Last Call at Tom’s Tavern: Owner Ron Gurdjian Passes Away at 78

With the bar closed until further notice, we remember one of the city’s most well-loved bartenders.

Click on the audio player above to hear the conversation.

Detroit lost a local legend this weekend.

Tom’s Tavern owner and bartender Ron Gurdjian, age 78, lost his battle with cancer on Sunday night.

The rundown bar at 7 Mile and Wyoming is a storied piece of Detroit’s dive bar history.

Writer John Carlisle has written about Gurdjian and Tom’s Tavern for the Free Press.

CultureShift’s Amanda LeClaire spoke with him about the bar’s truly unique character and what may lie ahead for it in the future.  

Author

  • Amanda LeClaire
    Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. She’s a founding producer of WDET’s flagship news talk show Detroit Today, and a former host/reporter for Arizona Public Media. Amanda is also an artist, certified intuitive and energy healer, and professional tarot reader.