The Callahan Chronicals

Callahan runs a "Cheers" bar that is frequented by people from our planet, as well as those from other worlds. There are regular contests about making puns and telling tall tales. Many down on their luck people have come to the bar and come up better. A ventriloquist dog makes his appearance (with a mute that he mouths words for.) A centuries-old woman appears (the fact that she is a woman is more out of the ordinary than her longevity.) There are also aliens of various types (including those running the earth as a game reserve.)

There is a bit of science fiction to the stories, but they are mostly about the people and their accepting environment. The bar has quirky ways of paying (no cash register and only dollar bills). The stories often have a plot element with a key character, then spend some time with some of the fun "contests" at the bar.

I enjoyed some of the author's discussion about the stories. He had received a lot of fan mail (along with some hate mail.) Some people wanted to know where the bar was located. Others complained that the stories were not science fiction. He struggled to respond to his mail. (And eventually shifted countries to help deal with it.) There was also a quite active usegroup at one time. It all seemed to bring back bits of nostalgia for slower paced time in the past.