Someone much smarter than myself once said, “all good things must come to an end." This is a fact of life. We may not particularly enjoy when good things come to an end, but it is bound to happen eventually. Such is life.
Come the end of this month, a true Auburn landmark will be closing its doors for good. The quaint little bar on the corner of College and Magnolia known as The Bank Vault, or Bodega to its longtime loyal customers, will serve its final customer sometime in the early morning hours of May 31. To those of us who have been faithful patrons, it is a sad day. This watering hole is unlike any other drinking establishment on The Plains. It truly has that small town, hole in the wall, dive bar feel, even in a town of 26,000 college students. It may not have the wild party atmosphere of Skybar, Bourbon Street or Quixotes, and it lacks the sophistication of Avondale and The Hound, but there is just something special about that place, its dedicated and loyal customers, and its top-notch employees.
To accurately sum up the “vibe" or “feel" of Bodega, and yes it is now, and forever more will be called Bodega. While I may not have been in college during that tenure, I most certainly remember, as a kid, the first thing I would see when I would come through town on a busy gameday was that simple little blue and white sign that read “Bodega", across from Toomers Corner. Anyway, to accurately sum up Bodega could take me weeks. I will simply say this: in my experience, there are two events that would most accurately sum up the atmosphere at Bodega: Taco Tuesdays and Auburn Football games under the tent.
Taco Tuesdays are arguably Bodegas most famous event. $1 tacos and $2 wells attract more broke hungry college kids than just about anything else I can think of. While the tacos are great and the drinks are cheap, that alone does not keep everyone coming back. The ability to sit around a table with your closest friends and enjoy not only tacos and drinks, but the camaraderie that comes with it. Nowhere else in Auburn can you have that. Not to mention, it has become a rite of passage for every newly minted 21 year old to attend their first Taco Tuesday, and have an absolute blast while they do it.
Auburn Football runs this town, there's no doubt about it. I will argue that, aside from Jordan-Hare Stadium, there is no better place to watch the game than under the big white tent at Bodega. The drinks are cold, the fans are rabid, and the victory tastes so much sweeter when christened with a Sunkist Bomb.
When I began to formulate how I was going to write this article, an idea came into my head. “What better way to sum up Bodega than by asking some of its most loyal customers about their fondest memories (or lack thereof) and how they feel about their precious Bodega closing its doors for good? I contacted two alumni from my fraternity who fit that description perfectly. Jonathan Fiel, class of 2013, and Ryan Torpey, class of 2014, and here is what they told me:
Jonathan Fiel: “The main call of The Bar Formerly Known as Bodega was that it provided a place to get away from the more club like atmosphere provided by Sky Bar Café, or Quixotes, and the like, to more actual bar setting for the Auburn populace. To me it had the feel of a small town local watering hole than anywhere else in the Auburn area. Countless nights were spent there just relaxing and having actual conversations with people, without having to yell over the loud music of other places on the Plains."
Ryan Torpey: “I can equate the loss of Bodega to the cutting down of the Toomer's trees. That's a lofty comparison to make, but personally it rings true. Much like the trees, Bodega is where I would go to celebrate a win and where I could always view others at the corner joyously doing the same. I'll be just as sad May 30th as I was when the trees went down. Bodega was a bar in the truest sense of the word; a place to go and enjoy an adult beverage, or twelve, but it was also a place to gather at. Evenings were started there, friendships solidified and memories reminisced about. It was the only bar in town where I would walk in for a drink, and regardless of who was there, I felt at home. That's because the people who worked there weren't just employees, they were friends. I'm not Norm and this wasn't the “Cheers" bar, but I'll be damned if I ever find something closer to it."
These sentiments shared with me by Jonathan and Ryan are shared by so many loyal customers, including myself. This place really is something special, and it deserves a proper sendoff. I implore those of you who are of age and able to make it down to Auburn on Saturday, May 30th, to come on in to that quaint little bar on the corner. I promise you that you will not regret it.
Cheers, Bodega.
War Eagle, Y'all.
