We Walk into an Airport Bar

Hometeam Sports Bar and Grill, Fresno, California

Mindy did some traveling last week, and that reminded us of a type of bars we hadn't yet visited or written about: those found at airports. (She also found an airport church, which she’ll write about on Wednesday.) This week, in honor of that travel, we decided to write about an airport bar, because they’re different from neighborhood bars. In fact, that’s what Ursula the bartender said when we visited the bar at the Fresno/Yosemite Airport, “This is a different kind of place, a different kind of bar.”

It was our second attempt to visit the bar -- the first time we tried to go, on a Thursday evening at 7:00 pm (usually bar prime time), it was closed. The other Fresno Airport bar was doing a booming business, as far as we know, but that is the bar is past the TSA checkpoint, and we didn’t have plane tickets..

So we went back home and tried the airport bar again a little before three on Friday afternoon. We weren’t the only customers at the time. A man with a backpack and tattoos asked for Sailor Jerry, which Ursula told him wasn’t available, so he went with a another nautical spiced rum option, Captain Morgan. He drank his drink and departed. I couldn’t help wondering taking a drink was intended to make getting on a flight a little easier.

We ordered our drinks and were reminded of one reasons we’d avoided airport bars in the past when we got the bill. An Angry Orchard cider was $8.00, and a single shot screwdriver was $8.50. These are not bargains, but that’s the reality of airports. The food and drink charges are comparable only to what you find in amusement parks, and the management and ownership of an airport bar makes sure that the pour is not overly generous.

Other people came into the bar and stuck around for awhile. A woman came in and asked for a Dr Pepper, but Ursula told her the soft drink choices were Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite.  Ursula added, “It’s expensive.” The woman got a Coke and told Ursula that more friends would be joining her. Before long, five friends were gathered around a table. One of the women asked Ursula to change one of the TVs to ESPN 1, but Ursula said she hadn’t learned how to work the various remotes, but she’d ask the manager to change it when he came in. (He arrived about ten minutes later and changed the channel on that particular screen.)

Ursula told us she’s been working at this bar for fifteen years, but she has more experience than just that. She started in the service industry when she was 17, and is now the inverse age of 71 (she doesn’t look it). She has worked as a server, but prefers to be a bartender, and that’s what she’s done most of her career. She even owned a bar in the mountains for a number of years.

Like any good bartender, she tells good stories, like the one about customers at the bar she owned hiding a motorcycle in the ladies’ room. She even has stories about the airport bar, but we’re keeping those on the down low.

We were able to ask Ursula our two traditional questions, “What makes for a good bar?” and whether you go or not, “What makes for a good church?”

She said a good bar should be a friendly place where people will say “Hi, there!” when you come in. She said when she was a bar owner, customers never left the bar as a stranger. She said it’s important for a bartender to after customers rather than being off reading a newspaper. Good ownership is important as well, she said. Owners need to maintain control in a bar. She noted that in the airport, with police right there to act as security, things don’t get too out of hand. And, she said, it’s important that the bar have good drinks.

Then we asked what made for a good church. “To be honest,” she said, “I haven’t gone to church for ten years.The minister they had at my church then, she was great.” When that minister passed away, Ursula wasn’t thrilled with her replacement. Previously, she told us, the church really cared for people. “If you needed a turkey at Thanksgiving or a Christmas tree, they took care of that. They shouldn’t just feed the head, but they should feed the heart. Not someone droning on about the devil and sin. I don’t want to tithe to negative stuff. I want to tithe to something positive.”

Ursula comes from Germany, and she noted the difference in institutions in the two countries. In Germany, the pastors drink, they’ll go to a pub with people, which is less common in the States. And she said in Germany, bars have Gemütlichkeit which she said is a word without an English equivalent, but means there is friendliness, warmth, and heart. She told us that a good bar should have that quality.

The nature of airport bars makes them different from a neighborhood bar. A bar in an airport, even a relatively small one like Fresno/Yosemite, isn’t going to get the same kind of regulars, build the same kind of community, as the average neighborhood bar. But when we left, we could see a group of friends chatting happily together. And Ursula certainly made us feel at home.

Ursula said she’ll keep working, “I’ll continue to have fun as long as I can do it.” We hope that proves to be a very long time.