Million Dollar Roadside, Panama City nonzip, Bar

Million Dollar Roadside

Bar

Av. Eloy Alfaro & Calle 11 East, Casco Antiguo
nonzip Panama City
Panama

Phone: +507 6780-2183

Website: http://www.milliondollarroadside.com

Opening times:
Sun 6:00 pm - 2:00 am
Tue 6:00 pm - 2:00 am
Wed 6:00 pm - 2:00 am
Thu 6:00 pm - 2:00 am
Fri 6:00 pm - 2:00 am
Sat 6:00 pm - 2:00 am

This roadside restaurant the purest American style, is a replica of the Million Dollar Bar which was opened in 1907 by the railroad's ex chef, James J. Calahan, in Caliente (Hot Springs), California.

This roadside restaurant the purest American style, is a replica of the Million Dollar Bar which was opened in 1907 by the railroad's ex chef, James J. Calahan, in Caliente (Hot Springs), California. James decided following an altercation with the railway police concerning money that had disappeared from the company and after a season in the shadow of that he had to find a quiet place to begin again. He went to the Mojave Desert, where he discovered in the small town of Caliente, a battered old table building, which was the store of an abandoned mine and there he installed the first Million Dollar Bar, in an enclave of road that was the last chance to refuel and buy supplies before crossing the valley of death (Death Valley) heading to Las Vegas when Las Vegas was a miserable village in the middle of nowhere.

Of the Million Dollar Bar was famous his signboard "last chance for cold beer" that said goodbye to cars and wagons, it is of the roadsides bars and grills that existed on the roads in the southern United States from the early twentieth century through the great Depression until the mid-40s, the genuine, the authentic, the only roadside is this. It is a special place with a magical atmosphere, is a bar to while away the hours with strangers or friends of talks with a few drinks and some fabulous plates of food.

With time James J. Calahan was becoming famous throughout the state for his formidable kitchen whose secret was to satisfy everyone, because in his pass through the railroad, he had cooked for people of many nationalities and differing tastes. James also became famous for its legendary poker games and his showcase that was the attraction of all travelers, he said that inside the showcase had a million dollars, to which the unbelievers say: that's impossible!
and James in his hoarse voice because of the whiskey replied: impossible you say?, so count them! ja ja ja
and their laughter could be heard from miles away, to this added his dark past that attracted the most distinguished of the time, all came together to the Million Dollar Bar. Bootleggers, gamblers, horse traders, Mexican gentlemen, gangsters, singers with little luck, Indian dancers, jazz bands and country musicians, all were seen between the tables, was the best of the best, there was no other place like this in the Mojave Desert, probably no other place like this existed in the United States and this site was the Million Dollar Roadside.

In 1960 after several years of abandonment, was sold and dismantled the old warehouse of the mine and its new owners took all the tables, objects and furniture from the Million Dollar to the cellars of Republican Pictures (producer flagship B-movies) in Hollywood, where were used to acclimate infinity of movies and TV shows at the time. Following the closure of Republican Pictures, the material was auctioned, and was purchased by a Texan antique merchant, he stored the materials in a warehouse for 40 years with the dream of re-building in Houston until their children sold it to the current owner, Carlos Gonzalez, a hotelier businessman of Panama, which after investigating the story of James J. Calahan, decided to create a brand to remember that time and that cuisine and he decided that at each Million Dollar that will be installed in the world will have some element of the first Million Dollar which was opened in Caliente in 1907 to keep alive the spirit of a time will not return.