At Denny’s bar, a favorite bartender has degrees in more than just mixology

If you walk in to Denny’s Bar on any given night, you’ll most likely notice two things: the… If you walk in to Denny’s Bar on any given night, you’ll most likely notice two things: the reasonable drink specials and the affable bartender/manager/future-owner Gene Ney.

“Good eeeveing! What can I get’chaa?” the stocky, friendly-faced Ney will usually drawl. “Two O.G.s (Denny’s slang for Old German beer)? Comin’ riiight up!”

Ney, 42, has been a fixture at the bar on the corner of Louisa and Atwood streets for nearly nine years. His commitment to friendly service and rock-bottom drink prices (75 cent Old German bottles on Saturdays and $3.50 pitchers nearly every day) have earned Denny’s a loyal following among students and Oaklandites and, most recently, a “Best Beer and Shot Bar” nod from the Pittsburgh City Paper.

But Ney isn’t some shot-slinger straight from central casting. He’s also a professor of business and economics at Carlow University, with master’s degrees in psychology and English writing and a doctorate in higher education.

“I love teaching and I love bartending; they’re the two things I enjoy the most,” said a beaming Ney, who has lived in the apartment above Denny’s since 1995. “Actually, I’m really a fairly shy person, except when I’m teaching or behind the bar.”

A true Pittsburgh native, he spent his formative years in the Oakland area. Ney said one of his earliest memories is of going grocery shopping with his mother at the Giant Eagle on Centre Avenue. At age 7, his family moved to Scott Township, then later to Upper Saint Clair.

After graduating from high school, Ney entered the world of higher education that has defined his adult life. He attended Slippery Rock University, where he earned his bachelor’s, and later master’s, degrees in psychology and writing. From there, he came back home to Pitt to work on a doctorate in higher education.

It was at Pitt that Ney found his dual callings in life: In the fall term of 1995, he taught a class called Foundations in Education, which he still teaches in the summer. A year later, he began working at Denny’s. Now in the process of buying the bar, Ney said that all he needs to do is wait for the liquor license to be transferred to him.

He began teaching at Carlow in 1999.

Fellow bartender Mike Barron described Ney as a “real honest guy, a real stand-up guy” who is “very understanding, very fair and has a set of rules and sticks by them.”

Selflessness is a hallmark of Ney’s character, according to Carlow colleague and former Pitt classmate Cynthia Nicola.

“He’s one of the most positive and considerate people I’ve ever met,” said Nicola, a friend of Ney for 11 years. “He doesn’t ask for much. He’s a very generous spirit.”

She went on to say that Ney has “grasped and taken advantage of every opportunity” that’s come his way. Nicola said that as an undergraduate at Slippery Rock, Ney made a business out of selling RC Cola to students, becoming so successful that the local distributors lobbied to the school to shut him down.

Denny’s regular Kristy Sorcan echoed Nicola’s praise of Ney.

“He’s one of the most generous, kind people I’ve ever met,” she said, sitting in her usual corner seat at the bar, nursing a bottle of Old German.

Sorcan told a story of when her washing machine broke down last year. She went to Denny’s to let off some steam and mentioned her plight to Ney, who was on duty that night. The next time she came in, Ney told her he had a washing machine, and helped move and install it in her apartment for no charge.

“That just demonstrates the generosity and kindness,” Sorcan said. “And the fact that he cares about people, his customers and his friends.”

Ney approaches teaching the same way: Give first and don’t worry about receiving.

“I tend to be more service-oriented, in that I’m here in the bar or there in the classroom to serve and not be served,” he said.

Ney displayed his philosophy when teaching a class called Principles of Economics and reviewing material for an upcoming test. He succinctly rattled off the difference between public and private goods, frequently saying, “That would make a good test question.” Ney elicited chuckles from the 13 students when he said taking too many shots of Jagermeister is a good example of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.

Carlow student Carmen Miksic said she didn’t like economics classes in high school, but that Ney’s lectures make the subject more palpable.

“He makes it easy to understand, and he makes it fun because he always makes us laugh,” she said after the class. “He always makes sure we understand things before he moves on.”

Ney’s commitment to helping his students extends from the classroom to the bar. Many students stop in while he’s working, and he never hesitates to dispense academic or career advice, he said.

Perhaps the clearest look into Ney’s view of himself and the world came in response to the question of why he teaches.

“I enjoy that interaction, and I enjoy trying to help people, and as a teacher, my goal is to help other people to become better than I am,” he said with the smile of a man who knows his purpose in life.