Whole books have been written about the role neighborhood bars play in the life of a city, so there’s no reason for me to reinvent that particular wheel. But these places defined the city and its neighborhoods for me. Below are all the joints in Warren I can remember having a drink. A few of them are just outside the city limits, but had the character of Warren more than the suburb in which they were located.
DOWNTOWN: Horse Shoe, Sunrise, DAV, Village Cafe, Speakeasy, Modern Methods, Funky Skunk, Jacked, West & Main, CharBenay’s, ITAM 29, Elks Club, Black & Tan
NOTH END: Buena Vista Cafe, Old Snaps, New Snaps, UAL, Slovak Club, Ohio Inn, Hall Avenue Inn, Callahan’s, Paris Cafe, Kiefer’s, Maplewood Tavern, Holiday Bar, Little Wing, Hannah’s Gateway
THE FLATS: Coleman’s, Golden Stallion
EAST SIDE: Lefty & Jim’s, Belvedere, Tin Pan Alley, Cafe 422, Cafe 22, Alberini’s, Up a Creek, Alouette, Havana House, Army Navy Canteen, Enzo’s, Grant’s Lounge, The Living Room, Triangle Inn, Bailey’s, Leo’s, Club Leon, Salvatore’s, Trumbull Country Club, the Rig, Robert’s Lounge, Barrel33
WEST SIDE: Crystal Inn, Peace Pub
So these are Warren’s neighborhoods. What’s missing from the typical legacy city of the midwest are neighborhoods like Detroit’s Greektown, Poletown, and Corktown; Cleveland’s Slovak Village and Little Italy; Columbus’ German Village or Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine. In Warren, like those bigger cities, we had all those ethnic groups in numbers, but not numbers large enough that any group could wall themselves into their own neighborhood. People had no choice but to live amongst one another. The exception being Black people, nearly all of whom lived within defined areas on the south side of town.