Meandering Around Town: Duffy’s Tavern

An Adventure in Which a Former Mayor Continues to Seek the “Soul” of His Hometown.

The Staff Outside Duffy’s Tavern on Red Road, a Regular Hang-Out for Gables Locals. The Interior Is Festooned With Photographs and Memorabilia of All Things South Florida

The historic Tun Tavern in Philadelphia was a meeting place for several notable pre-Revolutionary War political groups, and a favorite “watering hole” for Ben Franklin. It is traditionally regarded as the site where, in 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps held its first recruitment drive. It is also regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Masonic teachings in America.

My ramble this month takes me to the western border of our fair city across Red Road to (if you’ve ever read the sign on the southside of the building) the “Tun Tavern South” – a gathering place for local citizens for almost 90 years. We know it today as “Duffy’s Tavern,” its name since 1955, when Martin Duffy turned a seedy bar (opened in 1937) into a more sophisticated pub restaurant.

Fast forward to 1984 when a young UM grad, Wayne Russell, became manager of this establishment. Then, in 1988, Wayne and business partner Jimmy Fabbricatori (later to become Wayne’s father-in-law), buy the business and start it on the road to its place in the social soul of our community, despite its location (technically) just outside the city.

There are few Gables residents who have not dined or socialized at Duffy’s, and many of us make it a regular “hang-out” for sporting events on the multiple TV screens situated throughout the interior and outside portico (formerly a “Farm Store”). A visit to this pub is akin to touring a museum, with all the walls and ceilings covered with memorabilia featuring local lore and military history.

Groups that call Duffy’s home include St. Teresa’s Men Club (Wayne’s home parish), the Knights of Columbus, the Columbus High School Golf Tournament Committee, the Pan Am Steward- esses (now known as “Flight Attendants”) Alumni, and, more than a few times, the ladies of the Coral Gables Garden Club. Of course, as you may readily guess, this Tavern is also the site of the annual celebration of the Marine Corps birthday!

It should be noted that Duffy’s has also been a valuable substitute dining site at various times, such as when the Biltmore Hotel’s 19th Hole was closed for a couple of years to make way for the new Fairways Restaurant, and when Burger Bob’s on Granada Golf Course was experiencing a restoration project lasting several years (now reopened as The Birdie Bistro).

So, let’s raise a toast to Duffy’s with one of its specially brewed lagers; remember, when you are in a tavern, the drink of choice is beer because “no great story ever started with someone eating a salad!” (Anon.) 

This column appears monthly by Don Slesnick, who served as mayor of Coral Gables from 2001 to 2011. For suggestions on where he should next meander in search of the city’s soul, email to: donslesnick@scllp.com.