On Sunday, Feb. 23 at 9 a.m., 594 days after fire seemingly destroyed Danny’s Bar, the beloved West View watering hole reopened for business.

There was laughter and tears and the sounds of bottles clinking in celebratory toasts. Drivers in passing cars beeped and waved to the revelers.

For owners Dale and Suzanne Baker, it’s a dream come true and the end of a long nightmare.

“It was our best day ever,” Dale Baker said. “It far exceeded our expectations.”

The couple purchased the Center Avenue building in 2009 from the Camaratta family. Patriarch Angelo Camaratta, a man Guinness World Records once dubbed the longest-serving bartender, called it quits at age 95.

“It was just a neighborhood dive bar and everybody loved it,” said Dale Baker, who named the place after his late brother.

“This was home to a lot of people,” Suzanne Baker said. “Sometimes people don’t have anywhere else to go.”

The Bakers, who met working at North Park Clubhouse, took advice from their old boss Greg Maggio. They put some TLC into the old structure, which dates back to the 1940s. They installed air conditioning, replaced the floor and roof and added a new walk-in cooler. They’d just finished an $18,000 restroom overhaul when disaster struck.

On July 5, 2018, the indoor electrical meter exploded. Black smoke filled the basement and billowed out from under the door. Dale Baker jumped up out of his seat in the back room and ran toward the bar, which was filled with patrons enjoying happy hour beers. Everyone huddled across the street as firefighters arrived on the scene.

Courtesy of Dale Baker After the fire damage of the backroom at Danny’s Bar in West View.  

Suzanne Baker, who was off that day, had watched the engines roar down the street and wondered where they were going. That’s when she got the first of many text messages: “We’re praying for you.”

Fire, smoke and water damage forced the Bakers to gut the first floor and basement. They were able to salvage some of the rare wormy chestnut paneling that had, for decades, given the bar its distinct look. Suzanne’s father, Bob Slagter, a Pennsylvania Forest Steward volunteer, milled and refinished the wood.

There’s a new pool table and several televisions. The bar now boasts 13 taps and an air purifier to make both smokers and non-smokers happy. When winter’s over, they’ll be able to raise the garage doors that replaced the front windows.

A dumbwaiter hoists meals up from the state-of-the-art kitchen in the basement. The Bakers expanded the food menu to include wings, salads, wraps, hoagies and Danny’s Burger, a half-pound beef patty topped with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions and cheese on a pretzel or toasted bun.

Daily drink and food specials will start March 2.

Courtesy of Dale Baker Before damage of the backroom at Danny’s Bar in West View.  

Shawn Murphy, of Reserve, was at Danny’s when the fire broke out and returned Monday to occupy his usual seat at the bar. He’s known the Bakers for 20 years, and said the bar united the entire community.

“They’re really good people,” he said of the Bakers. “Customers aren’t just customers to them; they’re friends.”

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