Ellie Stanley is a familiar presence in the Pfister Hotel’s Lobby Lounge. She’s been working at the 133-year-old landmark for 45 years, the majority of them serving patrons of the anachronistically sumptuous bar-lounge. The Virginia native, who turned 80 this year, attributes the longevity of her serving career to her customers. Stanley’s a night owl who sleeps until noon – her rest interrupted only by the demands of her ragdoll cat, Smuggie. (“When she wants that soft food, she ain’t leaving you alone.”) But she feels most at home within the convivial confines of the lounge, serving folks who’ve become “like family.”
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Forty-five years is incredible. I heard this year you worked on your birthday and wore a tiara and sash. Was that a fun day for you?
It was my manager [who gave me the tiara and sash]. At first I was kind of scared that
it’s my retirement. But I told them, no, it’s my birthday. The reason I haven’t retired is I don’t want to just sit around. I don’t want to travel, and I don’t want to play golf.Do you have a lot of regulars who come in to see you?
I have this party of people – six to 10 people when they come in now – they call [the Lobby Lounge] Ellie’s Lounge. There are people I’ve been waiting on for years. I meet ’em when they’re dating, and they keep coming. First, they’re never gonna get married, and all of a sudden they’re getting married, and now they’re having kids, and it’s cool just to see them grow like that.
You must know just about everything there is to know about good service. What’s the thing guests most want?
I find the main thing is to just stay out on the floor. Don’t disappear. Because you can go to their table and they don’t want anything. Then in five minutes, they drop their fork or change their mind and want a drink or more water. People like to be able to see you.
Do you get a lot of questions about the Pfister’s history?
Mainly the people ask more about the ghost.
Is there really a ghost?
I tell my customers, I been here 45 years and I haven’t seen a ghost yet. I hear many people say there was a ghost in that room, but I don’t know. I hear it’s up on the second floor.
Have you waited on a lot of famous people over the years? I used to hear that the late actor Robert Duvall liked to come to the Lobby Lounge when he was in Milwaukee.
I waited on him, oh yeah. He would sit by the fireplace. He always remembered me. I waited on him, and Paul McCartney, Debbie Reynolds.
Do you get nervous waiting on celebrities?
No, nope. If I had waited on Elvis Presley, then I would have been shaking.
Me too! Any stories you remember from waiting on movie stars?
Debbie Reynolds was cool. She was funny, you know. She would tell you about all her exes. And she drank white Zin, but it had to be Beringer – only Beringer – or she did not drink it. She was fun. … Remember when the Circus Parade came to town? I waited on Ernie [Borgnine]. His people asked me if I wanted to ride on [the train]. I’m like, I can’t. I gotta work.
What is your favorite thing about living in Milwaukee?
It’s not as crazy as the big cities. You got a lot of nice people, a lot of caring people. [At the hotel], I get my miles in, I get to see people. I really like that.
