GAVITO ROLLS OUT EL BARRIL IN DOWNTOWN BROWNTOWN

By Juan Montoya
We were out walking minding our own business by the Brownsville municipal court recently when we came across someone who looked familiar.
We looked  a little closer as we turned the corner on Levee Street and it was him. Him is George Gavito, the quintessential survivor and lawman who made his name during the investigation of the satanista murder of Mark Kilroy, the University of Texas at Austin student who vanished in March 1989 on the streets of Matamoros.
In those days, you couldn't turn on the television set without seeing Georgeous George chit chatting with the talking heads of the major networks who came down to the border in droves to cover the sensational news of the drug-running cult with their witch and murderous rituals.
Well, after a stint as deputy sheriff, District Attorney investigator, chief of the Port of Brownsville Police Dept. and other less savory endeavors, George tells us that he is ready to contribute to the renovation of downtown by reviving an old standard joint known to local residents.
"I'm opening El Barril again," he said as he directed his handyman to fix a leaking sink pipe in preparation for his grand opening tentatively planned for the this Fourth of July.
For those who remember El Barril, it was one of the downtown fixtures for dancing to local conjuntos and musica regional. The babes would get all charoleadas and the guys would put on their Sunday best to sweep them across the dance floor. They might be laboring in manual jobs during the week, but come the weekend, the Stetsons and George Strait western shirts  would come out of the closet and the couples would make their way to the Barril on 417 E. 11th Street behind the downtown Oyster Bar.
George says he has the formula to make it work. He has had a downtown business for some time  now. The New Yorker has closed and now he has moved in a new direction. Owner of Wowees Tacos over by the Academy store on Morrison Road, he now wants to enter the hurly-burly world of the hospitality industry downtown.
"I'm going to have the coldest beer in town," he says as he leads a visitor inside.
The barril motifs are everywhere, from the corner of the bar to the banner on the door and the signs above the bar. Before, the bar was on the other side of the joint, but now, it is immediately past the entrance. The other side of the place is being prepared as the dance hall.
And the brews?
"I have draft beer in three sizes," he said. "The 14-ounce is 75 cents, and the largest (16 ounces) is $1.25. All the bottle beer except of the Michelob Ultra is $1.25. We have to sell Ultra for $1.75 because it's more expensive."
Inside, a visitor immediately feels the  air conditioning when he walks in from the oppressive heat outside. Neon beer signs provide the lighting for customers, and Gavito says he is doesn't like the glaring fluorescent lights because "se me notan las arrugas."
The beer prices are more than competitive. Prices for a regular bottle beer range from $1.25 at the Sportsman Bar to $2 or more at the new Palm Lounge. A 14-ounce mug of draft usually goes for a $1, as does a can of Natural Light.
"If you like a cold beer in a cool, quiet place, El Barril is the place to come," he said. "We're going to make downtown the place to come."