But somehow, the location's chi must have matched Rasmussen's. Since its opening in 1974, Blue Pheasant has been Cupertino's successful version of Cheers.

Like the Boston pub in the popular TV series in the early 1990s, the Cupertino restaurant and bar has been a place where everybody knows everybody. It's one of the few places in Cupertino where people can dance and sing until 2 a.m.

"This is a place where grandmother, mother and daughter can be in the same room and have fun," says patron Frank Rall, who has frequented the Blue Pheasant at least three times a week for 30 years. "I have seen a lot of different people come, but everyone seems to fit in."

Rall says he will continue coming to the restaurant for another 30 years, but he isn't sure whether the tavern will stay around that long.

During the past month, rumors have been flying around Cupertino that the city is trying to close down the Blue Pheasant. The rumor is false. But Means, who has managed the restaurant for 18 years, concedes that negotiation with the city to renew the lease has been difficult. The restaurant's current lease with the city will expire on March 31.

In the new lease, the city will raise the monthly rent from 65 cents per square foot to 99 cents per square foot, with the rent adjusted annually according to market values. A significant aspect of the new lease is the requirement that the business close at 11 p.m.

Means says they are willing to pay for the rent but are reluctant to close the restaurant early.

"There is no place else where people can hang out late at night in Cupertino," Means, 43, says. "We were here before we were even a part of Cupertino. The city manager and the parks and recreation director are new. They don't have memories of the place. I feel they don't care."

Parks and Recreation Director Therese Smith says the Blue Pheasant needs to close at 11 p.m. She also says that if the owner wants to operate the Blue Pheasant as a nightclub, the owner can apply for a zoning change.

The restaurant has been able to remain open until 2 a.m. for the past 30 years because its original lease allows it to do so. The city has honored the terms of the lease since it acquired the building along with the Blackberry Farm picnic grounds and golf course and the Fremont Older Elementary School building in 1991.

"As the lease expires on March 31, this is the first time the city has an opportunity to negotiate a new lease with the restaurant," Smith says. "Compared with the average market price of $2 per square foot in Cupertino, the Blue Pheasant has a pretty good deal."

The lease controversy has worried loyal customers.

"The city should allow them to stay open late," says Brijesh Khanna, who goes to the restaurant for breakfast after golf or for a drink after work. "The bartenders don't allow people to take drinks outside. Noise is not an issue, either. I cannot hear any music in the parking lot."

Khanna, 38, says the Blue Pheasant has a different feel at various times of the day. During the day, sun pours into the dining room through the large windows that overlook the Blackberry Farm golf course. At night, the restaurant is dimly lit by candles.

The negotiation stall has hurt the business a little, Means says, but hasn't stopped regulars from coming.

Local clubs such as Kiwanis Cupertino and Quota International of Cupertino have met here weekly for decades. People have meals here after playing golf at the Blackberry Farm golf course. From Tuesday to Sunday evenings, three disc jockeys—Steve "Tigger" Tieger, Gene Holiday and Mike McMahon—take turns playing a wide range of dance music, from swing and ballroom dancing to salsa and hip-hop and plenty of old-time rock & roll.

Carolina "Marilyn" Liberato, a financial-service representative, comes to the Blue Pheasant almost every night. She declines to reveal her age but says she is "old enough to know better and young enough to enjoy the hell of it."

"The DJs are off on Monday. And that is my only day off, too," says Liberato, who goes to the tavern so often that people taking her usual table stand up and let her have it. "This place has such a homely feeling that single females feel safe. I know if I have trouble, I can go to the bartenders. They will take care of me."

The Blue Pheasant's three bartenders—Paul Glass, Bert Hansell and Todd Laughlin—have been the souls of the place and the protectors of the patrons. All the cocktails are handmade, hand poured and customized to each taste preference. The bartenders remember customers and their preferred cocktail recipe, whether it's a hand-muddled Wild Turkey Old Fashion or a Heradura Tequila Cosmopolitan.

Glass, who has worked at the Blue Pheasant for 22 years, is known for keeping an eye out for female patrons. He introduces them to other regulars to make them more comfortable and walks them to their cars if it is late at night. Laughlin, who used to be a substitute teacher, brings a young flare to the bar. One recent evening, he wore a Spiderman shirt.

Daytime bartender Hansell is known as the "Blue Pheasant Lady" because she decorates the restaurant's mascot, a blue pheasant Rasmussen brought from his homeland, Denmark. Hansell dresses the pheasant, which is the centerpiece of the bar, for various occasions. The bird wore a green San Jose Sharks hockey team shirt for St. Patrick's Day. For Halloween, Hansell has dressed the bird in such costumes as Dracula, a witch, the Scarecrow of the Wizard of Oz and Freddy Kruger in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street. She even has a photo album to show the different outfits the pheasant has worn.

"We have problems with the A's and Giants because some of our customers are A's fans and some are Giants fans. We have the same problems with the 49ers and Raiders," Hansell says. "I have to mix the outfits or rotate them to keep everybody happy."

Hansell says the employee turnover rate at the Blue Pheasant is low because many of the workers, like the customers, enjoy the diner's family atmosphere. Her point was best illustrated one recent evening when waitress Lizz Smith's parents visited her at the restaurant. Smith, 23, sang a gospel song, "Amazing Grace," for her parents. Her father later joined her to sing Gabrille's "Don't Need the Sun to Shine." "This was first time my parents came here," says Smith, a singer. "They had a lot of fun."

The fun at the Blue Pheasant will continue only if Rasmussen signs the new lease before March 31.

"Everybody has to have a place to go. If the place is closed, people won't have a place to go," says Dan Wrenn, who has frequented the restaurant since 1981. "I wish both the city and the owner could take a step back and keep the place open."