The Epic story behind GoodTime Docs
GOODTIME DOCS opened in the month of October, 1985. The bar was named after my father "Doc Springer" who died shortly before it opened. That is his caracature in one of my Logos. At that time it was known as "Goodtime Doc's Bar & Grill" "Jacksonville's ..1 Sports Bar". We were open 7 days a week 11 am till 1 am. We served lunch and focused mostly on sports
and food. At that time, there was no dance floor. We eventually added Breakfast and Dinner and pizza. We were definately known for our huge burgers, horsehoes, and homemade soups. We sponsored approximately 9 sports teams and Tuesdays back then are like the weekends are now. Our mens and womens softball teams both went to state more than once, and our dart and pool teams went to Vegas more than once. Back in those days "Happy Hour" was legal in Illinois and Wednesday through Friday we had free food buffets, 50 cent drafts, $1 B.O.B.S.(Big Old Beers)(thanks Kevin Travis), and DOUBLE BOUBLES. There would be a line to get in at 5 pm on Fridays! WOW, times do change. It was around 1987 when we put in the first of the 3 dance floors. It was where the game room is now and the "whole" DJ booth fit where the landing is heading up to the balcony. I think in 1989 I remodeled the 3rd floor (which is above the ceiling that you see now. There was a whole other bar (and still is) and a HUGE dance floor that had a huge banner (the one that is on the south wall) that raised up into the ceiling and dissappeared out of site! The door to go upstairs is at the southwest corner of the bar. 27 steps straight up!! Going up sucked, but coming down was a blast. People used to slide down on their stomachs. There would be a line to go up there starting around 8 pm (the upstairs opened at 9) and it would wind all the way around the bar to the girls restroom. Back then I had 2 sets of identical twins, guys and girls. One of each worked up and down. Imagine what the drunks thought that had never been there before! HILARIOUS! I also opened a comedy club up there on Fridays, and that lasted about a year. I sold out in '91. It went through a couple of name changes over the next two years, the new owners defaulted on the loan, and I got it back in '93. Two years to the day. I reopened under the name "Springers" so everyone would know it was me, and also because I "sold" the name, and wasn't quite sure if I could use it again. In 2000 I changed the name back to "GoodTime Docs" and the funny thing is 32 out of the almost 39 years that I've been open, the bar has been named "GoodTime docs". Not one employee that works for me has "ever" worked at "Springers", 50% of my crowd were not even 21 yet when the bar was named "Springers" and the majority of my customers have never even walked into the bar that was called "Springers", YET the majority of people and employees still call it "Springers"! haha
Now let's fast forward to 2017. The bar business has completely changed over the years. No more crowds, no more lines to get in. The laws have changed and people adapted. GoodTime Docs was in a world of hurt. We were way behind in bills, business was terrible and I was told that foreclosure was in my near future. I had a decision to make, pay the bank or put the money back into the bar and risk foreclosure. Time to reinvent.....enter FORTUNES. I had some good friends step up to help with the remodel. I had no money and had exhausted all avenues of finding any money. We re-branded GoodTime Docs and added Fortunes. Got rid of the dance floor and ironically doubled my sound system (makes no sense, right?) it took 3 weeks for the changes, and the day I reopened...I was foreclosed on :(
Most of my employees were gone, the bank foreclosed on everything I had, and I had a brand new concept to unveil. I quadrupled my hours and I worked almost every single one of them because I couldn't afford to pay anyone. 100 hour weeks for almost an entire year. Fast forward to present day. Sales have tripled, FORTUNES was voted #1 Gaming Parlor in the area. Our crowd grew up and now GOODTIME DOCS is basically the best "CHILL" bar around. Super customers, great music, no drama and amazing pizza deals from my neighbors, LEO'S PIZZA. If you haven't stopped in the new GoodTime Docs, I encourage you to do so. I hope you enjoy browsing through my site, looking back to the old days, and looking forward to the new ones. Here are some facts that you might think about as you look. Please leave a comment if you'd like. GoodTime Docs has employed over 1000 people
Over 1,000,000 people have been served
Over 1000 1/2 barrels of beer +
Over 50,000 cases +
Over 1,500,00 Bottles +
Over 700,000 Cocktails have been served!! Over 45,000 lbs. of hamburger was used
Over 4,000,000 cocktail napkins were used
Over 700 people have "thrown up" in the bar
The toilets have been flushed over 2,000,000 times
Over 800,000 hangovers were created
And 1 woman broke water and went into labor 4 feet inside the front door.
