Indian Givers

"This was a great place to work," says Mia Johnson, the club's manager, over a 4:00 a.m. beer at the patio bar. After pausing to renew her acquaintance with a smoldering Marlboro Light, she says that she'll accept Honerkamp's offer for summer employment up north, then look for similar work in New York City after business dies down in September. "Bars like the Talkhouse are like a family," Johnson explains. "This kind of life -- it gets in your blood." She picks up a shot glass filled to the brim with Cuervo Gold, and with one smooth swallow makes the figurative literal.