What: MJ’s Tavern
Where: 4019 Granby St., Norfolk, VA
Hours: 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. every single day
Website: https://mjstavern.com/
It’s Tuesday afternoon and already the tables are filling up at MJ’s Tavern in the Riverview neighborhood of Granby Street. Owner John Childers walks the floors like a man satisfied with a dozen years of hard work at building one of Norfolk’s top spots for both LGBTQ+ culture – and, oh yeah, great food.
In the corner, a group of senior ladies sit playing Mahjong. We later discover they’ve been meeting here for decades – since the place was known as Mason’s Eastern Shore Seafood Restaurant in the 1940s and ‘50s. At the bar, patrons sip beers and watch sports while others mill about outside on the deck. Others tuck into plates of steaks, chicken strips and french fries. It’s an impressive scene for any time of day, much less a midweek afternoon in mid-spring.
“Every day is a good day,” Childers says. “It’s a nice little crowd in there too. When you get to 65, everyday is a good day.”
Ok, so John is technically 64 and a half, but he’s reached the stage of life where he’s earned a little rounding up.
Food. Friends. Family.
Twelve years ago, Childers and then-husband, Mike, bought the old restaurant and got to work adding a patio and, eventually The Shed, a gathering place for local groups who play poker and other shared interests on weeknights. With an eclectic background in the military, shipbuilding and fast food, it was an inevitability that Childers would end up serving his community.
“We wanted it to be like our house, like our church,” he says. “Everybody is welcome.”
Everybody includes the house dog, Caviar, who quietly follows Childers through the property, eager to go for a post-interview walk.
“I really like this. And if you don’t like this, this is not a job for you.”
Thanks to this inclusive approach to clientele, the LGBTQ+ community of Norfolk sees MJ’s as something of a refuge from everyday life. A place where patrons can be themselves without catering to societal expectations, and where they can find comfort food at its finest.
“That’s the way my church is. You come to my house and you’re hungry, you better eat. And if you do go away hungry at my house or here, it’s your own fault because we serve you a very fine portion for a reasonable price and most people take like half a sandwich home with them,” Childers says.
What’s On The Menu
The menu at MJ’s stays relatively stationary except for seasonal additions. Childers says this is purposeful because he has always listened to what customers like and don’t like.
Favorite menu items include chicken strips and fries (the top seller) and a daily Blue Plate special of chicken fried steak, meatloaf or spaghetti. Homemade mashed potatoes and gravy round out the menu while each day has its own culinary theme.
“People like it, and it’s fast, it’s easy.”
Credit: @mjstavern Instagram
A Busy Events Schedule
According to Childers, “there’s always something going on.” It’s karaoke on Monday, music bingo and pool on Tuesday, bar trivia on Wednesday, Texas Hold ‘Em poker in the Shed on Thursdays and a brunch followed by Sunday Tea to cap off each week.
Speaking of what he calls the “Tea Dance,” Childers says, “Back in the day, gays would get together and they would they couldn’t be out and open. So we’d be sitting like this car and we would be drinking our tea, which would be spiked, of course, and we’d be dishing the tea.”
Childers says this is a way of honoring people who came before him.
In between, there have been marriages, celebrations of life, birthday parties and military reenlistment ceremonies at MJ’s.
Childers is quick to recognize those who keep the operations running on a day-to-day basis. He calls out bar manager Jamie, kitchen manager Greg and a trio of James’s and a Dakota who also contribute to MJ’s success.
“This is the best staff I’ve ever had,” he says. “We are very, very blessed. I can go out of town. I went 13 days to Hawaii. And I came back and it was still here. That’s a good thing. That is a wonderful thing.”
