{"id":255360,"date":"2021-05-21T02:15:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T23:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/9-11-themed-bar-in-texas-gets-dragged-on-twitter\/"},"modified":"2021-05-21T02:15:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T23:15:41","slug":"9-11-themed-bar-in-texas-gets-dragged-on-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-11-themed-bar-in-texas-gets-dragged-on-twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"#9\/11-themed bar in Texas gets dragged on Twitter"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#9\/11-theme<\/a>d bar in Texas gets dragged on Twitter<\/a><\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

Well, \u201cCheers\u201d was taken.<\/p>\n

Bar 9Eleven, a bar in Texas named after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, has shocked and outraged Twitter after a travel<\/a>er snapped a photo of the Forth Worth pub\u2019s exterior featuring cheery bubble letters.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrove by this bar and thought \u2018Huh I wonder what that\u2019s about\u2019. Turns out it\u2019s about exactly what you think,\u201d Missouri resident Jesse Tyler wrote on Twitter<\/a> alongside images taken at the bar named after one of the most galvanizing tragedies in American history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get it, it\u2019s a sensitive subject,\u201d Bar 9Eleven owner Brent Thompson told The Post, insisting the name \u2014 yes, after that<\/em> 9\/11 \u2014 was never intended to offend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t have all the facts, you probably going to have a negative reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bar 9Eleven, he explained, actually serves as the \u201clounge\u201d area of Tex-Mex restaurant Rio Mambo in the City View area of Fort Worth and got its name nearly 15 years after the tragedy. The establishment\u2019s relatively understated interior features a gallery-like wall with four picture boards, featuring images taken in the aftermath of the attack.<\/p>\n

Thompson said the story behind the bar\u2019s name is not a ploy for publicity. He told The Post he had been preparing for the soft opening of his first restaurant on that tragic day in 2001, which took the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time we opened, 9\/11 was just another day of the week,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cBut that morning is when my wife called me at the restaurant and told me a plane hit the towers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Undeterred, the 62-year-old restaurateur told his wife, \u201cSweetheart, we\u2019re opening in two and a half hours,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Smoke
Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack Sept. 11, 2001.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thompson soon found out and his opening day jitters soon gave way to fear as he waited to hear from his daughter, who had been on a flight headed toward San Antonio that morning, and his brother-in-law, a pilot for American Airlines.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t until the bar\u2019s 13th anniversary in 2014 that Thompson felt compelled to pay special tribute to their somber opening day, after he heard a sobering statistic on the news<\/a> that a \u201chigh percentage\u201d of Americans would wake up 15 years to the day of the attacks and not remember the tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t celebrate 9\/11 that way, but when I heard those figures, I just thought you know, that\u2019s kind of a tragedy,\u201d he said. That\u2019s when he decided to rename the lounge area, previously dubbed \u201cCharlie Bar\u201d<\/a> after a former employee, after that fateful day. Bar 9Eleven also includes decor with a narrative timeline of Sept. 11 that compares Rio Mambo\u2019s opening morning with the events in New York, Pennsylvania and in DC.<\/p>\n

While Thompson said his establishment does not make merry of a national tragedy, he hopes the name serves to provide observance of that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may lose a few customers on this,\u201d Thompson said of the decision to rename the bar area 9Eleven. \u201cBut what will not happen to people who come in my restaurant \u2014 this<\/em> restaurant that opened that<\/em> day \u2014 what will not happen is they won\u2019t forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his explanation, it\u2019s no surprise those outside of the Fort Worth, Texas area are scandalized by the name.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlown away by this work of creative nonfiction depicting the owner of a tex mex restaurant in north texas as the main character of our nation\u2019s darkest day,\u201d Tyler, who posted the original tweet Monday, later mocked<\/a>. The thread which ensued included countless cracks and other derisive comments on the gastropub.<\/p>\n

\""We
\u201cWe don\u2019t celebrate 9\/11 that way, but when I heard those figures, I just thought you know, that\u2019s kind of a tragedy,\u201d the owner of Bar 9Eleven said.<\/figcaption>
Google Maps<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Google, there\u2019s a slew of one-star reviews<\/a>, though its Yelp page<\/a> seems to have mediocre three-star reviews \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n

While the moniker seems to draw criticism from out-of-towners, Thompson said it has a loyal fanbase of locals.<\/p>\n

\u201c80% of our business comes from 20% of our customers,\u201d Thompson said of Rio Mambo\u2019s following, which boasts three locations in the Fort Worth metro area.<\/p>\n

But for those who have heard his story, and still find the name \u201cdistasteful,\u201d he said, \u201cI respect that.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n