Manuel's Tavern is a historic

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

in the

Poncey–Highland Poncey–Highland is an Intown Atlanta, intown neighborhood on the Eastside (Atlanta), east side of Atlanta, Georgia, located south of Virginia–Highland. It is so named because it is near the intersection of east/west Ponce de Leon Avenue and n ...

district of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Established by Manuel Maloof in 1956, the location is notable as a meeting place for influential people in the Democratic Party. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2020.

History

Manuel's Tavern was established in 1956 by Manuel Maloof. The building itself is a commercial building from around 1922. To encourage discussions between patrons, Maloof banned

live music A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

and

jukeboxes A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a user-selected song from a self-contained media library. Traditional jukeboxes contain records, compact discs, or digital files, and allow user ...

in the establishment. The bar is notable as a venue and meeting place for members of the Democratic Party. In 1970,

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

announced his gubernatorial campaign in the bar. In 2015, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

visited the bar during a visit to Atlanta, playing a game of

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

at the location. Maloof himself was politically active, being elected to the

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

Board of commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to five ...

in 1974. In the 1980s, two additional locations were opened on Memorial Drive and near

Norcross, Georgia Norcross is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, about 15 miles northeast of Atlanta city limits. According to the 2010 census, the population was 9,116, while in 2020, the population increased to 17,209. Norcross is part of the Atlanta metropol ...

, though both locations closed within a short time. In 1984, the tavern hosted a stage production of ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'', leading to what would eventually become

Shakespeare Tavern The Shakespeare Tavern is an Elizabethan era, Elizabethan playhouse located in downtown Atlanta, downtown Atlanta, GA, Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Starting productions at Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta in 1984, the Tavern ...

, a prominent playhouse and acting group in Atlanta. In 2015, Brian Maloof, son of Manuel Maloof, sold the bar to developers. The bar closed in December of that year for extensive renovations, with the bar reopening in July the next year. In 2017, plans were unveiled by Manuel's grandson for a spin-off eatery in Grant Park, called Manny's Grant Park Pub. On May 29, 2020, the tavern was added to the

. In November 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Maloof announced that the tavern was experiencing financial difficulties and could possibly close by the end of the year. Following this, a

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the ...

was set up with a goal of raising $75,000 for the tavern. This goal was met within the first 24 hours, and within several days had raised over $180,000 for the tavern.

References

External links

* {{Poncey–Highland Drinking establishments on the National Register of Historic Places Taverns in Georgia (U.S. state) 1956 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Commercial buildings completed in 1922 National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta

History

See also

References

External links