Mahuffer’s Bar, located at 19201 Gulf Blvd, Indian Shores, FL, is owned by Lynn Rogacki, and offers a dive-bar experience unlike any you’ve encountered. Despite the sign out front stating, “wurst place on the beech” and the wild décor, Mahuffer’s is a no-nonsense bar when it comes to drinks—ask about their specialties, and they’ll tell you their specialties are tequila shots. Seating varies, and includes church pews, and every kind of couch, love-seat, rocker, stool, and stump.
Dollar bills paper all the walls, signed and scrawled on by patrons when they pass through. Bras and underwear hang from the ceiling like bats. Of those three options, I opt to leave a dollar bill behind. How else to describe this place? Maybe as the original owner, John Susor, did: “the backside of paradise.” Mahuffer’s bar is the paragon of dive-bars, a must visit, with a wheeling vibe exceeded only by the history and character of John Susor.
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Big Hats and Cadillacs
When she was a kid, one bar patron recalls regularly seeing John Susor, the original owner, drive around a Cadillac with no doors, wearing an enormous white hat. John was married 9 times. He ran for mayor in 1990; he didn’t win. He was written up for numerous building code violations. Sued, and was sued by, the town. But undoubtedly beloved by many in the community, as is his legacy, Mahuffer’s Bar.
I invited two friends to Mahuffer’s Bar that are obsessed with the paranormal, so of course they ask the bartender if it’s haunted. The bartender, D, thinks it is. The ashes of numerous people reside here. D believes one of the ghosts is John Susor, and the other, John’s grandson, Mike (Mikey) Rogacki, who managed the bar after John. Like his grandfather, Mikey was an eccentric, humorist, and living monument. But Mikey donned different duds than his grandfather, sported a different ride, too—Mikey rode a motorcycle wearing a hotdog suit. Sadly, Mikey passed away at age 32.
Hauntings and Hotdog Tattoos
In remembrance of Mikey, D has a tattoo of a hotdog. 14 others have a similar hotdog tattoo, testifying to how familial and loyal the employees and patrons of Mahuffer’s Bar are. “Once you come in, you never leave,” says D. “We’re a tight knit group.” True. Everyone that passes through Mahuffer’s Bar leaves something behind, signed dollars on the walls, bras, and underwear. Or else their spirit lingers, like Mikey’s and John’s, hanging with the crowd, waiting for the next round.
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