Jim Smith, longtime owner of beloved Poor Paul's Pourhouse, dies at 84

It’s always hard to say what makes a place a "home." Whether it’s the house where you grew up, the apartment that felt just right, or sometimes, the friendly bar where the folks accept their differences and take joy in just being together.

That last place might describe a 48-year-old icon of Tallahassee, and maybe particularly, Florida State University history — Poor Paul’s Pourhouse on the Tennessee Street strip — a lively bar where generations had their first drinks, met a lifetime of friends, and interacted with a man who somehow shepherded exuberant youth who often were “adulting” for the first time, and offered them fun within parameters.

Jim Smith was that man — the owner of Poor Paul’s since 1976, and the next-door Bullwinkle's, from 1979 to the early 2000s. Smith died Aug. 25 at the age of 84. Three of his four sons talked about their father with the Democrat, a man they describe as “a big kid,” and how he played a role in so many young lives. Jim is survived by his four sons — David, Danny, Max, and Sam Smith—and his grandsons, Sam and Adam Smith.

Dave Smith, 59, Max Smith, 33, and Sam Smith, 31 — a mechanical engineer, an attorney and realtor, and a civil engineer — recall their father as a single parent who always found time to be with his boys. “He was honest, and truly cared about the welfare of his clients — often young students — and their safety,” said Sam.

“Dad was strict,” adds Max. “He had people who checked your IDs, and you’d likely be cut off if you’d had too much. Dad made sure you had a ride home if you needed one. He made learning to drink safer.”

But it wasn’t always clear that Jim Smith would end up a bar owner. Son Dave Smith says that his father graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Business Administration and moved to Tallahassee, opening a Hess gas station.

But when a vacant “concrete shell of a building” became available right across the street from the university, Smith’s future began to materialize.

“I remember helping Dad build the wooden bar and put up the wood on the walls.”

There would go on to be four pool tables installed, along with four large dart boards, a Wheel of Fortune, and a juke box. There also was smoking — one of the few places that continued to allow it. But all the brothers agree, the feel of the establishment was intimate — a “speak-easy” kind of atmosphere, “a lot like Cheers.”

Yet Jim Smith was a savvy business man who knew how to engage the public and make them laugh.

“Dad would put on funny commercials on the radio—sometimes having “conversations” with the likes of “Bobby Bowden” — with Dad playing both parts.

Other commercials were Dad telling people to start saving to pay their defense attorneys, handle their insurance problems, and hire the drivers they’d need when their licenses were revoked if they wanted to drive drunk.”

At home, Jim Smith held his sons close — fishing, taking in stray animals, and collecting money for the Humane Society’s neutering and spaying — and devoting some time to his own hobby passion — Hot Rod Cars. “Dad had a special 6-car garage built for those cars and held annual “Jim’s Picnic and Rod Runs.”

Though as the pandemic approached, Smith had sold Bullwinkle's, a larger establishment next door that had musical entertainment in its indoor and outdoor venues, Smith continued to be the proprietor at Poor Paul’s Pourhouse — the place where his memorial service was held Aug. 31 with friends, longtime patrons, and with stories that flowed.

The brothers say they haven’t “figured out yet what will happen with Poor Paul’s,” each of them living out of town. “But we have good managers who are true to the fundamentals Dad set up.”

Besides, there are many a Poor Paul’s alumni who carry its legacy in their hearts.

Correction: An earlier version of this story had some inaccuracies: Bullwinkle's was sold in the early 2000s not 2019; Smith was not a hunter; Max is both an attorney and a Realtor.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Jim Smith, proprietor of beloved Poor Paul's Pourhouse, dies at 84