Essentials: A Stiff Drink at Glur’s Tavern, Columbus, Nebraska
A greasy spoon with loads of history
It’s little more than a greasy spoon, but it’s a greasy spoon with loads of history. Supposedly the oldest continually operating bar west of the Missouri River (established as Bucher’s Saloon in 1876), Glur’s was a frontier haunt for Buffalo Bill Cody, who reportedly paid for the entire bar’s drinks with a $1,000 bill following a funeral in 1883. The ramshackle house’s faded photos and griddle burgers are a taste of American history, and when you belly up to the bar for, say, a shot of whiskey, you may hear Old West ghosts whisper—or, more likely, cuss. —Jeff Ruby
Jeff Ruby is a Chicago-based writer. He was formerly the chief dining critic at Chicago magazine, and his writing has appeared in Esquire, GQ, Time, Newsweek, Men's Journal, and Southwest: The Magazine.