Donna Joiner, bartender at Brown’s Wyoming Tavern
Even though it’s tucked away on a side street along the railroad tracks, the Wyoming Tavern gets a lot of foot traffic. The local institution, known to many simply as “Brown’s,” is a classic hometown pub with a few pool tables, a TV in every room and plenty of cold draft beer. Most nights, 17-year Brown’s veteran Donna Joiner is behind the bar.
Q: Do you like you job?
A: Most of the time I do; there are times when it can be very stressful. But I like to meet the people and the locals and those people who have been coming here as long as I’ve been here.
Q: What’s special about Brown’s?
A: We’re family. You know when people’s birthdays are, when they have a new birth in the family. We spend birthdays together; it’s a family atmosphere. You bond and there’s times when you act like family and you don’t get along very well. Kirk [Brown] is easy to work for; he’s a good man. He makes your job easy and he just wants you to do what you’re supposed to be doing, and we all get along.
Q: As a bartender, is there any particular behavior that really ticks you off?
A: It’s the person who doesn’t get it. They think they’re here to get drunk and not patronize us any other time, and not leave a tip at all and make your life miserable. Those people need to stay put, but they don’t visit very often.
Q: Does the Wyoming Tavern have a signature drink?
A: It’s the Goose Egg and it’s been around here for years. We used to make them by the pitcher, but with the laws the way they are and with us wanting you to be able to get home, we just do them by the drink now. It’s brandy, Triple Sec, rum and pineapple juice. If you like pineapple, there you go. The Goose Egg is what you have if you’re a local and if you’ve been coming here for a while. Even the kids come in and say, ‘I want to try the Goose Egg.’ You were waiting on these people’s parents and here they are coming in.
