The establishment once had a wagon wheel lighting fixtures over the bar and one customer used to bring his pet Boa Constrictor and place him in one of them. He would then wait for another patron of Bernie’s Bar in Clearview to realize what was resting above him.
“It was always pretty funny when they did,” recalled Mickey Cupp, a 75-year-old resident who lives nearby. “But that was a lot of years ago. No one could get away with a prank like that these days.”
Bernie’s Bar opened as a small tavern in 1959 along Highland Road and has been owned by Gary “Max” Maxwell, Sr. since 2012. The bar is now more an eatery than before in its history, but Cupp made the place something of a nightly tradition in his young years. That is because every night for 25 years, from 9-11 p.m., Cupp would have a few beers with his friends.
“And if it was open on one of the holidays, I would still come up,” Cupp said. “But one evening in 1996, I went home after being at Bernie’s and I said to my wife that I was going to quit drinking. She didn’t believe me, but then I went another 25 years without a beer. That is until Scott Mumper moved home after his service to our country, and that’s when I started coming back.
“When I lived in Warwood, I did not come up here for a few beers,” he said. “But then we moved up here to Clearview and it was very convenient because, for me, it was a very short trip. The people here have always been a very friendly place. I grew up here in Clearview and my parents would bring me here when I was a kid. I do have a lot of memories from Bernie’s, that’s for sure.”
Friends Then, Friends Now
For 27 years, Mumper was employed as a special agent for the federal government, and before that tenure, he served the United States Air Force. Like Cupp, Mumper was raised in Clearview so when he decided he would move home following his retirement, his old stomping grounds were a no-brainer.
“I loved growing up here in Clearview so why not truly come home? It really was an easy decision,” he said. “But what made it better were the neighbors living here now, and going to Bernie’s made it really easy to meet everyone. Now Mick, well, he was different because I met him through the Ohio Valley Street Survivors car club, but it didn’t take him long to come to Bernie’s for a beer.”
Why? After 25 years? Just because of Mumper?
Naw. It truly was curiosity that provoked Cupp to return.
“Well, Bernie’s is a landmark here in Clearview,” he explained. “Most of the residents in Clearview frequent this place because the beer is always real cold, the food is very good, and the people are good people. Through the years, Bernie’s has changed in a lot of ways, but it’s still a family-run establishment and that, to me, is a good thing.
“When a family runs a place like this, they take care of you and they make everything is OK whether it involves a drink or the food,” Cupp explained. “When I first told my wife Ruby I was coming up with Scott, she didn’t have a problem with it because she knew I wanted to come see the place.”
Bernie’s Bar the Same but Different
The front door is in the same place, but there’s an enclosed deck area Maxwell added to the front of the structure. There’s more than a fryer in the kitchen these days, too, and those wagon wheel lighting fixtures have been replaced.
But a neighborhood bar-and-now-grill is what Maxwell purchased nearly nine years ago, and that’s how he plans to keep it.
“Bernie’s Bar is just a local bar that gives people a place to socialize, have a good time, and eat great food,” said the owner. “That’s always been the goal here even before I owned it. Now, we have stepped up on the food business and we also added on to the building.
“We’ve also done some remodeling and modernizing the place,” he continued. “I bought Bernie’s in 2012 because I like and bar business. It’s in my blood. I have owned and operated seven or eight bars during my life, but I also have had full-time jobs at the same time.”
One lesson Maxwell has learned during his bar-biz career determined his menu expansion.
“I can remember back in the ‘lounge days’ during the 1970s and 1980s, not a lot of bars had food. Maybe they had potato chips or pretzels or pizza because, by law, the owners did have to have some kind of food and those things got you by,” Maxwell recalled. “But these days, it’s much different now and that’s why we have several items on our menu. Food is where it’s at.
“Of course, we have our monthly wing nights, but we also have burgers and hoagies,” he said. “Our customers love the wing nights because we sell a lot of them, but a lot of people really like our steak hoagies and our Coleman’s fish sandwiches.”
Bernie’s IS Bernie’s
The bar rests high above the Upper Ohio Valley, and when the sky allows, the sunsets are sensational for the 500 or so residents of Clearview. During those early evenings, most of the patrons at Bernie’s empty into the large parking lot for the beautiful view.
It is during those times, though, when the customers wonder aloud if a future expansion might take place since the establishment sits on such a large lot.
What say the owner?
“I don’t think Bernie’s could get any bigger than it is right now. You can only seat so many people, and we would have to add a deck or something,” Maxwell said. “You have to ask yourself if it’s worth the investment, and right now, it’s not because we’re all still bouncing back from the pandemic. So, at this point, Bernie’s will stay the way it is. It’s a neighborhood bar, through and through.
“I’ve learned over the years that if you can employ a few people, and make a little money, that’s really all you need. But that also means you have to have priorities and cleanliness should be a top priority when you own a bar, and you have to realize the service and the prices make a big difference to your customers,” he added. “Those are the three biggest things, but the food is up there, too, because if the food is good, there’s more revenue and people usually will stay longer to they can get something to eat.”
