Every town has a bar to remember - a bar that is a bit smelly, a bit run down and a bit out of the ordinary. Every time you walk through the doors of this bar, whether you were there just last night or not since last year, it is a reunion of family, friends and lovers. This is the bar where the old cliché still rings true: "everybody knows your name." Welcome to Long Wong's, Tempe's hometown bar.
Long Wong's opened up in the early '80s with a small vision and has continued to thrive through almost two decades with a huge heart. The bar began with a small countertop for serving food and a cooler for beer. Now, almost 20 years later, the countertop still exists with a cooler twice the size, surrounded by walls that hold many memories and years of documented history. The patrons, the staff and the musical talent that have passed through Wong's, and sometimes stayed, have created an amazing place where the only criteria you need to walk in the front door is a laid-back agenda of drinking beer and having fun.
In 1998, Long Wong's was so appealing to me, I decided to become an insider. I wanted to wear the shirt offering the appropriate slogan, "Hot Wings, Cold Beer & Live Music." I wanted to sling wings and talk trash to drunken patrons. I wanted to listen to really loud music every single night. I wanted a job.
I not only got all the things I wanted so bad, but I also acquired a new family of friends that wanted me right back. I found a niche that occupied my nights, kept me entertained and helped pay my bills - almost.
According to long-time Long Wong's veteran Jeff Jamieson, "It doesn't matter if you come here (Long Wong's) every night or if you are here for the very first time. You will be greeted with a smile and treated like family. That's what's so cool about this place."
During my time at Long Wong's, the family I thought we had created was actually a family that had already existed before I came into the picture and continued to exist long after I left. The most amazing attribute of the Long Wong's family is the way it extends its arms to anyone who will extend their arms right back.
For this reason, the old stomping ground on the corner of Mill Avenue and Seventh Street is home to many Tempe residents. It is one of the raunchiest, most exciting and spectacular sights Tempe has ever seen. Wong's has kept its character from the time that patrons could throw rocks at the old hole-in-the-wall, Six East (The Beast), across the street, until now.
Long Wong's is a landmark, not only because of the people, the food and the building, but because of the music as well. Having seen bands such as the Gin Blossoms, the Peacemakers and other amazing local talent take the stage and fill the bar (and occasionally the streets) with music night after night is an incredible feat. General Manager and Talent Coordinator Sara Cina has worked for Long Wong's for more than a decade. Cina books bands and keeps the patrons watching them. Many pay tribute to Cina on stage or within their own musical compilations, sometimes called albums.
Cina wishes she had a tape-recorded statement for all the curious patrons that would like to know the fate of this 'mom-and-pop' bar. According to Cina, the bar will close down April 2004 and reopen in the same location. The building that Long Wong's is currently in will no longer exist, but will be replaced with something 'new and improved,' relatively speaking.
"Long Wong's does not make the band, the band makes Long Wong's," Cina says about her beloved influx of talent. "Not me or this building, but them and their talent. That's what makes it."
Before Mill turned into the "cookie-cutter" existence that it is today, Long Wong's used to be one, among many eclectic and unique bars that thrived downtown. Beeloe's, Balboa's and Gibson's combined the atmospheres of bars and music venues, displayed the work of local artists and supplied homes to the local music talent. These bars added to the musical creativity and nursed the culture of the downtown area. Since these bars have closed, the weight of the music scene rests on the few survivors that offer live music. The Sail Inn and The Library are the few bars that exist in a centralized area that offer music on a consistent basis and Wong's was the only bar left on Mill that has bands every night of the week.
Cina says the music scene in downtown Tempe is devastating and sad. "It doesn't help us that there are no other places that provide music downtown, it only hurts the music scene all together. We don't consider it to be competition when another establishment plays music. We consider it to be an extension of the creative atmosphere. The musicians need creativity to thrive," Cina says.
According to Cina, even if there were a few interested pioneers that wanted to open a live jazz bar downtown, they would need the backing of a Rockefeller to get started. Leases for building space in combination with capital to start a business in downtown Tempe are so horrendous that only the rich survive.
"It is really hard to be a band these days in this area," Cina says while shaking her head. "There is nowhere to play."
Mike Hopkins, bouncer and long-time Wong's patron says, "People that know this place and come to this place, love this place. People have come up to me and said, 'what about my name, my name has been on Wong's wall for 10 years.' All I can say is, 'no, buddy, it's going, going, gone'."
It will be a sad day when Tempe has to say goodbye to the old Long Wong's, but according to Cina, there will be quite a send-off.
Much like the favorite drink of an old-time bar, Hopkins says, "Long Wong's is the whiskey of Arizona."
Cheers, Long Wong's.
Reach the reporter at christina.chomut@asu.edu.
