# Songs with actual bars and restaurants in the lyrics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301 "2016-02-16T22:50:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/1 "2016-02-16T22:50:36Z")
So I was listening to Guy Clark’s “Dublin Blues” (I wish I was in Austin, mmm-mmm, in the Chili Parlor bar, drinkin’ mad margaritas and not carin’ where you are) and I got to thinking that I might like to take a drive to Austin one day and visit that bar. And drink a mad dog margarita, of course. Are there any other songs that have actual bar or restaurants names in the lyrics? I thought it would be easy, but all I could think of is Warren Zevon’s "Werewolves of London that has two (Lee Ho Fook’s, which is closed now I think, and Trader Vic’s.) James McMurty’s “Choctaw bingo” almost counts, but I think the pop, knife and gun place moved from from Tushka to Joplin. And I don’t think they had a bar. Generic restaurants without the specific locations don’t count, like sucking on chili dogs outside the Tasty Freeze. Where else can I visit and play a song? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/2 "2016-02-16T22:53:57Z")
Talking Heads:The single “Life During Wartime” produced the catchphrase, “This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco.” The song refers to the Mudd Club and CBGB, two popular New York nightclubs of the time ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/3 "2016-02-16T22:55:17Z")
How about “Girls, Girls, Girls” by Mötley Crüe. which references several actual strip clubs that were then in existence? ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/4 "2016-02-16T23:08:01Z")
Less stripperesque: while the “Italian Restaurant” of Billy Joel fame is not explicitly mentioned in the song (Fontana di Trevi on W. 57th in Manhattan, apparently), and which “Parkway Diner” is also not clarified, Elaine’s does get a shout out in his “Big Shot” (I’ve been there, albeit well over a decade ago: not as impressive as you may think). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/5 "2016-02-16T23:15:46Z")
Alice’s Restaurant. There was a recent thread about that. The Copacabana is still an operating nightclub. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/6 "2016-02-16T23:21:59Z")
Don Henley would like to meet you down at the [Sunset Grill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Grill_(restaurant)) (Hollywood, CA) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/7 "2016-02-16T23:25:23Z")
The Commodore Hotel (and bar) in Memphis in “Dixie Chicken” by Little Feet. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/8 "2016-02-16T23:26:38Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Less stripperesque: while the “Italian Restaurant” of Billy Joel fame is not explicitly mentioned in the song (Fontana di Trevi on W. 57th in Manhattan, apparently), I thought it was Luna, on Mulberry. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/9 "2016-02-16T23:30:25Z")
[The Whiffenpoof Song](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Whiffenpoof_Song) is an old standard that qualifies. “To the tables down at Mory’s, To the place where Louis dwells, To the dear old Temple Bar We love so well,” ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/10 "2016-02-16T23:32:29Z")
“Fast Food Song” by The Fast Food Rockers mentions McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/11 "2016-02-17T00:17:23Z")
Suzanne Vega changed the name a little, but “[Tom’s Diner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%27s_Diner)” is Tom’s Restaurant in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/12 "2016-02-17T00:31:33Z")
_[Joe Maguire’s Pub](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21rYuyIATVQ)_-Slim Dusty [Joe Maguire’s Pub](http://www.joemaguirespub.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/13 "2016-02-17T00:34:23Z")
Ben Folds Five, in “Army,” sings a line that says “grew a mustache and a mullet, got a job at Chik-Fil-A.” Billy Joel, in “Big Shot,” says “They were all impressed with your Halston dress, and the people that you knew at [Elaine’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine%27s).” ---
**Author:** ![jerry\_smissingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@jerry\_smissingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerry_smissingfinger)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/14 "2016-02-17T00:36:07Z")
Mikey Houser “She drives me to drink and I drive her to work” references “The Nowhere Bar” in Athens Georgia. Margaritavilles certainly exist now but were not a real place until 1985 approx. 8 years after the song was written. I think this is common knowledge for most but good JB trivia. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/15 "2016-02-17T00:42:22Z")
Blue Oyster Cult’s _Before The Kiss A Redcap_ is about various happenings in the now-defunct Conry’s Bar, where BOC was the house band for a time. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/16 "2016-02-17T00:44:15Z")
[Tipitina’s](http://www.tipitinas.com/) is a famous New Orleans bar/music hall that has a good song by the same name written about it by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Professor Longhair and covered extensively. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBSN7WOPkQ0) ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/17 "2016-02-17T00:45:37Z")
Good. Keep them coming. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/18 "2016-02-17T00:46:05Z")
The Rainbow Bar and Grill on the Sunset Strip is a really popular one: “Somehow I wound up at the Rainbow Bar” - Jimmy Webb, “Crying In My Sleep” “I met a girl at the Rainbow bar” - Warren Zevon “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” “At the Rainbow bar and grill, I’ll drink till I get my fill” - "W.A.S.P., “Sunset and Babylon” “At the Rainbow getting lit” - L.A. Guns, “Vampire” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/19 "2016-02-17T00:54:58Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Beyonce’s singing about Red Lobster in the Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301/20 "2016-02-17T01:15:37Z")
_I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-actual-bars-and-restaurants-in-the-lyrics/746301.md?page=2)