Plenty of bars in St. Joe have some common elements. Televisions for people to watch. Patrons with a cig in one hand and a domestic brew in the other. So when Nathan Karr, owner and operator of Foster’s Martini and Wine Bar, opened his non-smoking establishment two years ago with no TVs and pricey martinis, even he wasn’t sure the concept would stick around.

“I thought it was really risky,” Karr says. “I didn’t have any idea that it would be this successful.”

But Foster’s met an under-the-radar demand in St. Joe, and in the bar’s second year it will hold its Second Anniversary Bash July 19. The festivities will begin at 2 p.m. inside and on Foster’s patio area. Karr says there will be free brats and burgers, drink specials and live music by the Larry Buck Invitational Jam going on in the afternoon and early evening hours. Chris Jamison will close out the celebration from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Buck and his house band have invited plenty of musical friends to join in the jam, including Jamison, Bugsy Maugh, Jerry Forney, Kathleen Holeman and others. He did it last year during the restaurant’s first anniversary and says it was a good time.

“We just had a ball,” Buck says. “People just come and go and take turns jamming all afternoon.”

It was not only a good time, but a packed time, according to Karr.

“We got to take some of the chairs out because it’s like standing room only,” he says.

Karr admits he’s lucky that Foster’s has made it this far and plans on making changes to ensure that it goes on even further. That way, more and more locals, like a few of Buck’s friends, will get the chance grab a drink at Foster’s and leave their frugal nature at home.

“I’ve got a lot of friends that are as tight as bark on a tree when it comes to their money,” Buck says, “but they still like to go there and have a few martinis.”