Whether lit by the crack of dawn or midday sun or bright neon, a humble watering hole in the heart of Pest continually welcomed thirsty patrons from all levels of society and sobriety for over a decade. Alas, during these years Király Street rapidly evolved from being an undistinguished grungy thoroughfare to becoming one of Budapest’s hottest destinations for design shops and nights out on the town, and while this bar stubbornly resisted change throughout the entire time, the surrounding boutiques and chic clubs have finally succeeded in their siege – at the conclusion of this weekend, Caesar’s Sörözó will shut down, leaving countless locals of all social standings without a beloved hangout.

Caesar’s is the kind of place that is nothing special, yet spectacular – dirt-cheap and open 24 hours a day (aside from during shift changes, when patrons would be locked out or in for a few long or unnoticed minutes), anyone with a few coins jangling in their pocket could stop in for a drink anytime. From the dingy smoking area/keg-storage facility in the very back to the windowless rear room emblazoned with a generic Rat Pack poster to the slightly slimy bathroom to the main barroom blaring Hungarian classic rock to the tinny sidewalk tables, Caesar’s was almost constantly populated by a motley crew of down-and-out middle-aged men, laughing drunken teens, broke expats, screaming hooligans, chatty high-maintenance girlfriends, and more down-and-out middle-aged men – truly a cross-section of society hard to find anywhere else.

The bartenders were invariably young women with plunging décolletage who took drink orders and changed heavy kegs with a spirit of dutiful half-heartedness. Inside the taproom, sports matches shone eternal from the medium-screen TV, although it was rare to find very many visitors giving the games more than a passing glance away from their glasses. During the era when slot machines were legal in Hungary (pictured above), a glamorously dressed uptown girl was once observed entering the premises and walking directly to the one-armed bandit before dropping some 30,000 forints in a single sitting. A big-smiling regular often found at the Király Street curbside tables had a gregarious habit of offering high fives to passing cyclists and auto passengers, receiving varying degrees of appreciation or scorn in return. For mysterious reasons, the bathroom sink was frequently shattered to pieces, with replacements soon sharing this fate. The faded promotional posters on the wall were from drinking seasons past, yet prices consistently remained unchanged at the ever-crowded bar.

We hail Caesar’s as a unique nexus of Budapest nightlife and everyday life, and while the next establishment that takes over this locale will almost certainly be a more profitable venture (undoubtedly the reason for this shutdown), it can never occupy the same echelon of appreciation that this low-key local instilled in its crocked clientele. We ceaselessly took Caesar’s for granted, and now that it will soon cease to exist, we realize that an era of Budapest’s good-time scene is ending with it. At least one more time this weekend, we come to praise Caesar’s.