PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Leonard Dwight, a popular bartender at Bob & Barbara's Lounge on South Street, died on Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving. But his customers knew him as “Butch” or “Butchie.”
Bob & Barbara's is a South Street staple, known for live music, Philly's longest-running drag show and The Special — a ¾-ounce shot of Jim Beam bourbon and a 12-ounce can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
Butchie happily served customers The Special for 20 years — not the Citywide Special, like some places call it, and not the Citywide, he told KYW Newsradio a couple years ago.
The Special.
And Butchie wasn't shy to tell new customers how to order it.
"Sometimes we have a problem when people come here and say, ‘I want the Citywide.’ I say, ‘No, you want The Special.’ I say it. ‘You want The Special, right?’” he said, laughing. “‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, I want The Special. Yeah.’”
It cost a paltry $4 at the time. Today it goes for $5.
Butchie was loved by all, says Bob and Barbara's manager Katrina Duva.
"When you are in front of Butch, you are his focus, no matter how long you known him," she said.
A GoFundMe page set up to help Butchie’s family pay for funeral expenses is on track to exceed its goal.
"It just shows how loved he is and that everyone wants to make sure that we get to celebrate him in the best way possible, and that it is not a hindrance on his family."
Butchie was 72.