1981: Orv and Pat Johnson buy it

In 1981 Orv and Pat Johnson bought the bar. They ran it as a family place for forty-four years. That is the stretch most people in Eau Claire remember: the burgers ground behind the bar, the root beer in the iced mug, the same faces on the same stools. The half-pound Ambergers went on the menu, and the Tuesday peanut butter burger became the thing people dared each other to order and then ordered again. The menu carried a note at the bottom in those years. The kitchen is small, it said, and if it is busy it may take a bit. Place your order, grab a beverage and relax. We really appreciate your business. Thank you, Orv and Pat. It is also the stretch in which the bar's history got told out loud. Orv is the one who put the oldest-bar claim into words, carefully, and it is his words we use.