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Editor’s note: The Diamond Grille bartenders featured in this story are named Larry Thomas and Scott Rigger. A previous version of this article had the names incorrect.
It’s another Saturday night at the Diamond Grille.
This Akron institution that dates back to the 1930s is as busy as usual.
The tables and booths are all full.
And a lot of the place’s energy is centered around its long wooden bar.
There’s a lot of tradition at the Diamond Grille, from its steaks that are never frozen and cut in house to the bar where Akron’s notables have had a drink or two for decade after decade.
It doesn’t matter whether they sit at the bar or in a booth. Patron after patron comes by the bar just to say hi and catch up.
It’s like a gathering of old friends and for good reason.
The two bartenders at the Diamond Grille have been around for a long, long time.
The pair have a combined 91 years working behind the bar at the Diamond Grille.
Larry Thomas has been a bartender there for 50 years. And Scott Rigger, who works by his side every Saturday night, has been there for 41 some years.
Owner Katie Stack, who with her husband, John, purchased the steakhouse from Ted and Nick Thomas Jr. in 2017, after Katie had worked there for more than seven years as a waitress, said it wouldn’t be a Saturday night if Larry and Scott were not behind the bar.
Diamond Grille:sign lights up again downtown after getting some TLC
The Diamond Grille is a place that hasn’t changed much over the years, from the wallpaper on the walls to its recently restored signature neon sign out front.
Katie said customers come in on a Saturday night and check to see who’s behind the bar.
“Larry and Scott are still here,” she said. “All is right with the world.”
How it all started
Both bartenders started out in their 20s and never left.
It’s been a good side gig to help pay for everything from cars to houses to tuition for the kids.
The pair share similar stories.
Both are Akron guys, both had other “real” jobs working in the plastics industry for different companies and both had friends with connections to the Diamond Grille that led to getting the bartending jobs.
Looking back, Larry said, he was pretty green when he started.
No pressure for a job whose clientele runs the gambit from blue collar workers to tire executives to PGA golf pros in town to play at Firestone.
Larry said on one of his first nights behind the bar − a Friday the Thirteenth − he kept having a mental block on how to make a Rob Roy cocktail.
Someone kept ordering it that particular night, Larry said, and every time he forgot the ingredients − Scotch whisky and vermouth − and had to keep asking the more well-seasoned bartender for help.
After the umpteenth time of asking, Larry said, the other bartender lost his cool and began shouting.
“‘SCOTCH, SCOTCH, SCOTCH, SCOTCH, SCOTCH!’ he yelled,” Larry recalled. “I never forgot how to make a Rob Roy after that.
“I haven’t made one of those in probably 10 years.”
Scott said his baptism behind the bar was by Scotch, too.
He, too, lucked into the gig.
“I figured I’ve been on the other side of the bar so I think I know how it works,” Scott said.
There was still a bit of a learning curve.
Scott said it was hard not to be star struck by who might walk through the door on any given night, from performers in town like Hall and Oates to golfers like Tiger Woods.
One particular night during the big tournament at Firestone, a pro golfer with a particularly strong Southern drawl came up to the bar and asked for a drink.
Scott said he was a bit puzzled by the order.
“Who orders a vodka and water cocktail?” he recalls asking the other bartender.
But the customer is always right, Scott said, so he made a vodka mixed with water.
Scott said he proudly delivered the drink to the clearly puzzled celebrity.
“I ordered a buh·dwai·zr,” the golfer said.
Scott said he ran and grabbed a Budweiser.
“I told him the vodka and water was for me,” Scott said.
Combined 91 years bartending
Katie said they recently had a party for the pair in the Diamond Grille’s parking lot on a Sunday afternoon when the restaurant is closed.
They invited family and friends, along with the Grille’s regulars. Another Akron institution — Swenson’s — served up burgers and shakes.
“It is like a family here,” she said. “We are all really close.”
Former owner Ted Thomas said he saw probably a “million” bartenders come and go over the years, but somehow Larry and Scott stuck around.
“It’s against the law to keep bartenders this long,” he said.
Larry, who is 72, said he’s enjoyed the friendships he’s forged over the years.
And since he’s retired from his full-time job, Larry said, he has no plans to retire from bartending.
“I’ve got nothing else to do,” he said.
Scott, who is 67, agreed.
“We will be here until we are both in wheelchairs,” he said. “Katie will just have to wheel us around the bar.”
Craig Webb, who regrets not ordering a Rob Roy on his visit to the bar, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com.
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