Until recently, customers who inquired about the beer selection at Danny's Baboquivari Lounge got the same response:
Clear bottles and green bottles.
But since March the beer selection at Danny's has steadily grown, ever since longtime manager Richard Snyder and longtime customer Erik Hulten bought the bar from its namesake, Danny Michael.
"For years, Danny said boutique beers were a fad and he wouldn't stock them," Snyder said. "For as long as I worked here we had Corona and Heineken. And that was it."
Now Red Stripe, Harp, Corona, Heineken and Honey Brown are all available in bottles. There's also Guinness and Tecate in cans.
But while the beer menu at Danny's has been updated, the interior décor has not.
Thank goodness for that.
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Walk into Danny's and you'll feel like you've stepped back in time. You won't be sure how far back you've gone, exactly. Just that things are simpler at Danny's.
The wallpaper inside Danny's is white with covered wagons, pistols and saddles. It is the same wallpaper that covered the walls in the 1960s, when the space was an Italian restaurant.
Patrons sit in red leather booths. Above the booths hang cattle skulls and bull horns. A string of lights shaped like chile peppers hangs above the bar, casting faint green, red and yellow light onto the fake mahogany below.
In the back room there are four pool tables. And around the side there are three more, plus an air-hockey table, electronic darts, foosball and a pinball machine.
"It's one of those places where you can come in early in the night and sit by yourself and have a beer," said Courtney Hungate, the bartender. "Or you can come in after midnight, when it's packed."
Danny's Baboquivari Lounge is a bar for people who love bars. The way you can tell is that much of the bar's clientele consists of employees of other bars and restaurants.
After midnight is when Danny's fills up with employees from local hot spots like McMahon's Prime Steakhouse and Arizona Inn.
"We do 70 percent of our business from midnight to 2 a.m.," Snyder said.
Danny's kitchen, which 40 years ago cranked out lasagna and linguini, now goes unused. But the new owners would like to change that.
"I think Danny used to serve hot dogs and his famous chili," Hulten said. "Danny used to bring the chili in a Crock-Pot. That was years ago."
Snyder says he's thinking about hiring a chef to cook cheese steaks and subs. But that move could be months away.
Meanwhile, Hulten, who organizes the Back Alley Film Festival, which this year was held behind Bison Witches Bar & Deli, says Danny's will soon start showing a Sunday night double feature on the back patio. He plans to project the movies onto a sidewall.
Movies, cheese steaks, more beer. Those are the changes in store at Danny's. But don't worry — everything else will stay exactly the same.
Danny's Baboquivari Lounge
• Where: 2910 E. Fort Lowell Road.
• Parking: In front of bar.
• Hours: 2 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Saturday; 6 p.m.- 2 a.m Sunday.
• Phone: 795-3178.
• Happy Hour: Daily from 4 to 7 p.m., with 50 cents off well drinks and domestic beers. $2 Tecate cans on Tuesdays.
