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Ulrich's Tavern
== 140 Years of Ethnic, Saloon and Buffalo History Buffalo NY Oldest Tavern

Ulrich’s Tavern 140 Years of Ethnic, Saloon and Buffalo History Buffalo NY Oldest Tavern

1868-1900 The Early Years
In the fall of 1868, Fredrick Schrerier, a young German immigrant, opened a grocery-saloon on the southwest corner of Ellicott and Virginia streets in Buffalo, New York. At the time, the neighborhood surrounding the saloon was fast becoming both a fashionable German enclave and the center of Buffalo's brewing industry. Five major breweries were within a few blocks of Ulrich’s; Buffalo Co-Op at High at Michigan, Empire at Main and Burton, German-America at Main and High, Christian Weyand at Main and Goddell, and the Ziegele Brewing at Main and Virginia. The first Lager Beer in Buffalo was brewed about 100 yards from Ulrich’s by Albert Ziegele, at Main and Virginia streets in the early 1850's.      The neighborhood consisted of houses of well to do Germans, Buffalo first baseball field at Main and Virginia ( Buffalo Niagara's Club) and Buffalo General Hospital and University Medical School along with IRC Street Car headquarters and horse barn. Buffalo was an exciting post Civil War boomtown, fed by German immigrants that settled Buffalo's East Side. Imagine a tree lined, young bustling neighborhood, filled with a constant smell of the damp sweetness of malt and the bitter edge of hops, the endless horse drawn beer wagons and the constant chatter of German being spoken. You stand a better chance of someone understanding English in Munich, Germany today, than at the corner of Ellicott and Virginia streets in Buffalo in 1868. Ulrich’s' brick bar room stood then, as it does today, along with the dining room. It was a place where one could buy anything from soap to sausage, where local beer, be it Ziegele's Lager or Weyand's Munich dark, was served in house or taken home in a pail. The next 35 years would bring seven different owners. The grocery part of the operation would be dropped in 1883, as Ulrich’s became a tied house. A partnership was forged between the brewers and saloonkeepers. The saloon was the brewer’s lifeblood. From the late 19th century till the start of prohibition (1920) saloons were the #1 outlet for beer in America. It was either drank on premise or taken home in Growlers (small tin pails). Many people ask why was there 3 or 4 saloons on every busy corner. At first brewers competed for saloon business with a price war against one another, but soon brewers called a truce to this practice. They set up a trade association to set price guidelines. The breweries took advantage of a young eager immigrant labor pool, which only lacked capital to be successful. The breweries offered store fronts and bars fixtures to lease as well a interest free credit for beer in exchange for the saloonkeeper to become an exclusive agent for that brewery. It is believed that at least 75% of all saloons in America were tied house’s in late 19th and early 20th century. Brewers owned 70 million dollars worth of saloon property in the United States by 1910. This lead to 3 and 4 saloons on each corner, each selling only it’s brewery’s beer (tied house being tied to a certain brewery) beer of a different brewery The upstairs would become a hotel in 1896 to comply with the New York State Raines Law. This 1896 law prohibited saloons from serving drinks on Sunday,''' and only allowed hotels with 10 rooms to have alcohol on Sundays. This anti immigrant law was side stepped by most ethnic saloons of the time by renting rooms, thus becoming a Raines Hotel in the lingo of the day. (The extra rooms were used for prostitution in some places) The law also stated that that food most be served to each patron to drink on Sundays. The Raines sandwich was invented, two pieces of white bread with nothing in it. Teddy Roosevelt as police commissioner of New York City in the late 1890’s closed many Raines Hotels for violating vice laws. Renting rooms to the nearby brewery workers. Ulrich’s would become a tied house, (o serving only that brewery's beer for the next 25 years, until 1910. Two different breweries owned the bar; The Christian Weyand Brewery, which stood where the Courier Express building stands today and the Ziegele Brewing Company, part of which remains directly behind Ulrich's at Washington and Virginia Streets. A Barber Shop was located in what is now the beer storeroom, from the early 1880's to 1919. George Fromholtz ran it. The old adage there is no such thing as a free lunch is not true.. In this time period (late 19th century) almost every saloon offered a free lunch with one string attached you must drink. Items on free lunch buffet in Buffalo would have included, blood sausage, sardines,, pickled pig feet, herring, and salty ham and pickled eggs all to enhance ones appetite for beer. The only rule was you must buy drinks to keep eating. Bouncers watched the patrons and would give the bum’s rush to a free loader who didn’t buy beer. It is said that saloons feed more down and outers then all the charities combined. By paying a small price, usually a nickel, a man down on his luck could eat a good meal and not have to look for charity. Thus keeping his pride and dignity while getting nourishment. This practice lasted till World War I when the practice came under fire for flouting food conservation policies, and for some how being part of a German conspiracy to undermine American values. The German tradition was continued by the following seven owners; Miller, Nayser, Martzlufft, Schuhman, Fischer, Theuer and Dobmeier, all of whom were born in Germany and had ties to Buffalo's brewing industry. George Dobmeier's son, George Jr., founded Dobmeier's Janitorial Supply Co.

Mike Ulrich 1906-1946
Insert non-formatted text here In the year 1906, a 30-year-old man took over the saloon, giving it his name, Michael Ulrich. He had come to Buffalo at age 14 from southern Germany and had been a beer wagon driver for the Rochevot Brewery on Jefferson Avenue and the treasurer for the brewery workers union. Ulrich served potato pancakes to President Grover Cleveland while working at the Niagara Hotel in 1893. Four years later President Cleveland returned to the Hotel and wanted Ulrich's pancakes, when told he no longer worked there, Cleveland had the Secret Service track down and bring back Mr. Ulrich to make potato pancakes. Mike was delivering beer on the Pan American grounds at the time of the President William McKinley’s assassination. For the next forty years, Ulrich’s was a rendezvous for political bigwigs as well as the literati and celebrated persons of the time in Buffalo. Mike Ulrich's Saloon quickly became the political and social center of Buffalo's German community. A staunch Republican in local politics, Mike Ulrich's Saloon was known as the Republican Clubhouse. Despite this fact, many local Democrats frequented the establishment and called Mike a close friend. Democrat Governor Al Smith ate dinner at Ulrich’s during his 1928 Presidential Campaign.''' In 1910, Mike Ulrich bought the saloon outright from the Ziegele Brewery, renaming it Michael Ulrich's Sample Room. For the first time, any beer could be sold in the saloon. If there was a German festival anywhere in the county, it was probable that Mike Ulrich catered the bar. Insert non-formatted text here

== Prohibition 1920-1933

==Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the production, sale, and transport of "intoxicating liquors

Prohibition changed Ulrich’s' look but not its function. The downstairs became a delicatessen and restaurant. The barbershop and upstairs hotel were closed and the second floor became a private speakeasy for the political and newspaper community known as the Hasenpfeffer Club. (The most famous guest of the Hasenpfeffer club was baseball great Babe Ruth who ate and drink before a barnstorming game in October of 1921. Where the Bambino is credited with naming the house sausage a Hot Buffalo in reference to an Ulrich's waitress.)Other famous Hasenpfeffer Club patrons were 1928 Democratic Presidential candidate NY Governor Al Smith and in 1920 Senator Hiram Johnson of California a front runner for the Republican national ticket' Ulrich's had many names during prohibition, Ulrich Soda Pop Emporium- Ulrich Sausage Factory, Ulrich Delicatessen & Grocery, Ulrich Restaurant. The Sausage Factory in the early 1920's advertised "Dainty things to Eat" Hot Buffalo's(a veal sausage with speck German bacon bits) were 40 cents a pound while pork sausage went for 25 cents, Over a dozen Buffalo restaurants carried Ulrich's sausage Dinners were advertised for 40 cents and lunches for 20 cents. In 1922 Ulrich's was raided by Federal Prohibition Enforcement Head Michael Stevenson, Over 120 bottles of whiskey and gin were found in Ulrich's upstairs apartment valued at over $2000 dollars in 1922 (over $26,000 in 2016 dollars) Five 25 gallon brewing vats and 8 aging vats of 100 gallons each of beer waere found in basement along with a refrigeration plant and bale of hops. Ulrich claimed the booze upstairs was his personnel stash. The beer was malt extract that he sold to physician's and customers for medical purposes. At the time of raid the "(Soda Pop Emporium was packed with wall to wall people in the front room and back room it took Dry agents 20 minutes to reach the kitchen from the front door  Mike Ulrich' was indicted by a secret federal grand jury and fine $500 ($6600 in todays dollars)  It was closed and turned into a delicatessen after Ulrich's conviction.  IN 1928 Ulrich was indicated a second time for violation of the Volstedt Act. He avoided a mandatory prison sentence by getting the grand jury to believe the violation took place in a separate building (669 Virginia which was Ulrich's back room the present dinning room that was a separate building in in the 19th century but was connected in 1920's) The Local police was much kinder to Ulrich always informing him of their raids and what whiskey the Precinct Captain preferred. A glass of beer or shot of whiskey cost 25 cent in the 1920's. The huge lift that was used to bring the illegal alcohol up from the basement is still there today. Prohibition in Buffalo was a dismal failure as a ethnic population of Germans, Irish, Poles and Italians lead by a Brewer Mayor Francis X. Schwab and Canadian Whiskey (The term Real McCoy comes from this time, McCoy was a famous bootlegger and people would say I do not want bathtub rot gut I want the Real McCoy –Canadian Whiskey) and so called near beer, turned Buffalo into one of wettest towns in a America. In 1925 Buffalo had 2500 Soft Drink Emporiums listed in the phone book and department stores sold over 100 different whiskey shakers. Wild Bill Donovan and Mayor Schwab would lock horns over prohibition in the Greatest showdown in Buffalo History featuring two favorite sons. Mike Ulrich not only weathered the 13 years of the noble experiment, but also the heavy anti-German sentiment of the World War I era. Hamburger and sauerkraut were being called Liberty Steak and Liberty Cabbage, German names were changed to sound more American and the German heritage was being renounced in Buffalo and throughout America. However, in Mike Ulrich's Saloon, German was spoken, German Clubs met openly, and sauerkraut was called sauerkraut. A lasting remnant from this era is the oak and stained glass filled back bar. Mike bought this in 1910 from the Iroquois Hotel where it had stood since 1889. Mike Ulrich owned the bar until 1946. One last story on Mr. Ulrich, after selling the bar in 1946, Mike stayed retired for about six months before going back into business with his former bartender, Victor Schultz, in the German- American Annex at Main & High. This building was an early forerunner to today's malls. Besides Mike Ulrich's bar, the building housed the Salvation Army and, ironically, the Alcohol Anonymous organizations. It's not many places that one could get drunk, dried out and saved all in the same building! Mike Ulrich's death notice called him the last of the old-time German saloonkeepers in 1947.

The Irish join the Party (1946-2013)
1946 saw Ulrich’s' first non-German owner in French born William Levea, who would run the bar for 3 years until 1949. Nichlos Riesz would become Ulrich’s next owner for 5 years until late in 1954, when his family would go on to run another popular bar in Buffalo, the Central Park Grill on Main Street. The Daley family is still writing the next chapter in Ulrich’s’ history. Jim Daley, from Buffalo's old first ward and his Bavarian wife Erika, took over the business in late 1954. They added a mix of German and Irish sensibility. In their over 40 years of business, they have seen urban renewal clear away the once great neighborhood that surrounded Ulrich’s and watched the demise of the Buffalo brewing industry which had originally spawned the Tavern. Ulrich's is now second generation Daley Family owned. Ulrich’s remains a favorite downtown lunch spot and after work watering hole, famous for it’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities and its home cooked meals and fine selection of premium beer. From Bertha and Fredrick Schuerier in 1868, to Mike Ulrich's 40 years reign to Erika and Jim Daley almost 50 years of Irish/German mix. Ulrich’s' rich tradition has endured. This small tavern, born 8 years before Custer rode to his death at the Little Bighorn, stands as a sentinel to Buffalo's glorious past as well as its ever-changing and hopeful future. Since that fall day in 1868, Ulrich’s' purpose has never changed: To provide a public house, where one can enjoy food, drink and camaraderie. It stands as link from The German Richmond Ave and Brewing Center it was in the 19th century to the industrial watering hole of Trico and Courier Express of the 20th century to Facility Club of the Medical Campus in the 21st century. In its 140th year, Ulrich's salutes its owners, employees, and patrons of yesterday, today and tomorrow. PROST! !

ULRICH'S SALOON KEEPERS HONOR ROLL 1868-1870 FREDRICK SCHMUERER (2 yrs) 1871-1880 JACOB MILLER (10 yrs) 1881-1882 CHARLES MAYSER (2 yrs) 1883-1889 GEORGE MARTZLUFFT (7 yrs) 1890-1892 JOSEPH SCHUHMAN (3 yrs) 1892-1895 GEORGE FISHER (4 yrs) 1895-1896 JOHN THEUER (2 yrs) 1896-1905 GEORGE DOBMEIER (10 yrs) 1905-1946 MICHAEL ULRICH (41 yrs) 1946-1949 WILLIAM LEVEA (3 yrs) 1949-1954 Elizabeth & NICHOLAS RIESZ (4 yrs) 1954-1955 Erika & Jim Daley- Veronica Evans (1 yrs) 1955-2000 Erika & Jim Daley (46 yrs) 2000-2013 Mimi & Jim Daley (14 Years) Saloon Words (and these are just one’s by people who like saloons) Ulrich’s in its 140 years has been called by 90% of these names assembly room, meetinghouse, pump room, spa, watering place; inn; hostel, hostelry; hotel, tavern, caravansary, dark bungalow, khan, hospice; public house, pot house, mug house; gin palace; bar, bar room; barrel house [U.S.], cabaret, chophouse; club, clubhouse; cookshop, dive [U.S.], exchange [euphemism, U.S.]; grill room, saloon [U.S.], shebeen; coffee house, eating house; canteen, restaurant, buffet, cafe, estaminet, posada; almshouse, poorhouse, townhouse [U.S.]. Synonyms: ALEHOUSE, beer hall, beerhouse, bierstube, mug house, stube a room or public establishment where alcoholic beverages are served  Synonyms: barroom, booser, bucket shop, buvette, cantina, cocktail lounge, drinkery, drunkery, gin mill, groggery, grogshop, lounge, pothouse, pub, public house, rum-hole, rummery, rum-mill, rumshop, saloon, tap, taproom, tavern, watering hole, watering place; ALEHOUSE Related Words: barrelhouse, bistro, bottle club, cabaret, café, dive, honky-tonk, nightclub, rathskeller, roadhouse, wineshop a cheap often small restaurant  Synonyms: beanery, buffet, café, caff, coffee shop, cookshop, diner, greasy spoon, hashery, hash house, lunch counter (or bar), luncheonette, lunchroom, lunch wagon (or cart), quick-lunch, sandwich shop, snack bar (or counter) Related Words: cafeteria, eatery, tearoom; trattoria Entry Word: saloonkeeper Function: noun Text: one who owns or manages a bar  Synonyms: barkeeper, boniface, innholder, innkeeper, publican, saloonist, taverner; BARTENDER Related Words: victualler Synonyms: barkeeper, barmaid, barman, mixologist, tapster; SALOONKEEPER Daley Family at Ulrich’s Jimmy “Hoops” Daley from Buffalo old first ward and his Bavarian-born wife Erika #1 along with Jimmy’s Aunt Veronica Evans #2 took over Ulrich’s Tavern on New Years Eve 1954 from Nichols and Elizabeth Riesz #3. They were 12th owners of the 86th year old Tavern at the corner of Ellicott and Virginia’s Street in 1954. Ulrich’s at the time was located in a fashionable German Neighborhood and was located next to the Trico Windshield Wiper Plant, 2 Blocks from both Buffalo General and Roswell Hospital and the Courier Express Newspaper. In the 4 blocks surrounding Ulrich’s were 30 other bars in 1954. Ulrich’s is and was always an eclectic mix of Customers from Newspaper Men and doctors to neighborhood people, downtown workers and Jimmy’s boyhood friends from the old first ward, to national guardsmen from the Masten armory, to Buffalo police from old precinct #4. Erika ran the kitchen and Jimmy held court at the bar. This continued to 1970 when the neighborhood to the north and east was cleared away for Urban Renewal. (Urban renewal tried to take Ulrich’s and tear it down the Daley’s won a 12 year court fight in 1982) In 1982 the Courier Closed followed by Trico in the early 90’s. The Daley’s raised their two Children Jim Jr. and Maria in the apartment above the bar. The kid’s playroom was the old Hasenpfeffer Clubs Speakeasy. Jimmy brought Irish Traditions and his dry Irish wit to Ulrich’s and it quickly became the place to be on St. Patrick’s Day. Stories and songs of Irish Rebellion have rung through Ulrich’s since the mid fifties. Erika brought her German good looks and personality and her cooking skills to the bar. That Ulrich’s survived the late 70s and 80’s are nothing short of remarkable. Jimmy and Erika keep it going on sheer determination and hard work. They believed in the area when no one else did. Jim Jr. and his wife Mimi owned Ulrich’s from 2000-20013. The have continued the family tradition that lasted 60 years It 'was an Irish Bar with a German Restaurant featuring the best foods of both cultures along with live German and Irish Music. That resurrected Ulrich’s October fest Parties, German Menu and Irish Rebel Tradition. We feature Buffalo only local Brewery with 2 different Flying Bison Beers on tap (Always support Local is our motto). Jim Daley Jr. on owning Ulrich’s “ It was a honor and privilege to own Ulrich’s, we were the caretakers of Buffalo history, it’s a family Tradition. How many people get to work along side there parents and work in the same building they grew up in. Ulrich’s is a legacy for my family and for the people that came before us. It is my honor to keep the business going and hopefully add our own mark on it’s history.. #1 Jimmy met Erika when he was stationed in Army in 1951 in Augsburg West Germany They were married in Buffalo in 1953 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help R.C. Church in the first ward of Buffalo. #2 Jimmy’s mother sister Veronica Evans wanted to buy a Tavern and found Ulrich’s for sale in the fall of 1954. She needed a male working partner and turned to her 26-year-old nephew who was a sophomore at Canisuis College. Jimmy’s mother was horrified and angry that her own sister would get her second youngest child in the bar business. Veronica was not long for Ulrich’s Jim and Erika bought her out by the end of the first year. #3 Elizabeth and Nick Reisz owned Ulrich’s from 1951-1954. The bought the Central Park Grill the CPG on Main Street in North Buffalo. Jim and Mimi Daley Jr. bought the business from his parents in April of 2000.