MAXINE’S TAP ROOM: A LIVING HISTORY

By Sarah Coleman

In 1950, Maxine Miller was a single woman living in Fayetteville, a bustling college town nestled in the rolling hills of the Ozarks. After borrowing money from her parents, she opened a bar, Maxine’s Tap Room, which has become one of Fayetteville’s iconic downtown spots.

For a woman in the 1950s, borrowing money to open a business was a brave move. And as Maxine’s became part of the local tapestry, Miller became known as a shrewd businesswoman who also was the cashier behind the counter every day from open until close. According to local legend, Miller was a great dominoes player and enforced the bar rules to regulars and guests alike. And she became locally famous for her daily last call: “May I have your attention, please. You have 10 minutes to drink, and get the hell out.”

Miller died in 2006 at 82, but Maxine’s Taproom stands as a memorial of sorts, harkening back to past decades. Current owners Hannah Withers and her husband, Ben Gitchel, view their roles as keeping Miller’s name and legacy alive, and they collaborate with Andrea Foren, Miller’s great-niece, to do so.

“We are honored to partner with Maxine’s family as caretakers of a place named after a woman who affected, and was adored, by many,” Withers said. “The longer we’re here, the more stories we hear from the many different eras of Maxine’s Tap Room, and we strive to continue the stories and memories made in this very spot with live music, drinks and friends.”

The duo first became familiar with Maxine’s Tap Room during the 14-year period they owned Little Bread Company, located across the street from the bar. During this time, they met Foren, as many Block Avenue businesses were working with each other to host the annual Block Street Block Party.

“When you work in a bakery, you work really early hours. We would get to our place at 2 a.m. and leave at 2 p.m., and Maxine’s really was the only place open when we were there,” Withers said. “We started hanging out there with our staff from Little Bread Company and we made a lot of memories there.”

Ever since Withers and Gitchel bought the landmark bar, they’ve tried to leave their own mark on the Maxine’s lore with a focus on classic and craft cocktails.

“We decided that it made sense to do a throwback to the time that Maxine opened the bar in 1950, and we started with eight classic cocktails that all did really well. It has grown and evolved, snowballing into what it is now,” Withers said.

Currently, the menu includes about 20 cocktails at any given time on both the classic and custom menus. Maxine’s team of bartenders works together to introduce new cocktails, jurying them together and making collective decisions, a process

Withers credits for creating a diverse menu.

Though Withers and Gitchel are the current owners, they recognize that the bar will always truly belong to Miller.

“It’s a really cool thing to see so many people bring stories about Maxine’s to us. From ex-employees to parents and students on Alumni Weekend, we hear about so many things that have happened in this space,” Withers said. “This building is a living, breathing thing that has almost nothing to do with us, and our job is to keep Maxine’s relevant and to continue to help the bar resonate with the community.”

The bar was remodeled in 2013, but still contains just as much charm as it did when it was first opened 73 years ago. Withers said Maxine’s has almost a museum feel, capturing the essence of Fayetteville throughout the decades. And in homage to Miller, many of the bar’s original fixtures remain in the building and the walls are decorated with photos of Miller throughout her life.

“One of the best stories about Maxine that I heard was from Mike Malone,” Withers said. “He told the story that his uncle David, who owned Bob’s Photography next door to Maxine’s, would tell him. He said, ‘David and his friends would stop by for happy hour and grab a bag of Fritos for themselves and one for Maxine. She would sit on a bar stool, open the bag of chips and lift it into the ceiling to feed a raccoon trapped in the ceiling.’ We now have a stuffed raccoon that is placed in the ceiling over the front door.”

Maxine’s was always been a popular spot, even before Block Avenue became home to so many dining and shopping destinations. And the new owners want to ensure that Maxine’s remains an integral part of the Block Street experience.

“I love that Block Avenue, while it’s changed really quickly, has always been off the main drag of downtown. We are on this sort of in-between Dickson Street and the square, and so because of that, I think a lot of college students don’t really discover us until maybe their senior year, or when they’re graduate students,” Withers said. “It’s always drawn on an older crowd, and I think the last couple of years has been the first time we’ve really seen a consistent demographic of 21- and 22-year-olds at Maxine’s.”

This phenomenon has been interesting to watch, she said, and also revealed how many customer evolutions Miller must have seen in the 63 years she maintained the space. Withers and Gitchel seemingly are as concerned with archiving the history of Maxine’s Tap Room as they are creating new cocktails.

“My husband and I have started our own businesses from scratch, and both of those are owned by other people who we were happy to pass the torch to,” Withers said. “I think that the fact that Maxine’s bar is still here, and that people are still telling stories about the way it used to be, shows us just how important places like bars and restaurants can be in our social culture downtown.”

Foren and the owners have also been working to provide an endowed scholarship in Miller’s name at the University of Arkansas. They started a crowdfunding campaign for the scholarship in May, and according to Withers, the scholarship is close to being endowed. The scholarship includes a partnership with Dr. Lisa Corrigan from the Gender Studies Department at the university.

“I think that it’s a really honorable way to honor a small business owner. Maxine was a community cornerstone for a lot of people,” Withers said.

Recently, Maxine’s partnered with Ozark Beer Company of Rogers for a crowdfunding event in May. The brewery made a legacy lager in Maxine’s name and hosted a few different events in the bar, raising close to $35,000. According to Withers, they are already planning another crowdfunding event next year, and are hoping to have the scholarship fully endowed in a year. The culture may be changing in Fayetteville but for now, several businesses are working hard to preserve the history of the people who have helped shape the city into what it is today.

“It’s important that people understand the history of our town,” Withers said. “A lot of buildings are changing or are going away, and I think it’s nice to support people who are trying to preserve the integrity of how Fayetteville was a long time ago.

“We’re watching a really good shift in our culture and within the attendance of the university, and I would encourage people to support local music, local businesses and places that make Fayetteville feel like Fayetteville. There’s a reason it is so attractive to all of the people moving here now, and we want to retain as much of that magic as possible.”