HARK!
I hear … a void.
Cowboy down in Cave Creek: Larry Wendt, longtime owner of the Buffalo Chip Saloon, passed away recently.
He was a tough guy to get a hold of, by phone, at least.
“Just left.”
“Sorry, don’t think I’ve seen him today.”
Can I give you my name and number and ask him to call me back?
“Sure,” the staffer unlucky enough to answer the phone would say, and you’d get the feeling your message would be treated like...a buffalo chip.
But when I finally tracked him down, he agreed to talk for an Images AZ magazine piece back in 2014. Turned out to be a tough-but-nice guy with tons of stories.
“From lawman to barman,” is how I started my profile of Wendt, before setting the scene: “It’s a Saturday night, and the Buffalo Chip Saloon is packed. The dancefloor is filled with slick two-steppers, old and young, and the Danny Grub Band is playing the Joe Nichols hit country song, ‘Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.’
“Young guys in flannel jackets and “Duck Dynasty” beards are shooting pool; young ladies skirts and cowboy boots are at the bar, sipping cocktails and chatting…”
Back when I talked to Wendt, he and the Chip faced a formidable challenge: Pat James, the longtime music star, went next door, playing regularly at the huge new Hogs and Horses.
Hogs and Horses was run by TC Thorstenson -- who Wendt investigated after Thorstenson’s wife died at Bartlett Lake.
Yes, Wendt was a former deputy sheriff, working under Sheriff Joe Arpaio until Wendt cashed in his chips in 1999 and bought the Chip.
“The only way we are going to lose our customers is if we don’t get them a really good value,” Wendt told me, from under a white cowboy hat. “We give them free entertainment, all the time. Really good food. Inexpensive drinks. But mainly, if we don’t give them personal service, that’s the only way we’ll lose them.”
Big lesson, bar owners: Customer service.
Wendt noted there were more than two dozen bars and restaurants in a few square miles of Cave Creek.
“The only thing sets us apart is them,” he told me, pointing to the employees scurrying around behind and in front of the bar. “Our staff. Treating people like our friends.”
What was he like, to work for?
“He’s like a dad,” Regina Cammarato, a bartender at the Chip, said back in 2014. “He can be strict.”
If you want to stay on his good side, there is one simple rule: “Don’t lie to him,” says Cammarato. “He understands everybody messes up, just don’t lie to him.”
The Buffalo Chip Facebook notice Aug. 22 was a cold slap in the face for many:
“It is with extremely heavy hearts that we announce our Father, Larry Wendt, has passed away today. He is loved deeply by many and his loss will forever impact more lives than we could count.
“The Buffalo Chip, will remain open and our staff looks forward to continuing to serve you with the best service in Cave Creek.”
Larry Wendt would be proud of his family and staff, who are keeping this slice of the Old Wild West alive. Live music continues six nights a week (Monday dark), with dance lessons inside and bull riding out back.