CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/MIKE SWEENEY The Star Bar, 300 Spring St., has been a social anchor in the Grove neighborhood for nearly a century.

RESTAURANT

The Star Bar

Where tradition is on the menu

By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Every neighborhood has its own rhythm, its own heartbeat, and certainly one of the vital signs in the Grove happens every day about 3 p.m. when Jim and Connie Cisneros walk through the door at the Star Bar on Spring Street.

It's a 56-year-old habit the couple have no interest in breaking. After all, the Star Bar is one of the social centers of the quiet little neighborhood that is tucked just west of Santa Fe Avenue and up against the north bank of the Arkansas River.

"Ever since we were married, maybe before," Jim Cisneros laughed when asked how long he and his bride have been regulars at the Star Bar. "Of course, things have gotten a little quieter around here over the years after the (Alpha Beta) packing house closed down and the railroad cut back."

Connie Cisneros nodded in agreement. "Back in the 1950s, when Jim was working at the mill (CF&I), he'd call me and tell me to grab a booth over here because he was getting off work. And it was always crowded. Always."

Walk through the door at the Star Bar and you smell the hamburgers. The green chili. There's the hum of conversation as the regulars laugh and talk, huddled around their schooners of beer. It's a small joint, with about a dozen booths and just as many seats at the bar. And it's got the relaxing, well-worn feel of your favorite old shoes or jeans.

"Oh no, I learned pretty quickly that you aren't supposed to change a thing around here," laughed Linda DeNiro, who now owns the Star Bar with her husband, Louis. "When we bought the place (in 1998), I had some big ideas about redecorating, but the message came through loud and clear that the patrons like the Star Bar just the way it's always been."

 

CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/MIKE SWEENEY Jim and Connie Cisneros have been regulars at the Star Bar since 1947. They remember when the tavern also served as a bank, cashing paychecks for workers from the Alpha Beta packing house and other employers.

Well, that's Pueblo, isn't it? The Italian, Slovenian and Hispanic families that have lived in the Grove for decades - mill workers, railroaders, meat packers - have fashioned the Star Bar after their own desires, and if you want an exotic beer on tap or a bottomless margarita, somebody will probably be happy to tell you where to go.

You see, the Star Bar is known for its Star burgers - single-, double- or triple-decker hamburgers. You can take them straight or as "sloppers," meaning they are settled happily into a bowl of green or red chili. Sloppers are Pueblo's gift to the culinary world. Ask for one anywhere outside the Steel City and the waiter will probably ask you to repeat yourself.

"We've been ordering our ground beef from the same company for probably 30 years," explained Louis DeNiro. "People expect a Star Burger to taste a certain way and we have people drive in from Denver and elsewhere to get one."

It probably didn't hurt the Star Bar's "national" reputation that it was one of the small, distinctive restaurants that was included in a National Geographic article a few years ago. The author was seeking out old-fashioned, small-town diners and taverns across the nation and word of mouth brought him to the Grove.

When DeNiro talks about "we," he's not only talking about his wife, he's referring to the bar's previous owners - Ben Palumbo, Leo Moreschini and Pete Montera. DeNiro and Montera are brothers-in-law and DeNiro said it took a few years to persuade the three partners to sell the business. They had owned it since 1973. Before that, it was owned by Rudy and Helen Tomsick.

The tavern has been in business almost a century, although the building itself may be even older. DeNiro said the Star Bar dates its days as a saloon back to 1906. That's when there was a hitching post out front where cowboys could tie up their horses. The horses and hitching post are gone, of course. Today, you park with the other cars, SUVs and an occasional 18-wheeler.

Or you walk, like the Cisneroses. They only have to stroll over from their home on Plum Street.

"You never had to worry walking in this neighborhood," said Jim Cisneros with assurance.

While Grove residents like to describe their neighborhood as quiet, the Star Bar has had its moments. One newspaper clipping from 1913 describes a practical joke that turned tragic on Dec. 5 of that year. The owner, Frank Grabence, was tending bar when one of his friends, Frank Cvar, decided to come into the bar after having blackened his face with burnt cork.

 

CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/BRYAN KELSEN Current owners Louis and Linda DeNiro show off the mainstays of the tavern's traditional menu - a multi-patty Star Burger and a cold schooner of beer.

According to mutual friends and witnesses, it was supposed to be a Yuletide prank on Grabence. The then-saloon owner, however, reportedly thought Cvar was a robber and quickly drew a gun and fatally shot him. Patrons of the bar told police the shooting was a tragic accident, that Grabence and Cvar were friends.

One look behind the bar tells the tavern's age. There is a huge, wood-framed mirror there that was elegantly carved by the Brunswick Co. in 1897.

"That mirror was brought down from a saloon in Victor," DeNiro explained. "You can see where the workmen had to saw the frame in half to get it in the door."

The mirror clearly advertises a prosperous, thriving business and if you could turn back the calendar to the 1960s and 1970s, you'd see a tavern that was both a bank and social center for the Grove's working families.

"Guys could cash their paychecks here," Cisneros recalled. "And there was always a shift getting off work, either at the mill or the packing house, so this place was always busy. You could bring your kids in here, too."

It's not so busy today. Sure, the tavern sells a lot of Star Burgers, chili and beer during the lunch hour. And it picks up again in the evening. But it has a little more of a retired feel to it today.

"We're trying to keep the traditions going," DeNiro explained. "For years, Wednesday was spaghetti-and-meatball night here, and we've brought that back."

 

CHIEFTAIN PHOTOS/MIKE SWEENEY Cozy but comfortable, the Star Bar has a wall full of awards for its food. If the tavern doesn't seem to change much from year to year, it's because patrons like it that way.

The DeNiros also believe that business has slumped since city voters approved a smoking ban in all public places last spring. Many tavern owners opposed the smoking ban and want it repealed for their businesses this November. While smokers who are regulars at the Star Bar may not like the new city law, they observe it. There is a big sand-filled plastic bucket outside the bar where smokers go to light up.

But the Star Bar endures, dishing up its trademark burgers, cold beer and companionship. Those staples never seem to go out of demand.

"There is a family from North Carolina that comes through every summer on their way down to New Mexico and they stop here for lunch," DeNiro laughed. "The dad used to work out at the (Transportation Technology Center) and he got hooked on Star Burgers then. Now the whole family comes in. It's become a tradition."

Of course it has. At the Star Bar, tradition is on the menu.

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