AMERICUS, Ga. (WALB) — Inside the Americus city limits sits one of South Georgia’s longest-running gathering spots, where locals connect over food, music and southern hospitality.

Pat’s Place, a pub restaurant along South Lee Street, has been a community staple since February 1980. For more than four decades, it has drawn all generations of customers through its doors—from Georgia Southwestern University students to families who have made it a tradition across three generations.

Pat’s Place circa 1980

Owner Pat Spann said he was not envisioning a pub at first.

“What I had in mind was a sandwich shop,” he said. “I had been working for Social Security. And as a kid, I was self-employed every chance I got.”

Spann took a chance on a vacant space along South Lee Street in late 1979. He spent a couple of months renovating and opened in February 1980 with a simple menu: sandwiches, beer and canned sodas. He said the Coca-Cola company wouldn’t sell to his small business, so he bought canned drinks from the grocery store until Pepsi agreed to bring a machine.

“We had Pepsi for 25 years,” the owner added. “And then we got Coke 25 years later.”

The popular pizza was added to the menu about nine months later.

“One night when I was down here, this guy came in and he said, ‘You should have pizza,’” Spann said. “I said, ‘I don’t see how we can do pizza.’ Our kitchen was much smaller than it is now. And he said, ‘Well, I’ll show you.’”

The customer brought in a small electric pizza oven, made a few pies and handed them out. The crowd loved it. Spann built a table with two shelves to hold the ovens, and pizza became a menu staple. The famous nachos, inspired by Spann’s brother, Tommy, followed later.

Today, the menu still centers on those same crowd-pleasers: pizza, sandwiches and nachos.

The walls tell the story

Step inside Pat’s Place and every wall is covered with photographs and memorabilia collected over 46 years—pictures of customers, employees and moments that span generations.

“We have pictures on tables of people that are sitting in different tables here,” Spann showed. “...As you can see here, we’ve got the walls covered with them.”

The idea started with one of his brothers, who worked at the restaurant for years and suggested documenting the regulars. Spann showed the oldest framed collection, shaped like a pizza crust, holds photos of employees and customers from the early 1980s.

In the back, pool tables give customers a reason to stay longer. At night, the restaurant transforms with live music and trivia nights filling the space. General Manager Doug Durrance described the unique atmosphere.

“It’s kind of like Margaritaville meets Irish pub,” Durrance said.

A first customer who never left

Ralph Cornwelf was the very first person to walk through the Pat’s Place doors on opening day in February 1980.

“I’d been in this building before when it was the Crust N’ Mug...,” Cornwelf said. “I came in and it was nice and clean and bright and cheerful, even though there was nobody here. And I’ve been coming here ever since.”

More than 46 years later, Cornwelf said he still visits nearly every day—usually around 3 p.m. for a tea and the newspaper. On Tuesday nights, he plays bass in the bluegrass band.

“Pat’s Place is just a wonderful thing for me and my life personally,” he said. “Having a place you can come to, have your birthday parties here, celebrate things here—It’s a great thing to happen to this town.”

A generational tradition

For Michelle Andrews and her daughter Michelle Parker, Pat’s Place represents their family history.

“Our whole family comes. All the generations. My parents used to come,” Andrews said.

Parker met her husband while he was working at Pat’s Place in college. Now, their two young sons ask to come in for “chips and cheese.”

“My two little boys ask to come here all the time,” Parker said. “They want to go to Pat’s Place for chips and cheese.”

Andrews said the restaurant reflects small-town charm of Americus.

“It’s a hometown place,” she said. “Hometown people are welcome, and visitors are welcome, and everybody is treated with the same degree of kindness and good food.”

St. Patrick’s Day and the Miracle on Ice: ‘You’ll start a tradition’

Some of Pat’s Place’s most memorable moments are tied to history beyond South Georgia, too.

Shortly after opening in 1980, Spann’s uncle urged him to throw a St. Patrick’s Day party.

“I said, ‘Uncle, nobody around here cares anything about St. Patrick’s Day,’” he recalled. “He said, ‘They will, if you have a party, you’ll start a tradition.’”

This owner took the advice. The first St. Patrick’s Day celebration was the busiest day of the year—and it has been every year since.

In 2026, Pat’s Place celebrated its 47th consecutive St. Patrick’s Day party, closing off the parking lot, setting up outdoor tables and serving corned beef, cabbage and green beer.

That same opening year in 1980, the restaurant became an unlikely viewing party for one of sports history’s greatest moments.

Spann said he had one television mounted in the corner when the 1980 Winter Olympics aired—including the U.S. hockey team’s win against the Soviet Union, known as the Miracle on Ice.

“We had the biggest crowds in here watching the Olympics,” Spann said. “And we were here for that series of games and the one that the United States won.”

Over the years, notable visitors have also passed through, including members of the family of former President Jimmy Carter, whose hometown of Plains is just a few miles away.

The secret to 46 years

Durrance, who manages day-to-day operations, credits the community for the restaurant’s longevity.

“It started out with our customers coming in and they wanted their kids to be here, and so on and so forth,” he said. “So it’s a generational thing.”

The kitchen has typically four or five employees at a time, he added, each rotating stations. Durrance said they do not fry food and their staff stays for the long haul.

“We don’t have a turnover like some people do,” Durrance said. “I think it’s because of [Spann].”

But Spann deflected the credit.

“Our employees, who stay with us forever, are just so good with customers,” he said. “We really require that—that they’re friendly and helpful and kind and patient with each other and with our customers.”

With the 50th anniversary approaching in 2030, Spann isn’t slowing down. He gets to work most mornings before 6:30 a.m. and says he has no plans to retire.

“I really love having this to do,” he said. “I don’t want to retire. I want to do this. It’s just a great job for me.”

‘Come on in’

Pat’s Place is located at 1526 South Lee Street in Americus, just down the road from Georgia Southwestern University. The restaurant is open at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner, with live music and trivia nights on select evenings. Oyster nights return on Wednesdays in the fall.

For anyone who hasn’t made the trip yet, Spann has a simple message.

“It feels homey and nice, and we have lots of friendly people that are here to see them and to help them and take care of them,” he said. “It’s a gathering place. It’s a meeting place. Anybody that’s watching this that hasn’t come—come on in. We’d love to have you.”

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