the wrong-number dialers what was so great about Tequila Dan's?

He said, "I dunno, it was just a fun bar. Good drinks. Kind of a dive, though."

* * *

Fast forward to my graduation from law school, three years later, and we were still getting calls every month or so for Tequila Dan's.

* * *

A couple of years later, the calls had pretty much stopped, I thought. But then I got another one as I was making wedding preparations in 1997. And another shortly after the birth of my first child in 1998. Several more as Y2K approached; presumably folks were looking for some place awesome to celebrate, or to sit and watch as the world descended into chaos, if you believed the end-of-the-world-doomsayers.

By then, the internet had been invented (but not by Al Gore), so I googled it and found a photo of a "Tequila Dan's Mexican Food" restaurant sign; the caption said it was on 48th Street in Phoenix.

I wasn't sure if it was the same place. None of the wrong-number dialers had ever called it a restaurant. They all just called it a bar.

But anyway, here is the photo I found:

* * *

I hadn't thought about Tequila Dan's for at least five years. And then, during halftime of the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago (yes, in 2009), the telephone rang, and the call brought a smile to my face:

"Hello."

"Uh, hi.... Is this Tequila Dan's?"

"No, I'm so sorry, it's not, but can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What is it about that bar? I've lived in this house for nearly 19 years and had the same telephone number the entire time, yet folks are still calling, asking for Tequila Dan's! It must have been quite a great bar, eh?"

"Yeah, wow. I just found this old matchbook from there, and I just thought I'd call and see if it's still there."

"Where was it?"

"Oh, it was on 48th Street in Phoenix."

"Well, it's apparently gone now. Sorry. So what was so great about that bar that you're calling it, 19 years later?"

"I dunno. It was just a fun bar."

This is wrong (and hilarious!) on so many levels. First, who keeps a matchbook from a dive bar for 19 years? Second, who calls that bar during halftime of the Super Bowl? Aren't you already ensconced in a bar or a friend's house or at home drinking and watching the game?!? You're not seriously going out right now, are you? Third, what is so friggin' awesome about this dive bar that people are still calling it NINETEEN YEARS LATER?!? No one has ever really answered that question, other than to call it a "fun bar." Fun is good, don't get me wrong here, but it's not much of a description for a bar you are calling nearly two decades after it apparently has closed....


All I know is, if I ever open a bar, I'm calling it Tequila Dan's. And using my home telephone number.
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