Josip Petrsoric is a bartender at Sardi's - he began working there in 1968 and got promoted to bartender four years later.
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"We were so busy in those days," Petrsoric said.
They were busy serving up stars like Jackie Gleason and Liza Minnelli.
He says he's never been star-struck.
When Petrsoric first started tending bar, drinks cost a dollar. Now they are 20 dollars. And all along, he has had the same approach - to make customers feel welcomed and respected.
"You come in and he knows before you open your mouth - that quality - he's a phenomenal person," said customer Raymond Basso.
"Joe made me a Shirley Temple and my first cosmopolitan," said Sharon Slosarik
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"If I could put it in words for us, he's a treasure," said Sardi's Managing Partner, Max Klimavicius.
On Friday, Petrsoric poured his last drink - the 78-year-old is retiring.
"55 years here, I'm happy I go out in one piece," he said.
But first, there will be a show of appreciation - a plaque will now hang in his honor and his career of more than five and a half decades.
Petrsoric is moving back to his native Croatia and is looking forward to finally having his nights off.
"I love what I do, it looks like people like me too - it was fun, a lot of fun," he says.
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The way he sees it, he is leaving Sardi's with his glass half full.
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