Don Sharp Jr.

News Obituary Article

ATLANTA: Don Sharp, longtime bar, restaurant owner

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

In watering holes throughout Atlanta, Don Sharp's good-natured spirit hung in the air like thick cigarette smoke and boozy laughter.

On a lark, Mr. Sharp threw in his lot with a group of buddies and opened a string of bars and restaurants that longtime Atlantans still miss. They started in 1969 with the Bucket Shop, an unpretentious favorite of reporters, politicos and assorted downtown habitues that flourished in Underground Atlanta's heyday.

Besides cheap drinks, the only thing on the menu was humongous hamburgers served with potato chips and a dill pickle.

In a 1989 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, the late columnist Lewis Grizzard wrote about his affection for the hangout.

"We never could figure out what anything cost at the Bucket Shop because no matter what you drank or ate the bill was always $13," Mr. Grizzard wrote.

Donald A. Sharp Jr., 65, died Monday of heart failure at his Atlanta residence. The body was cremated. The memorial service is 12:30 p.m. today at H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill.

Before long, Mr. Sharp and company acquired three more Underground establishments --- W.D. Crowley's Steak and Lobster House; The Apothecary, a jazz spot; and the Pump House, a rock club. From there, he co-owned the Scotch House near the airport; the Ivy Street Library in downtown Atlanta; the Bucket Shop on Lenox Road; Alexander's Eagle in the Buford Highway and Clairmont Road area; the Hunt Club in Marietta; the River House in Roswell; and restaurants in Savannah and Columbus. Most recently, Mr. Sharp was ,,in charge of the Brandy House in Roswell, which closed down New Year's Eve.

"It was just one of those 'hail-fellow-well-met' kind of things that turned out very, very well," said Paul Sachetti of Sandy Springs, one of his business partners. "Each place was different, but they were all comfortable as an old shoe. You felt good when you walked in, like you belonged there, and that was the stock in trade of all of our restaurants."

"Don was the quiet one of the whole group, but he had this great, subtle sense of humor. He was always more behind the scenes, but I think he really began to blossom when he took the Brandy House over and gave it its own identity."

Mr. Sharp grew up in Green Bay, Wis., and stayed a die-hard Packers fan for life. "Once a cheesehead, always a cheesehead," said his wife, Shirley Sharp. "He even converted me, too."

He attended Riker College in Maine but "he was not a scholar," his wife said. When he was laid off from his job selling industrial Teflon parts in Orlando in the late '60s, he jumped at the chance to move to Atlanta and join his friends in business.

Besides watching TV sports, Mr. Sharp was a disciplined athlete who worked out every morning and loved playing tennis with his wife.

"He was one of the last people you'd expect to be in the bar business because he was such a mild-mannered gentleman," Mrs. Sharp said. "Not that he didn't like his booze, but he wasn't what you'd picture as a big bar guy."

"These guys didn't know tiddlywinks about the restaurant business when they started," she said. "But Underground was such a rush back then, and it was a wonderful time in the city of Atlanta. I think Don was really proud to be part of something new."

Survivors include two sons, Donald Alexander Sharp III and Bradley Spencer Sharp, both of Atlanta; and two sisters, Stephanie Newell of Cedar River, Mich., and Mary Torinus of Bailey's Harbor, Wis.

© 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution