photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
Evette Bafford — better known as Miss E — and Rocky Kasaftes.
Talk to him first,” says Miss E.
“No, no, talk to her first,” says Rocky. “She deserves the spotlight.”
“Okay, then,” says Miss E. “That’s fine. Talk to me first. That way I can say what I want to say about him and ain’t nothing he can do about it.”
“And, action!” says Rocky, walking off toward the kitchen with a laugh.
And that’s the way it’s gone at Alex’s Tavern for 21 years between owner Rocky Kasaftes and his cohort, Eyvette Bafford, known to one and all as Miss E. They both cook, both work the bar, both keep the customers happy, and both love to banter with each other.
photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
Two jukeboxes and a shuffleboard table.
It started two decades ago with an encounter at a nearby Mapco station, where Miss E worked. Here’s how she tells it: “Rocky was a regular customer and we always talked and joked with each other. One day he came in and said he was running an errand for his friend, Bad Dog [McCormack, former WEGR-FM radio personality] and he’d locked his keys in his truck. While he was waiting, I asked him if he needed any help at his restaurant and he said yes. Then, he and Bad Dog both interviewed me. It was pretty funny, but they liked me and I got the job.
“When I started here, I was still full-time at Mapco. I’d leave there at 2 p.m. and I had to be down here to work from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. It was long days, but I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t like it. You’ve got to enjoy life and enjoy what you’re doing,” she says. Then Miss E gives me a look that says she’s done being philosophical.
“Now, I have to prep this place for the football weekend,” she says, “so you should go talk to Rocky for a bit.”
Dutifully, I head to the tiny kitchen, which also serves as an office for the boss. No space is wasted at Alex’s.
“How’d it go with Miss E?” Rocky asks. “She’s pretty great, right?”
“Yes, she is,” I say. “I love her big laugh.”
“Beginning with my dad, Alex Kasaftes, who started this place in 1953, we’ve always had great employees,” Rocky says. “Miss E is good as gold — hard-working, great attitude, and we have so much fun. I don’t think we’ve had a cross word between us in 20 years.”
Rocky began his stint at his dad’s tavern when he was still in high school. Ask him a question, any question, and the stories begin. Sometimes he even asks the question.
“Do you know why we have two jukeboxes?” he says.
I don’t.
photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
“Bad Dog and I were buddies as teenagers and we would come in here after hours and play the jukebox. It was filled with stuff my father’s friends liked: Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, big-band stuff. We found a key to the jukebox and started sneaking in some of our 45s. One of the records we put in was Jimmy Buffett’s ‘Come Monday.’ The flip side of the label said, ‘Why Don’t We Get Drunk,’ but we didn’t think anything of it.
“Then one day my dad called us into his office, really pissed off. One of his customers had played ‘Why Don’t We Get Drunk,’ and I think you probably know the part of the title that was left off the label. Not good. Anyway, after that, we ended up getting two jukeboxes — one for his music and one for the younger crowd.”
We head back to the bar, where Miss E is running things. Regular readers of this column know that I usually ask the bartender I’m writing about to mix a drink for me. Since Alex’s Tavern is strictly a beer bar, Miss E suggests a Traffic IPA from Crosstown Brewing, which happens to be one of my favorite local brews. Done. I pop the tab on the can, take a nice pull, sit back, and look around.
This is the way a tavern ought to feel, I think. Dimly lit, unpretentious, two great jukeboxes, a shuffleboard, a solid Greek cheeseburger, sports on the TV, and a pair of Memphis originals pulling it all together. As he and Miss E chat, something that Rocky told me his father used to say seems appropriate: “It’s not how many people come; it’s how many come back.”
With people like Rocky and Miss E running Alex’s Tavern, I can’t imagine there are many people who wouldn’t come back.
Alex’s Tavern is located at 1445 Jackson Avenue.
