ALTO, Mich. — The Alto Bar has been proudly serving patrons since William McKinley was president. Now 124 years later it’s for sale and you can own a piece of West Michigan history.
On Linfield Avenue in the middle of the block is a longtime Alto establishment.
“It was founded in 1900 by Harry Lane. I am the 17th owner of lineage from 1900,” said current owner David Burns.
He has owned the bar since 2008. Now he is looking for, as he calls it, a new caretaker to own the bar.
“I'm putting the bar up for sale because my wife and I want to retire,” said Burns.
He says he wants to find the right person to take over the establishment.
“We do well in it, but you're not going to get rich off of it. It's a working kind of a situation where if you come in and you work it, you can make a really good living doing it."
The bar has an outdoor patio, an all-season enclosed deck and a full kitchen.
Burns said, “We have great food; we specialize in steak night on Friday nights.”
The bar also specializes in bourbon.
“We got about 400 bourbons and about 600 whiskeys,” said Burns.
Those selections range from $7 to $240 a glass.
“I was kind of ahead of the curve on collecting. ... I probably started about 9 years ago, 10 years ago before all the bourbon rage. So, I've got a personal collection and then I've got my bar collection,“ said Burns.
He says the bar has a great staff and customers and the next owner just needs to continue the legacy.
Burns said, “We kind of built a gem in the middle of nowhere.”
The bar is listed for $645,000 and it includes the liquor license, the building and two upstairs apartments, which provide an additional revenue stream for the bar.
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