Beuna Vista - open!

It's open still! http://www.thebuenavista.com

And they even have their own story to tell:

THE IRISH COFFEE STORY

The historic venture started on the night of November the 10th in 1952. Jack Koeppler, then-owner of the Buena Vista, challenged international travel writer Stanton Delaplane to help re-create a highly touted "Irish Coffee" served at Shannon Airport in Ireland. Intrigued, Stan Accepted Jack’s invitation, and the pair began to experiment immediately.

Throughout the night the two of them stirred and sipped judiciously and eventually acknowledged two recurring problems. The taste was "not quite right," and the cream would not float. Stan’s hopes sank like the cream, but Jack was undaunted. The restaurateur pursued the elusive elixir with religious fervor, even making a pilgrimage overseas to Shannon Airport.

Upon Jack’s return, the experimentation continued. Finally, the perfect-tasting Irish whiskey was selected. Then the problem of the bottom-bent cream was taken to San Francisco’s mayor, a prominent dairy owner. It was discovered that when the cream was aged for 48 hours and frothed to a precise consistency, it would float as delicately as a swan on the surface of Jack’s and Stan’s special nectar.

Success was theirs! With the recipe now mastered, a sparkling clear, six-ounce, heat-treated goblet was chosen as a suitable chalice.

Soon the fame of the Buena Vista’s Irish Coffee spread throughout the land. Today, it’s still the same delicious mixture, and it’s still the same clamorous, cosmopolitan Buena Vista. Both…delightful experiences.

CBS Sunday Morning celebrated it, USA Today promoted it, and Food Network has returned to the Buena Vista numerous times to include it in several shows, including The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  

Irish Coffee

• 3 cocktail sugar cubes
• Hot black coffee
• 1 1/4 oz. Irish whiskey (or whisky? I know there's a difference)
• whipped cream

Place sugar cubes in warmed coffee glass. Fill 34 full with coffee. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add whiskey and stir. Top with whipped cream.