For a bar that is beloved for never really changing much throughout its more than 70-year history, some of the forced changes during the COVID-19 pandemic were particularly hard on regulars at Torch Bar and Grill in Buckham Alley.
Even after reopening, it took some time for things to truly get back to normal – the famous popcorn machine that patrons can help themselves to didn’t reappear until late summer of 2025. But this week, another important standard was re-instituted: the Torch is once again open seven days per week.
Like many bars and restaurants post-pandemic, finding the right level of staffing has been the biggest challenge.
“After the pandemic, we reopened but we were only open Wednesday through Sunday,” said owner Ron Sims, who has owned the Torch since 2006. “We didn’t have the staff to do Monday and Tuesday. If I had enough servers, I didn’t have enough cooks. If I found enough cooks, we didn’t have enough servers. It just took some time to be able to fill all those slots at the same time.”
Now, patrons can expect a familiar schedule based on the establishment’s long history: Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., and Sundays from noon to 11 p.m. And at the Torch, familiarity is the point – along with regulars who live in the area, the Torch also frequently has visits from Flint expats who usually crave a Torch burger on any stop they make passing back through the city.
“We love that,” Sims said. “We will see people that we haven’t seen in years come in. I just saw someone who moved to New York and retired, but they came in. It takes you back 20 years.”
It’s not that things never change at the Torch, it’s just the important stuff doesn’t: the burgers, half and half baskets, and other staples cooked in a small corner kitchen right next to the bar are still prepared in the way people have known and loved for years.
But there have been some upgrades over the years, including new flooring and other renovations. The Torch also has an impressive rotating draft beer list for a small bar, tap takeovers, and creative specialty craft cocktails that staff come up with and offer at different times throughout the year. But the changes stay subtle and fit the overall vibe that has been carefully curated over decades in the city.
“I kind of just listen to the customers,” Sims said. “I’ll just hear things (they want) and just quietly do it or quietly make updates. When we remodeled in 2012, we made some changes, but people thought they were here the whole time. So it’s just trying to keep it continuous, even if we have to update.”
Sims took over the Torch because he’d always wanted to own his own restaurant. In the 20 years since, he’s seen the landscape of downtown Flint change significantly.
“I think it was just us, the Loft, and Churchill’s open downtown then,” Sims said. Soggy Bottom was open as a bar then, but did not have a food menu yet. The Loft closed in 2025, and several new establishments and developments have emerged downtown over the last two decades. Sims is proud to be able to keep an important part of Flint’s history going strong as a part of that environment.
“We’re tucked away in the alley, which is what people like,” he said. “It’s kind of private to get away from Saginaw Street and they can just have a quiet conversation, have a burger, a beer, and go on their way.”
He’s also seen multiple generations of Flint people and families form memories there.
“When we first bought it, I had a father and his young son come in every Saturday for lunch,” Sims said. “And now (that the son is grown), they still come in whenever the son is back in town. You have these institutional memories here. There were four or five owners before us, and the previous owners that we bought from still come here. It’s basically a neighborhood bar.”
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