The gentrifying forces of the Beltline and a surging intown real estate market have threatened the nearly 30-year-old establishment with displacement-if not demise. On top of the personal emotions running high at what for years has been a popular Atlanta gay bar, Model T’s fate is uncertain. That same regular, with the help of the barkeep, also consoled another local who’s having health problems of his own. On Wednesday afternoon, for instance, one longtime patron said he’d come in for a drink after spending two weeks taking care of his father, who’s in poor health. Day by day, the regulars and bartenders discuss everything from neighborhood rumors to personal problems.
On Sundays, the owner, Jill Darmer, serves lunch to patrons free of charge. The clientele at Model T, a dive bar tucked beneath Poncey-Highland’s aging Ford Factory Lofts, is more a family than a collection of customers.
