After months of waiting – Dunsmuir hasn’t had a low-key bar since the closure of Spirits in July – Big Daddy’s Place has opened on Dunsmuir Avenue in the Historic Downtown District, two doors south of Gary’s Pizza Factory.
The joint endeavor of Curtis Smith and Debby Gordon, Big Daddy’s Place is a beer and wine establishment offering a tournament size pool table, a card and domino nook called the Bone Yard, a plasma television, and music with a nod to Motown.
Located in the building that housed the famous Paddy’s Place bar in the 1970s, Smith and Gordon chose the name Big Daddy’s Place for their establishment as both a tribute to that former haunt that so many in town fondly remember, as well to put an individual spin on their bar: Big Daddy, after all, is Curtis Smith. Since high school, the longtime Dunsmuir resident has been known as ‘Big Daddy’ to his friends and family. And recent events only underscore what a big daddy Smith really is: he recently welcomed three grandchildren into the world over a short three day period.
“Paddy’s Place was a really fun bar,” Gordon explained while tending to customers last Friday evening. On just her third night in business, her bar was lined elbow to elbow with happy folks celebrating the holiday. “We want to bring back memories of those good times. I wanted to recreate a workingman’s bar. At Big Daddy’s Place, people don’t have to go home and take a shower first,” she said with a laugh. “It’s not fancy. We want to serve the neighborhood folks. We want to be a neighborhood bar.”
Gordon was a stay at home mom who raised five children before the urge to run a business led her and Smith to roll the dice and open Big Daddy’s Place. “With my kids grown, I needed something to do,” Gordon explained. “Curtis and I are both people persons. Our personalities fit this place. We like to have a good time and we have a lot of friends and family. With Curtis’s family as big as it is, we’ll have to have a separate opening just for them.”
In keeping with their desire to run a neighborhood bar, Big Daddy’s Place offers low priced drinks and games. A turn at the pool table costs only 50¢, for example, while some of the drafts offered on tap cost just $3 a glass. Live music will be a staple at the bar, with bands playing once a month in the winter, and every weekend in the summer. Eventually, Gordon hopes to host wine and beer tastings that will feature products from the Dunsmuir Brewery and local vintners. A long term goal for the pair is to expand into the adjoining space in the building and offer grill-style food. Big Daddy’s Place is currently taking suggestions from patrons on just which beers and wines to serve.
One of the features of Big Daddy’s Place is The Bone Yard, a nook in the back of the bar that boasts a sturdy playing table where patrons can pass the time playing cards or dominoes. The walls of The Bone Yard are decorated with the original artwork of Debbie Blackwell. In one of her ceiling-to-floor paintings, players test each other at a friendly game of dominoes, while the other painting features the recently deceased blues legend DC Minner caressing his guitar.
As the snow fell softly on Dunsmuir Avenue last Friday, revelers piled into the warm and welcoming confines of Big Daddy’s Place. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, and even the few out-of-towners were made to feel welcome. “I want people to feel comfortable,” Gordon explained just before she went to take yet another order. Asked if her bar would be one where ‘everybody knows your name,’ she grinned again and quipped, “I already do know everyone’s name.” For his part, Smith made the rounds as well, shaking hands and making everyone feel at home. Asked how it felt to have three grandchildren added to his family in just three days, the affable Smith beamed and said, “It was a shock. I didn’t even know. Three in three days? I’m happy. I love them all.”
Big Daddy’s Place is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Patrons will find peanuts and pretzels on the bar, and the beer selection includes Bud, Coors Light, Black Butte Porter, and Pabst. The bar is holding a New Year’s Eve Party/Grand Opening featuring the live music of the Blackwell Brothers from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. The cover charge is $5, and there will be appetizers and a champagne toast at midnight. Call 235-5529 for more information.