You can't be inside Doyle's Cafe without feeling the history.
Former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn has been going to Doyle's for decades, calling it a "museum" for the city's politicians.
"You can learn more about politics at Doyle's then you could at the John F Kennedy school of government at Harvard," Flynn said.
Boston City Councilman Matt O'Malley says the Jamaica Plain bar was practically his satellite office.
"There was something about walking through that side door at Doyle's where, no matter where, no matter what your political persuasion was, you were there for a good burger, a cold beer, and a healthy and respectful debate," he said.
But with this week's announcement that the bar will soon close, many are mourning the loss of what is considered a treasured landmark in Boston.
"We lose part of our soul. The memories that we all have there, too many to count. It's an amazing place and it's just devastating. It's heartbreaking," O'Malley said.
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Over the years, Flynn brought international dignitaries, presidents and religious leaders to Doyle's. His face can be found on almost any wall alongside other legendary Boston Mayors — Michael Curley, Kevin White and Tom Menino.
Regulars included members of the Kennedy family, political power brokers but mostly, as Flynn likes to point out, just every day people.
"They would be nurses, they would be laborers, they would be doctors," Flynn said.
O'Malley remembers bringing Elizabeth Warren to Doyle's a week before her first Senate election in 2012.
"We were behind the bar. She was pouring pints of Guinness. And it was filled to the rafters, it was amazing," he said.
A group is trying to save the bar, writing on a newly created Facebook page dedicated to the purpose Wednesday that "We just got home from Doyle's and this is *not* a done deal – the building has *not* been sold." They urged people to write the building's owner to let him know what the bar means to him.
The page had nearly 1,000 followers Thursday night, when Doyle's was hosting a presidential debate watch party.
Boston politicos will find other places to gather and debate and celebrate in the coming years, but, should it really close, the history and spirit at Doyle's will likely never be replicated.
