Est. 1961
The Story of
George's
Before the Bar
The Man Behind the Legend
George Najour
Drafted by the Dodgers, 1946
Before there was a bar, there was a ballplayer. George Najour served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and when he was discharged in 1946 at age 26, the Brooklyn Dodgers came calling. He played third base and second base, and was having a good year with the Class D Newnan Browns of the Georgia-Alabama League — until he broke his ankle.
As an amateur after that, he went on to play on four city championship teams in nine years. His baseball trophies, accumulated from his Army days onward, found their permanent home at the end of the bar — where they still sit today.
In 1948, George moved to Atlanta to help run a business in East Point called George's Glass Bar. Then East Point banned beer sales. George didn't stop — he just found a better address.
The Timeline
Six Decades on North Highland
1948
1959–60
1961
George behind the bar — 1041 N. Highland Ave NE
1961–1982
“George floats between the two in the uninterrupted space behind the counters and the bar, now selling a sack of imported groceries, now drawing a beer. Najour says the bar and the deli each account for about half of his business, so they deserve an equal share of his time.”
“But it is the bar that attracts a crowd of neighborhood regulars, sport fans, newspaper types, and the occasional politician looking for votes, advice, or attention. There's nothing special about it, except that its pinball machines are fast, the conversation is usually interesting, and the balcony offers an out-of-the-way spot for a tête-à-tête if one doesn't mind bumping into the bumper pool players.”
“Sports, as shown on the large television at the end of the bar and discussed on the barstools and in the booths, plays its usual part in making George's what Najour calls, ‘just a family bar, where most people feel they can come and not be bothered by bums and pests.’”
“Occasionally, arguments over remembered scores or perceived greatness verge on violence: the same is true of political discussions. When that happens, which is seldom, decorum is maintained by George, his wife Mary, or Sammy, who recently retired at 62 but still works part time. Sammy's retirement in January of 1978 occasioned the largest crowd in George's memory. The band stopped playing long enough for a city councilman to read a proclamation from the mayor. Nobody else stopped at all. Sammy was so impressed by it all that he was back at work the next day.”
— Bar calendar article, October 1980
1983
2006
Today
On the Wall
Serving Up a New Generation of Burgers & Beer
Walk into George's today and you'll find the history right there on the walls — framed newspaper articles, old photos, and memories from six decades of Atlanta life. The bar has been written up, talked about, and celebrated. But it never needed the press to know what it was. The regulars already knew.
The headline said it best: a new generation picks up where George left off, keeping the same spirit, the same burgers, and the same cold beer that started it all in 1961.
Come Be Part of the Story
Over 65 years of Atlanta history — and counting.
Pull up a stool.