Joe Jost's Verified listing

A century of operation under the founding family. 30,000 t-shirts sold every year. And it goes through 450 pickled eggs every day. Joe Jost’s isn’t just an old bar; it’s a rightful Long Beach institution. And for the first time in its history, its founding family—currently led by long-loved owner Ken Buck, the grandson of Joe Yost (aka Joe Jost), who founded the space in 1924—is parting ways.

“In frankness, Joe Jost’s never really felt like a job for me,” Ken said, who has no kids and, as he puts it, his employees are his family. “But there are other things my wife, Cathleen, and I want to do—travel being one of them. The main thing was that my employees were taken care of, since I’ve had bartenders there for over 30 years. And Jon Sweeney couldn’t have been a more ideal candidate for ownership. I asked nothing of him, and he led the conversation with, ‘I don’t want to change a thing.’ Which, of course, my employees enjoyed hearing. The larger reality is that I know Jon will take Joe Jost’s into the future, where it will hopefully remain for another 100 years.”

Jon—co-owner of Altar Society in DTLB and a Long Beach native whose working roots began behind the bar at Joe Jost’s, when they only had two taps—stands by that statement. “I understand the sanctity of Joe Jost’s,” Jon said. “I understand both the brand and the space itself feel like home to many generations of Long Beach locals—and I don’t plan on changing that.”

The origin story is wonderfully utilitarian, which is to say: deeply Long Beach. Joe Jost’s didn’t begin as the bar people now treat like a rite of passage. It began, in 1924, as a combination barbershop that also made room for billiards and poker. The business itself traces back even earlier, started by Joe Jost in 1920 in Newport Beach, before relocating to Long Beach.

Written and photos by Brian Addison.

For Brian Addison's full feature on Joe Jost's, click here.