NIGHT SHIF T BLIND BUTCHER

“My wife works during the day, and I work at night. We don’t have any babysitters. I get to spend time with my family — my kids more so than my wife. It’s a little hard, but it’s either that or spend thousands of dollars a year on childcare.”

At first glance it seems like a thin crowd, but actually Blind Butcher on Lowest Greenville, a bar that prides itself on craft cocktails, beers and bites, is unusually crowded for a Tuesday night with about 20 or so people clustered here and there. The lights are dim and guests have to shout to hear each other over Snow Patrol blasting over the speakers. It’s a typical bar scene, as a couple canoodles in the corner, two young women at the bar engage in an intense conversation while sipping wine, and a table of friends banter loudly on the front patio.

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Two men saunter up to the bar, greeting bartender Stephanie Roethlisberger with a “Hello, how are you?" Roethlisberger replies, "Wonderful!" She says it dramatically, raising her hands like she's saying "Hallelujah!"

Roethlisberger has been bartending for 11 years, she says: "I have a degree in chemistry, but I still like this better.” She started at Blind Butcher just a month or two after it opened, but she worked for Goodfriend, Blind Butcher’s sister bar, since it first opened.

The two men have been scanning the drink menu and finally decide what they want. Tim

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Feutz, the closing manager on duty, places two bottles on the counter, reaches back and pulls his bottle opener from his back pocket, spins it around his finger and whips the bottle tops off in a snap.

Most of the people who patronize Blind Butcher during the week are neighborhood folks who walk to Lowest Greenville and walk home, Feutz explains, although tonight’s crowd is full of unfamiliar faces. The other half is made up of people who work in bars or restaurants along the avenue, most of which close at midnight or earlier.

A guy walks up to Feutz and gives him a hearty handshake. The guy is Zach Potts, a bartender at Remedy, and he’s still dressed for work in a button-down shirt and tie. "This place is the block-wide hangout,” Potts says, while he waits for his beer. This is the part of the job Feutz enjoys. “I enjoy talking to people and meeting people,” he says. “Even though I see the same people a lot, I see different people every night. Every night is different.”

A guy in a stone-washed denim jacket straight out of the ‘90s, with black rimmed glasses and a backwards hat, approaches the bar to pay his tab. He leaves $15 in cash on the bar.

A crowd gathers near the door. Seven guys all face one girl who is leaning on the end of the bar, sipping on a drink and talking over her shoulder with one of the guys. Tim distributes a round of drinks — mostly vodka and whiskey. “They’re all restaurant people from Remedy or HG [Sply Co.], so they’re all drinking straight stuff,” Feutz says. “They’re not drinking Alabama slammers or anything.”

The music stops. By this point the room is mostly empty, and the bar-back starts putting chairs on tables.

Lights go up and the last people make their way to the door as Roethlisberger and Feutz start packing up the condiments. “They know to leave,” Feutz says. “Those girls over there are waiting on an Uber. If it was full I’d have to ask people to leave.” —Brittany Nunn

“John was the Loan Originator for the purchase of my new home. He is knowledgeable about mortgage loans and provides options and detailed information. He is a problem solver. Most importantly to me was that he ALWAYS responded to your email/phone calls in a timely manner whether in the office or in the field. As a buyer you are anxious in the processing of the loan and John kept me informed on each step in the process. John earned my trust.”

– Joe F., Dallas, TX