A Birthday Surprise
Cirrito Inducted Into Bartender’s Hall of Fame

What better birthday present than to be given one of the top honors in your career? At a surprise birthday party recently, Jim Cirrito, owner of Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern in Herndon, Va., was inducted into Bartender magazine’s Bartenders Hall of Fame.

A Mission to Mix
The induction came 19 years after Cirrito, as a young upstart, called to challenge Billy Reilly, the 1988 inductee. “I’m breaking every record you have,” Cirrito told him. After that, Reilly, who holds the Guinness Book record for working the longest shift, became a mentor for young Cirrito. It was Reilly who worked to get letters from other bartenders to have Cirrito nominated for the Hall of Fame. Winners are selected based on their abilities to be fast, entertaining, responsible, like making sure their patrons are cut off after too many drinks or calling them a cab, and their track record of charitable fundraisers. Cirrito met all those requirements and has an extensive record for fundraising. Working with Reilly, Cirrito has helped raise more than $5 million dollars for various charities. He organizes a yearly contest with Reilly called the Fastest Bartender Contest, which raises funds for Multiple Sclerosis.

A Total Surprise
Cirrito was unaware that he had been nominated for the Hall of Fame until the night of his 41st birthday. When Cirrito walked into his surprise party at his tavern, he also saw a banner proclaiming him as the newest Hall of Famer. They had a presentation ceremony, with the owner of Bartender, Ray Foley, presenting Cirrito with his Hall of Fame ring. Cirrito opened Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern in 1997 after years of friends and family asking when was he going to open in his own place. “When are you going to loan me $10,000?” Cirrito asked in response for years. After awhile he said he was surprised to have people saying, “Right now, today.”

A Place of His Own
Not long after that, he began making plans for his tavern. At the time of the bar’s opening, the building was 100 years old. Wanting to bring a touch of history back to Herndon’s downtown, Cirrito has tried to give his tavern a historical feel by decorating with period pieces, along with oak and brass furnishings. But this is, after all, the modern age. Despite the old-fashioned tavern ambiance, Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern does offer modern nightclub entertainment like Sunday night poker tournaments, Monday Night Football, an open mic night for local musicians, and a live DJ for dancing almost every evening.