The traditional Fourth of July gathering of Nordheimians at the Broadway Bar & Grill is displaced this year due to the restaurant’s abrupt closure. The community will gather at the Jubilee Park, but it’s not the same.
The historic watering hole with a family atmosphere has held monthly community suppers along with the yearly Fourth of July gatherings for decades. It also attracted visitors from as far away as Scotland, Australia and Switzerland for the history, good food and music.
On its Facebook page the Voelkel family, who reopened the landmark in 2002, posted on June 4 that they were “having a pretty tough time running this family-owned business.” They were going to take the week off and re-open on June 11.
Then on June 13, the state comptroller’s office seized the building “for nonpayment of taxes owed the State of Texas.”
The restaurant has since halted utilities, and the community had its monthly supper at the Jubilee Park.
The first business at the site, according to a 2012 Victoria Advocate article, was a hardware store opened in 1911. J.A. Ruesser opened a bar at the site in 1933. Legend has it, he traded two cows for the bar back mirror, the long counter and the brass foot rail.
The physical bar was first assembled in Germany, according to a history by Elsa Leister, and carried by wagon to the Nordheim area. It was first used in a Mexican Saloon and then in a confection store and pool room run by C.W. Voelkel and Lawrence Schultz. The bar was also featured in the 1984 movie “Paris, Texas.”
Previous owner Elo Pfeifer ran the bar in the 1950s, saying his beer cost 10-cents a glass.
With the re-opening in 2002, the bar had restroom, electrical and air-conditioning updates as well as a beer garden addition. Other activities included shuffle board, billiards and dominoes.
It was the place to be. Whether The Broadway will reopen with either the current owners or new ones is uncertain. What is certain this Fourth of July is the memory of the generosity of the Voelkels and many July 4th celebrations hosted by the Broadway Bar & Grill.
