The Corner Grill in Bowling Green, Ohio | Shot by Dan

Is there a Texas Tavern-style place in every town? I’m not sure about that, but there is in  Bowling Green, Ohio. It’s called The Corner Grill and it dates to 1951.

Like the TT, The Corner Grill is open 24 hours, serves breakfast,”hamburgs,” chili and hotdogs, accepts only cash and is widely considered the best place for a drunk meal after the bars close.

Unlike the TT, they spell their chili correctly, and they also serve a grilled-cheese and tomato sandwich, home-fried potatoes, a plate of liver and onions, and gyros. And they have seven booths.

But I don’t think they serve a Cheesy Western!

Your daily Letter to the Columnist — Feb. 12, 2012

Note from Dan: The following is from the Texas Tavern’s former owner, Jim Bullington, and one of the main characters in Sunday’s column. It’s followed by a few of the many congratulatory emails he’s received from friends and relatives around the country. Some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Dan,

I died laughing at today’s column. It is Pulitzer material.  How does one go about recommending a Pulitzer?

Also, on Facebook, TT has a page and I wrote this on it in reference to today’ss column:

“Dan Casey is one of the best kept secrets of the newspaper world. His first column some years ago about the Texas Tavern was a bomb as he trashed the placed needlessly.

(I owned and operated the Texas Tavern for 38 years before my son, Matt, took it over).

After many death threats and finally eating a bowl of our world-famous chile, he joined the human race and became a good friend of the Texas Tavern. Dan is a very talented writer who someday will win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism.

Jim Bullington
ROANOKE Read more »

Created by Dan, from an image of a drawing shot at Black Dog Salvage

Your daily Letter to the Columnist — Feb. 11, 2013

Dan,

Another (of MANY) great essays. Its greatness is such that I almost believed your BS.

However, I don’t think the country will change how its name is spelled, over a bowl of “chile” in Virginia.

I have been known to craft some essays, one of which was called “The Clam That Ate Roanoke.”  It was in the paper before you were born, ok before your kids anyway.

They ran it in the Sunday op-ed, even showing a giant clam from SML attacking Roanoke.

Irony and absurdity.  That’s the classic formula.

Clark M. Thomas
ROANOKE

Shot by Dan

The world-famous Texas Tavern turns 83 Wednesday. Normally this is a cause for the kind of celebration that marks the end of a world war. You probably have no idea how fitting that analogy is this time around.

Because behind the scenes, 2012 was a rough year for owner Matt Bullington. The geopolitical pressures swirling around the tiny diner on Church Avenue would have done in any lesser eatery. But once again the TT survived, and I can finally bring you the story.

It all revolved around its trademark dish, “chile.” That controversial stew is handcrafted from ground beef, pinto beans, corn starch and a list of exotic spices that’s more closely guarded than the secret flavoring for Coke.

The problem was the distinctive spelling of the menu item. I’ve written at least three columns about that. One in 2011 extolled it as the greatest chile in the Western Hemisphere. Last February, I broke the story about how Elvis ordered it for his last meal.

Those made it all the way to Washington, D.C., where they caught the attention of the ambassador of the South American country that bears the same name. He was not pleased. Read more »

Shot by Dan

My piece in Sunday’s paper marks the Texas Tavern’s birthday, something I’ve paid homage to annually since assuming this columnist gig in March 2009. The big day is Wednesday and it’s the TT’s 83rd.

This year’s tall tale is about the many and varied geopolitical pressures that swirled around the tiny diner on Church Avenue in 2012.

Here are the previous three columns:

Happy 80th, Texas Tavern (2010): In which I extolled the wonderful virtues of the TT’s ambiance, but neglected to say anything nice about the food.

Texas Tavern, let’s have some chile and make up (2011): In which I declared the TT’s trademark chile the best “chile” in the Western Hemisphere (not to be confused with that other stuff that ends in an ‘i’). This officially ended the heated Texas Tavern-Dan Casey feud.

82 years of food fit for the king (2012): The strange and wonderful tale of why Elvis ordered his last meal from the Texas Tavern.

This year’s column includes a broad cast of characters, including owner Matt Bullington, his dad (and former owner) Jim, President Obama, Mitt Romney, and many other other people and local, national and international institutions.

Hope you enjoy!

Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times | File

Thursday Column Reprise

Note from Dan: While I’m on vacation, I’m treating you to some oldie-but-goodie columns from the past. This one originally appeared Feb. 14, 2010.  Afterwards, newspaper was besieged with outraged callers who wanted me fired, or worse, and the reaction sparked this column a few days later. Ultimately, the Texas Tavern and I buried the hatchet and I’ve been writing a birthday column about them each year since. Here are the 2011 and 2012 TT birthday columns. The 2013 TT birthday column will appear Feb. 10.

On Saturday, the Texas Tavern on Church Avenue turned 80.

The venerable, never-closed, value-priced restaurant is by far this town’s most famous, and that has a lot to do with the Bullington family, which has owned and operated it for generations..

The Bullingtons are honest and sturdy citizens who have earned their money via hard work, dime by dime.

The Texas Tavern’s look is distinctive, authentic and free of kitsch. Actually, it goes way beyond those terms. In its simplicity is a beauty that harks back to a bygone era.

It has qualities of a Tom Waits tune, or an Edward Hopper painting, or one of Hemingway’s short stories. It’s a clean, well-lighted place.

Not a bit of it is phony. That includes the red stools, the sassy signs, the 65 coats of red and white paint on the interior woodwork, and the restaurant’s spick-and-span metal counter. Read more »

The Roanoke Times | File

Tomorrow we celebrate the 82nd birthday of the most famous restaurant in Roanoke, if not Virginia.

We’re talking about the oddly-named Depression-era eatery on Church Avenue that you must never call a “greasy spoon.”

Because if you do, Texas Tavern owner Jim Bullington will tear out your gall bladder with an 80-year-old spatula.

The food at the TT is a controversial subject. Critics claim its menu items and the term “quality” should never inhabit the same sentence. Admirers call it the most delicious grub on this end of the Milky Way.

Arguments over this have resulted in scores of divorces and one gentleman’s duel in Elmwood Park. Both participants perished.

But there’s one controversy that has haunted the 10-stool diner for more than three decades. It’s that Elvis’ last meal came from the Texas Tavern. Read more »

The Roanoke Times | File

Editor’s note: Dan, wife & kids have repaired to Ocean City, Md., where they are crabbing, riding the waves, sunbathing and hanging out with The world-famous Nighthawks this week. Herewith are some “greatest hits” columns until Casey returns. The following originally ran Feb. 10, and was preceded by this one in 2010.

Happy 81st birthday, Texas Tavern!

About a year ago this column observed the venerable diner’s 80th anniversary, and paid homage to the Bullington family, who have run it for generations with great devotion and care, and given much to this community.

We noted the interesting characters behind Texas Tavern’s metal counter, the sassy signs that decorate its well-lighted interior, its 75 coats of paint, and quoted loyal patrons who plainly love its Depression-era ambiance.

The one thing you can’t deny about the Church Avenue institution is that it’s a place that’s never changed while the world around it has, greatly.

Then I wrote a few less-than-complimentary paragraphs about the food, and those got all the attention. The harshest stuff was about the “chile.” Read more »

My donation to 4th-grader Graham Smith, from Wellesley, Mass., for his report on Virginia

Editor’s note: Dan, wife & kids have repaired to Ocean City, Md., where they are crabbing, riding the waves, sunbathing and hanging out with the world-famous Nighthawks this week. Herewith are some “greatest hits” columns until Casey returns. The following column ran April 12 and prompted a report by WSLS Channel 10 News. It also prompted this follow-up.

Hi! My name is Graham Smith and I need help with my state report. I am in fourth grade and my school is in Massachusetts. I’ve been so lucky to get the wonderful state of Virginia. I am so excited to learn more about the Old Dominion state so please help me!

Most of the stuff we use to learn about the state is kind of lame so I want some really cool stuff to learn about your amazing state. Some of the things that would be nice to get is, this newspaper article, little souvenirs, post cards, maps, pictures, general information, or any other items would be useful. Nothing alive or that can rot. Thank you for all your help.

Sincerely
Graham Smith
Ms. Collins’ Class
Upham School
Wellesley, Mass. 02481

Dear Graham,

Thank you for asking. You are right to be thrilled with your assignment, because the Old Dominion is indeed an amazing state.

I’ve lived here almost 17 years, and it still amazes me every day. I promise that none of what follows will be lame. Or rotting.

Virginia has only one ‘G’ in it, but there are three Gs that are very important down here. The first two are God and guns. Most people love both. Read more »

Shot by Dan Saturday, Brandon Avenue at Mud Lick Road

“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern.”
Samuel Johnson