La Jolla’s Bird Rock Sip n Surf or Hungry Horse Bar
Written by mac meda on September 9, 2009 – 4:01 am -
La Jolla's, Bird Rock, Sip n Surf or nicknamed, Slurp and Burp had a array of characters and owners that patronized and ran the joint in 20 years. Photo by Brian Munoz
When Maynard Heatherly was asked, “What he thought of the Sip n Surf?” all he could do was shake his head. Fact remains, he hated the joint, even though he was friends with the owner, Burt Alderson.
“Its not the competition,” he said, God knows he already had a ton of customers, he hated the place adding, “If you can’t find a place at the bar, or even be able to rest your arms on the bar rail, why bother.”
In 1952, attorney Max “Big Max” Ruffcorn was having breakfast with Burt and the conversation went to auctioning some bar equipment from this closed down pub. Big Max mentioned the pub, and jokingly suggested Burt to buy the place.
Mac Meda Editors Note: Attorney Max “Big Max” Ruffcorn was an La Jolla character. At 250 plus pounds, a huge handle bar mustache and boisterous voice, always dressed in loud clothes. He was one of the original owners of the the Surfer Hotel in Pacific Beach. His daughter Nora was one of the survivors of the the La Jolla Laughing Gas tragedy. In early 1970, a well known La Jolla anesthesiologist, Dr. Cornellius (oldest son Larry was one of the survivors of the Cave Cliff Plunge and seen in the Long Bar picture) and his youngest son were killed in a airline crash during a hunting/fishing trip in Alaska. Big Max was the attorney that sued the airlines and won. He retired and moved to Cabo San Lucas (with his wife, girlfriend, BJ … humm … wonder how she got those initials?) and died in the late 1980s.
Within a week Burt had leased the place for $150 a month. Alderson decorated the windows of the Sip ‘n’ Surf with burlap bags and hired La Jolla artist Michael Dormer to draw Tiki gods on the wall and paint a 27-foot Polynesian mural. He purchased some tables constructed from old surfboards, and the atmosphere was set for La Jolla’s Bird Rocks first iconic bar.
Alderson had a knack for surrounding himself with colorful, entertaining people. In his prime, he was a personality magnet. His penchant for recreation and leisure attracted celebrities and success wherever he went.
Tom Damn (TD) was just one of the many bartenders when it was the Hungry Horse in the early 1970s. Photo by David Osborn
The Sip and Surf followed in the footsteps as Pacific Beaches Coral Inn and Night Owl, and opened for business every day beginning at 6 a.m. It gained almost instant success with a steady flow of mixed breed customers like surfers, secretaries, Navy pilots and football players, college students, resort owners and an occasional movie star. Yes, movie stars like Lee Marvin, Cliff Robertson (who later bought a home in La Jolla) and Keenan Wynn. It was even rumored that Richard Burton stopped in and powered down a half bottle and left a $100 tip, which back in the late 50s was like getting a $1000 tip.
Other customers included, Harry Handlery, (owner of the Stardust Hotel and Country Club) in Mission Valley, Pat Curren and Mike Diffenderfer (RIP), two Windansea surfers who later pioneered big wave surfing on the north shore of Oahu. Diffenderfer used to shape surfboards right down the street.
The biggest problem with the Sip n’ Surf was its size, the legal capacity was only 50. One night, Alderson claimed, the fire marshal counted 250 people sardined into his canned establishment when it popularity increased and was getting the overflow from the Red Mountain Inn across the street.
It was pretty common to see on Friday afternoon between 20- 25 kegs around the wall; by Monday, they were all empty. If any of the patrons ever got out of line, they had to answer to a pair of efficient yet eccentric bouncers: Big Frank, a former longshoreman from Honolulu, and a female body builder named “Tinkerbelle.”
As time went on, Sip n Surf got the nickname Slurp and Burp and soon it changed hands to many characters during the 1970s. At one time its name was changed to the Hungry Horse and then back to Slurp n Burp, excuse me Sip n Surf. For a while there it seemed owners changed faster then one could pop another keg until it finally closed down for good in the mid 1980s.
Historical content by Hoyt on WindanSea Facebook and Dean Burriston.
Tags: bar-tales, beer
Posted in Bars | 11 Comments »
By BRF on Sep 9, 2009 | Reply
Your site is an amazing find for locals interested in Bird Rock history & lore. Which is hard to come by!
By Eric Masterman on Sep 18, 2009 | Reply
I’m surprised that a couple of other bars that were located in Bird Rock have not been mentioned. There was BEER CITY, (on the west side) along with the tag line, “Dig”on the sign, and THE POUR HOUSE, which became BULLYS a few years later.
Beer City was quite a raucous place.The peanut shells that covered the floor stayed until they went out of business. Don’t get me wrong, they sold lots of beer for a long time.
THE POUR HOUSE was a bar of it’s own and the
founders, Lee Teacher and Dan Abrahms created the first coffee house/bar in San Diego county that offered estate wines, Tuesday night movies, and best of all, live jazz that featured many headliners. The most exciting event ever was when Lee presented the Trinidad Steel Band. When those guys started to play the crowd got into a frenzy with their majic on those drums. All this took place in 1960.
It was also an art gallery where Michael Dormer and other artists exhibited their works. Mike did a huge “house painting” of a nude that has been hanging there all these years until the demise of BULLYS. He has since reclaimed the piece. By the way,the cops hated the place. They ticketed people for jay- walking when they left, planted big under age people to buy drinks and intimidated patrons in the bar on a couple of occasions.They were total assholes.Things got so bad Lee had to close the place.
By mac meda on Sep 19, 2009 | Reply
Eric that is why we did this website, a historical of the beach life and of Mac Meda, and why we have good people like you you who can jar our memory. Plus, I getting so much stuff, it’s getting hard to figure out what to post next and how to organize it. All I can say is thanks and keep commenting and most important, correcting!
By jamie on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply
On Max Ruffcorn…
Someone asked him, “Well Max, what do you do all day down there in Cabo?”.
Big Max replied, “Nothing,”.
“And what does BJ do all day?”.
“She helps me,”.
By jamie on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply
Max Ruffcorn part 2.
Max died in early spring 1989. Oklahoma billionaire Jim Milligan threw a memorial service for the big guy at Shelby’s, a swanky sort of place, across the street from Su Casa. Jack Macpherson was a guest speaker.
He came to pick me up wearing this: I’ll say this for Jack — he did wear an Aloha shirt. Cut off, powder blue cordoroy shorts, blue Nikes that had oil on them from changing the oil in his car…and 2 white socks, neither of which matched and had no elastic left…they were sort of bunched around his killer ankles.
“Jack,” I said, “you can’t go to Max Ruffcorn’s wake dressed like that. You’re the guest speaker!” And he informed me that this was it…and off we went to Shelby’s.
When we got there…here came Pell Mell. Another guest speaker. And dressed exactly the same…down to the mismatched white socks with no elastic.
It was a great afternoon…everyone was there…from high La Jolla society…to the beach crowd…to the bartenders from the Same Ole Place in Bird Rock.
By Hoyt Smith on Sep 28, 2009 | Reply
Burt Alderson told me that Maynard Heatherly wasn’t too fond of his bird rock bar.
“Oh that damned Sip `n Surf,” Maynard would lament. Not that he harbored any animosity toward Alderson. like you say, the two were close friends. It wasn’t the competition that bothered him either. Maynard’s bar, a few miles south in Pacific Beach, had a large enough drinking crowd of its own.
No, by Alderson’s account Heatherly said, “I hate that joint because you can’t get in. Then you can’t get to the bar. Then you can’t get your arms down to drink.”
The problem with the Sip `n Surf was that it was frequently way too crowded. According to Alderson, the legal capacity was 49. One night, he recalled, the fire marshal counted 250 people congregating elbow-to-elbow, all having a good time.
These days, I enjoy the occasional weekend scene at Beaumont’s; but it is a pale shadow of Bird Rock’s colorful past. I doubt we will ever see times like those again.
By Harry Marriner on Dec 11, 2009 | Reply
Dean Carlson was one of the early managers/bartenders at the Sip n Surf. Around 1963-64 at Halloween they’d give away free beer if you could squeeze your body through the door and make it to the bar. The music was so loud that during the hot summer months when they kept the door open, I could hear it from my open bedroom window about three blocks away.
By when crabs roar on Dec 12, 2009 | Reply
Hey Eric thanks for the post about the Pour House, Bob Madrone (aka Bob Atkinson) and myself used to sit outside to listen to the music, I have fond memories of those times, as a footnote about the Trinidad Steel Band it seems they had some visa problems and the cops raided The Pour House and arrested the whole band.
By Steve Gallagher on Aug 17, 2010 | Reply
In the early seventies, during one of it’s many facelifts, the paneling was removed from the north wall. Underneath was a mural painted in the late 50’s or early 60’s. It showed a group of people gathered around the hut at Windansea. I don’t remember who was in it. I may have been drinking.
By Bill Sowles on Feb 20, 2011 | Reply
Eric, I do remember the ‘Pour House.’ Do you remember, even tho it wasn’t exactly in Bird Rock, the “Upper Cellar” on Pearl Street on the south side just up from the Blvd? Boy, how the cops hated that place too.
By Tom Leech on May 3, 2012 | Reply
I vividly recall the legendary Sip ‘n Surf, starting in the summer of ‘59. Loved that Mike Dormer mural on the wall behind the bar. Does anyone have a photo of that? Unfortunately Mike does not and it was destroyed later.