ANDY'S CAFE

When I first met John Boehner about forty years ago, I had no idea he would be the most famous person I ever knew. I had made a close acquaintance with his dad, Earl, who operated the bar area of the family business, Andy's Cafe. His uncle, concentrated on the kitchen area. Andy was John's grandfather. At the time, I worked a few blocks away from the cafe in the Carthage area north of Cincinnati and they served the best food in the area. I ate lunch there almost weekday for about six years. Once in a while, I would stop after work for a short beer. Several times I went on excursions with them to Bengals games. We took a bus from the cafe and it was a blast. Some of the Moeller High School football coaching staff who I knew were on those trips. John had played football at Moeller. Andy's Cafe was located in an old narrow converted two story house. You could enter from the front which faced Vine street or through a side door. The rear yard had been turned into a small parking lot. The wooden floors were uneven and everything was well worn. The front was the bar area with a long mahogany bar and three or four tables. It was separated from the dining area which held about eight tables. In the far rear was the kitchen. Most people drank draft beer or shots with short beer chaser...no fancy drinks for this place. In between the bar and dining area was a stairway upstairs which was closed off and a stairway downstairs to the restroom in the basement. If you drank too much, it was dangerous to go to the bathroom. They used local ladies to fix food for lunch. They had daily lunch specials but mostly I ate double-deckers and soup. Their specialty soup was mock turtle. John was struggling through Xavier University at that time. His dad had introduced him to me in the early 1970's. I left that area in 1974 when I changed jobs and moved to Butler County. I only returned a few times to renew old friendships. I lost track of John until in the early 1980's when he ran for trustee of our township. I'm pretty sure, no one else I know will gain as much notoriety as John. I hope ALL the notoriety is positive. :-)