The History:

 Located in the Ironhorse District of Old Town Tucson, the Buffet Bar and Crock Pot is Tucsons oldest bar and known as the Buffet because it was actually a buffet style restaraunt when it originally opened. The building was built in 1929 and began serving alcohol in 1934 as The Lantern Bar.  The area is known as the Ironhorse District because of it is geographically within one mile of the orginal Tucson train depot.  During the early 20th century railroad workers had to live within a mile of the train depot so as to be able to hear the train whistles of arriving trains signaling them to come to work.  The trains from that period were known as ironhorses and hence the name ironhorse district was established when all of the rail road workers took up residence in the area.

History:

 Tiki culture in the U.S. is said to have begun in California in 1934 with the opening of Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood by a Louisiana man named Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt, he later legally changed his name to Donn Beach.  Worldwide Tiki culture is said to have started three years later when Victor Bergeron opened a similar bar and restaraunt in Oakland, California called Trader Vic's.  Trader Vic's eventually became a worldwide chain and marked the beginning of the Tiki bar phenomenom that peaked in the 1960s.

The History:

The Crystal Palace is located in the hot and dusty mining town turned tourist destination of Tombstone Arizona and has a history more checkered than the Earp brohers or the cowboys they rode against in the 1880's.  The bar began life as The Golden Eagle Brewery on the corner of Fifth and Allen street which was to become known as one of the bloodiest street corners in the wild west.  Close to midnight on December 28th, 1881 Virgil Earp was walking to the bar when, from the second floor window the Huachuca Water Company building, multiple shotgun blasts struck Virgil.  Virgil survived but lost the use of his left arm.  Later that year on June 22 a huge fire broke out in Tombstone which wiped out almost the entire town.  One of the few surviving buildings was the brewery and bar due to the dedicated work of a bucket brigade (an example of the priorities of the time.)  Less than a year later, on May 26th of 1882, another fire broke out and even another valiant effort by the bucket brigade couldn't save the doomed building.  Swift action by the towns people saw to it that the establishment was rebuilt quickly at which time it took on the new name Crystal Palace and a whole new personification.

The History:

Chope's is a legendary bar and restaurant we have been going to for years to enjoy what is arguably the best Mexican food in the entire SW United States.  The restaurant feels like home, partially because the restaurant is in a 150 year old house, and with that comes the feeling of sitting down to a meal at Grandma’s house rather than sitting down in a restaurant.  So imagine our surprise when we sat down with current owner, manager, and the founder’s granddaughter, Cecilia Yanez, and she told us that when her grandmother started Chope’s she was not only serving enchiladas to locals, but was also bootlegging whiskey during prohibition!!!  Now that is some Drunken History.