Booches is a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

, and

pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

at 110 S. 9th Street in downtown

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

that was established in 1884. It is the oldest pool hall in Columbia and is known for its hamburgers. It is located near the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

and has traditionally been frequented by college students. In 2016 Booches was inducted into the Boone County Hall of Fame at the Walters-Boone County Historical Museum.

Overview

Booches was established in 1884, has had six locations in downtown Columbia, and has been at its present location on Ninth Street since 1928. It is the oldest pool hall in Columbia and has full-sized

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

tables,

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

tables, and one billiard table (no pockets) for three cushion billiards play. Booches is known for its hamburgers, which are served on

wax paper Waxed paper (also wax paper, waxpaper, or paraffin paper) is paper that has been made moisture-proof and grease-proof through the application of wax. The practice of oiling parchment or paper in order to make it semi-translucent or moisture-pro ...

, and a 2000 report in ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' listed it as one of the best 25 burger restaurants in the United States. In 2005, Jerry Shriver of ''USA Today'' included Booches' hamburger on the list of top 25 dishes from his "Down-home Dining" project. In 2019, Joan Niesen and Laken Litman of ''Sports Illustrated'' named Booches' hamburgers as the "#1 Greatest College Town Eats" in the nation. Booches is likely named after its founder, Paul Blucher "Booch" Venable, who was nicknamed "Booch" as a child by writer

Eugene Field Eugene Field Sr. (September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895) was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood". Early life and education Field was born in St. Louis, Missour ...

. The restaurant has gone through many owners in its time and was a male-only establishment until the 1970s. During the times of

racial segregation in the United States In the United States, racial segregation is the systematic separation of facilities and services such as Housing in the United States, housing, Healthcare in the United States, healthcare, Education in the United States, education, Employment in ...

, the establishment would not serve African Americans. During the mid to late 1970s, the then-owners of Booches edited and published four issues of the ''Review la Booche'', a nationally published

literary journal A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters ...

featuring poetry, prose, sketches, and photographs by contributors of such prominence as

John Ciardi John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, William Stafford, Elton Glaser,

Frank Stack Frank Huntington Stack (born October 31, 1937 in Houston, Texas) is an American underground cartoonist and fine artist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the Bible Belt, Stack published wh ...

, and

Richard Eberhart Richard Ghormley Eberhart (April 5, 1904 – June 9, 2005) was an American poet who published more than a dozen books of poetry and approximately twenty works in total. "Richard Eberhart emerged out of the 1930s as a modern stylist with romanti ...

, along with local and regional contributors. The review was revived in 1990 for a fifth and final issue. Booches is located close to the

, and it has traditionally been a haven for University of Missouri and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

sports fans. The establishment has a considerably more family-friendly atmosphere compared to its rougher atmosphere in past times. It has been described by some in contemporary times as a

dive bar A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and a local clientele ...

and a

melting pot The melting pot is a monocultural metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative being a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous throug ...

. Booches was inducted into the Boone County Hall of Fame at the Walters-Boone County Historical Museum in 2016.

In popular culture

Booches was included in the film ''Norm'', which aired on ESPN's

SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...

. ''Norm'' depicted the career of the former University of Missouri basketball coach

Norm Stewart Norman Eugene Stewart (born January 20, 1935) is a retired American college basketball coach. He coached at the University of Northern Iowa (then known as State College of Iowa) from 1961 to 1967, but is best known for his career with the Univers ...

, who was a regular patron of the establishment.

References

External links

*
"Booches: The best burgers on wax paper"
Rockmnation.com. – Provides a comprehensive overview of the establishment and its history {{Coord, 38.95017, -92.32741, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-MO 1884 establishments in Missouri Bars (establishments) Billiard halls Buildings and structures in Columbia, Missouri Hamburger restaurants Restaurants established in 1884 Restaurants in Columbia, Missouri Drinking establishments in Missouri

Overview

In popular culture

See also

References

External links