Dive Bar Bravery

The worst --- or most dangerous --- bar in East Dallas is Johnny's Club Vegas just a few blocks away from my house. As an example, two days ago several Dallas police officers were outside of the bar, hauling off a bunch of guys in handcuffs for all manner of felonies.

But Johnny's will soon close because a developer has bought the whole block and plans to put up townhomes. So I told my friend Lisa we had to go to Johnny's, take photos, and say we'd been there before it was no more.

Lisa and I climbed the moutain of Johnny's. And the view from the top was fantastic.

Johnny's was everything I expected and more. This is not a dive bar that the hipsters frequent. In fact it's not even a dive bar. It's an alcoholic bar --- the kind of place that does more business at 7 a.m. than 10 p.m. It's beat up as hell, the air conditioning doesn't work, and you'd better like Budweiser because that's all they've got.

But despite it's rough exterior, the people inside were wonderful, at least on this night. I immediately made friends with Jeff, who "stays" with his girl in an apartment up the street. Jeff had just got off work from driving a forklift in a warehouse. It was his birthday --- he just turned 45. Jeff and I played some monumental pool --- one of the best games I've ever played. He bought me beers, I bought him beers and all was right with the world.

In the middle of our ferocious billiards game, I put some cash in the jukebox. For some reason punched up some tunes by a R&B guy I was unfamiliar with. My selection, number 5901, was "Who's Making Love" by Johnnie Taylor. Turns out, that was exactly the right song to play in Johnny's. Jeff yelled "That's J.T.!!" And J.T. sings the smoothest, coolest, groove you could ever imagine.

To think, I was always afraid of Johnny's. Now I know it's got it's own peculiar beauty. And that will be my one and only opportunity to visit Johnny's before it's knocked down in the name of $250,000 condos.

But I'll have memories of the very cool Jeff. And I'm going to go buy a copy of Johhnie Taylors' "Who's Making Love" album.