Daily Wildcat: Can you tell me a little of the history of The Shelter?

Jeremy Groch: [The] bar opened in 1961 as The Shelter and it’s always been The Shelter.

What is The Shelter known for?
We are definitely known for our martinis and our infused drinks. We have a nice variety of different-flavored martinis, … classic to dirty. We do a couple of infusions too.

How did you come to The Shelter?
I broke up with a girl I had been living with for quite a while and decided to venture out and decided to jog down here one day and been here ever since then.

How long have you been a bartender?
I’ve worked here bartending for 10 years, probably.

In that time, what’s the weirdest, strangest thing you’ve seen go down at the bar?
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you see something again so it’s hard to say. I don’t know. I think the weirdest one was some girl tried to steal my tip that somebody left and she called the cops on me.

On you?
Yeah. Well, she met a guy here on a blind date kind of a thing and he left and she tried to use the tip money that he left to buy herself drinks. I’m like, “No, that’s my money,” so … she calls him, and he calls me back and says, “Dude, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that girl. She found my phone number on the ground, apparently on a card, and just called me.” I told him, “Yeah, she called the cops and tried to take that money that you left me as a tip to buy herself drinks.” He said, “Hell no, I bartended when I went to college. No way would I ever do that.” She called the cops, the cops showed up and tried to make me give the money back to her. … They threw her out.

What is your favorite drink to make?
So many of them. My favorite one to make, by far, I don’t know, it’s hard to say. There’s too many good ones out there. It kind of depends on the person, too, you know? What they like, to make them happy with it. But I always recommend a white Russian. Those are always fun to make and everyone seems to enjoy them. We do a vanilla bean-infused vodka for them. … People are always coming back for them.

What is your favorite drink?
I’m pretty simple. I just like a vodka tonic or a nice cold Newcastle.

_______________

Follow Alex Guyton on Twitter.