So Long, California Orange Bar

The metts rolling in the window across from the Government Square bus terminal have turned their last turn and it’s a damn shame.  The California Orange Bar, an independent African-American-owned lunch counter was more than a place to pick up a spicy brat with extra horse radish and mustard, you could catch up on word-of-mouth news or over hear some pretty hilarious banter between the owner and his regulars while the Wiz pumped over the stereo.  The business fell prey to the expansion of Fountain Square News and the owner’s decision not to settle for an inferior spot—seems most of his business came from the bus stops across the street.   In eulogizing any long-standing eating establishment, the temptation to romanticize can be powerful, but in the case of the Orange Bar, it’s easy to resist.  The food would kill a cardiac patient 0n the spot and would over time prove lethal to any carbon based life form.   There are worse ways to die.  The camaraderie, however, was good for the heart at this small business where all types rubbed elbows, united in their hunger for fried egg-and-sausage sandwiches, cheeseburgers, fish, and, of course, those stumpy, juicy brats and metts.  –Ed Scripsi