The Back Door Tavern, a fixture in Knoxville's Bearden neighborhood, is closing its doors for good. The longtime bar poured its last beer at 2:30 a.m. closing time Thursday.
The unpretentious atmosphere of the hole-in-the-wall establishment, complete with holes in its red bar stools, attracted a melting pot of patrons through the decades.
"You could have a judge sitting next to a garbage man and it didn't matter. They'd just talk like nobody cared who you were. It was remarkable," said longtime owner Barry Cook.
Cook bought the bar in the 1980s with his brother, John. The bar was known as Toddy's Back Door Tavern for much of its existence.
"It had the name 'Back Door' going back to the 1960s. There were a couple of owners during the time before we bought the place in the early 1980s," said Cook. "We added the name Toddy's when we had the bar and the liquor store here together. When my brother moved the liquor store a couple of blocks away, it took the Toddy's name and the bar went back to just being the Back Door Tavern to avoid any confusion with the address," said Cook.
Cook said the Toddy's name comes from a nickname given to Cook's dad, Ted - "All legs and no body" - when he played basketball in the early 1940s for the University of Tennessee.
Thursday afternoon, friends helped remove metal beer signs from the wooden fences that surround the patio behind the bar.
The news of the bar shutting down flooded social media with sentimental stories of meetings, greetings, and goodbyes at the Back Door Tavern. Some told tales of meeting their spouses at the bar. Others reminisced about the bar serving as a location to send loved ones off to war.
"My dad's going away party when he was being deployed to Iraq in 2005, we had several family and friends come over here," said Travis Haston, son of Tennessee's Adjutant General Max Haston. "It's just sad to see a really solid Knoxville institution shut down."
"A lot of people met their wives here, their girlfriends, got divorces, met new girlfriends. And a lot of things, I just can't tell anybody. It's like being a doctor or a lawyer, there's confidentiality with a bartender," laughed Cook.
Health concerns and fatigue played a large part in Cook's decision to retire. He had a lung transplant and turns 64-years-old next month. Cook said he wanted to spend the rest of his days relaxing and doing whatever he likes.
"I'm ready to retire. I've had a good run. It's been a wonderful and a lot of fun. I met a lot of great people and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it," said Cook.
The tavern was a classic joint where you could shoot pool, hang out, write a message on the wall or just sip your brew. On warm weather days, patrons enjoyed stepping out back for a cold one on the porch.
Back in the 1990s, you might run into Peyton Manning at Toddy's. On any given afternoon, you were sure to see lawyers and other guys in ties as well as students and members of the blue-collar set.
"We have autographs on the wall from Peyton Manning. He sent us one just after last year's Super Bowl. We've had Todd Helton and Johnny Bench here. Over here's a picture we have of a little gal that used to work for us, Deana Carter. I still talk to her and her brother," said Cook.
With his newfound time off, Cook said he and his wife Cathy are looking forward to seeing Deana Carter next week at the City Winery in Nashville.
The owner says he's grateful that the place provided him and his family with a living for so many years.
Cook leased the building and does not own the property. He does not know what, if anything, will take the bar's place.