Allen Sponsors Senate Resolution To Honor Memory Of City Cafe Owner Joe Barger

NORTHPORT, AL — A West Alabama lawmaker has sponsored a Senate resolution to honor the memory of the late Joe Barger, who owned and operated City Cafe for decades and died in October at the age of 75.

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State Sen. Gerald Allen, a Republican from Tuscaloosa, presented the resolution to Barger's daughter Geanie Brown and his grandson Nick Brown on Friday after the breakfast rush slowed at the restaurant.

"One of the things that highlights this place is it's a well-respected landmark and everywhere I go when I visit other parts of the state and run into people, they will ask how the City Cafe is doing," Allen told Patch. "The qualities that Joe had, the way he operated, the way he treated people, the way he made sure that when you left this place that you were taken care of, well-fed, happy and satisfied. He started here when he was in high school, bussing tables, and now look what he's done here."

Barger first began working at City Cafe while he was a senior at Tuscaloosa County High School, reporting for work at 3 a.m. most mornings to bus tables. He and his wife Mary went on to purchase the popular eatery in 1974.

The restaurant — a frequent choice for the legendary Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant — became a local institution under Barger's leadership as it grew from one dining room into a bustling restaurant with three dining rooms.

"It's not easy but it's such a blessing for him to be remembered in this kind of way because he was such a generous man and a kind-hearted person," Geanie Brown told Patch after receiving the framed resolution. "We've had so many people come in and tell stories of how he affected them and interacted with them. I would have never expected this because Dad was so humble. He taught us that you work hard, do honest work and that's how you make it in life. That's how he worked, treat everybody the same and do the right thing, always."

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