I love being a regular, and I love having regulars. Years spent working behind the bar have taught me the gratification of daily interactions, the thrill of muscle memory taking over when a familiar customer walks in, the pleasure of swapping stories with the patrons who have become friends. I adopted a cat from a regular. I’ve had roommates who started as frequent cafe patrons. I moved coast-to-coast on a whim, following the advice of a customer who was sulking at a cafe I worked at one late night.
Recently, my boyfriend Jesse and I went to Middle Brow Beer Co. in our Chicago neighborhood to get our Christmas tree. It’s the second year in a row that the brewery has sold them. Last year, when we took Jesse’s parents to Middle Brow for pizza, his father caught the eye of the man who was hauling and organizing trees on the patio. He asked a few questions, as any good Minnesotan would, about the Christmas tree business, and if folks had been purchasing. Eventually, he asked, “So, what do you do the rest of the year?” and the man replied, “Oh, well, I’m the owner.”
True to form, Middle Brow’s Pete Ternes was once again setting up trees and trimming trunks this year. As we approached the patio, masks on, he recognized Jesse.
“You’re doing a bread share, I saw, right? If you need a few Dutch ovens, you can borrow some of ours,” he said as he wielded his chainsaw, hacking away at the tree we selected.
I bring everyone I know to Middle Brow. Still, up until that moment, I don’t think I would have called myself a regular: Middle Brow is always busy, and I never want to assume anyone’s taking note of us. But in that interaction, and as we walked off with our tree, I truly felt like we were part of the brewery’s community.
Words + Photo by Ashley Rodriguez