Hauser's Place : An ethnography of a businessmen's bar

Within the complex urban setting of Houston, Hauser's Place functions as a meeting place for friendship groups which serve as primary groups for the twenty-six businessmen and professionals who meet there regularly for lunch. The study is based on eleven months of participant observation research conducted while employed as a cocktail waitress in this small restaurant-bar. Characteristics of the bar fostering intimate customer interaction are explored. The customers have created a general atmosphere within which they meet in small groups of friends. These groups are of two types - those composed of socially mobile men seeking status through group affiliation and those composed of men who having obtained a high level of financial success seek security and intimacy. In order to maintain their interaction these groups have developed a system of relating to each other, nongroup members who are regularly in the bar, and newcomers.