- Cafe L.A.--a trendy black, white & chrome burger joint, in all the 50s-meets-80s glory. It was short-lived but extremely "cool," which meant that I didn't hang out there very much. I was not by any stretch 'cool' back then.
- Mingles Fundrinkery--icky and sticky and not all that fun. Some extremely strange things happened in that place, and I'm left with a lot of creepy memories.
- Bangers Pub--named after the Britishism for sausages, it aspired for a certain classy uniqueness but succeeded primarily in being a young adult hangout. I drank there many, many times before I was of age. Their claim to fame (besides the mulched meat sandwiches that they served) for having two entrances, Nickel Taps, and back room pool. I was thrown out of Bangers more times than I'd care to admit.
- Charlie's D&D--a.k.a. Chuck's. A townie bar in the middle of the college bar area, it attracted a strange, mixed crowd. Customers were permitted to buy a mug, which would then be hung from a hook on the ceiling; drinks were cheaper from the mug. They sold peeled boiled eggs from a huge (3 gallon? larger?) jar on the bar; more than once I swallowed one whole on a bet. They served an obnoxious mixed drink called Swampwater, which appeared to be made of turpentine, urine, and a splash of Midori.
- Shorty's--grubby and dank, but it was My Bar. All good memories there, and much missed. My wedding reception took place there.
- Wellington's--it's a bar hooked to a bowling alley; what else do you want? Awesome fried food and lots of crazy memories, both of the bowling and the drinking. It's an odd little place, off the beaten path, but worth a stop.
- Dominick's--a multi-level bar in an old house, it always gave me a little scared thrill to be inside when they were busy. If I had a bar in that city, it was Dom's. They sold food, some of which was not in my realm, such as tongue sandwiches. When one placed a food order and paid, they would call your name over the loudspeaker to come and get it. "Joe, your tongue is ready" lingers in my mind still. They served drinks in cheap plastic cups and the sort of plastic pitchers one might use to serve Kool-Aid.
- Ashley's--an undergrad bar for undergrads who are not like me. It was sort of suave and sedate, but homey now and then.
- Starbusters--one of the cleaner bars in that city, it was a favorite of lots of my friends and so I was there fairly often. It was the college of law 'hangout.'
- PJ's Courthouse Tavern--"my bar" in that town; I still miss it. Weird decor, good food, lots of memories (both good and bad). Some of those bartenders have a very heavy pour!
- Cabana Charley's--virtually every after-work event at the former job took place at this warehouse-meets-Tiki-bar. They are famous for Rum Buckets and alligator bites (tastes, seriously, like chicken).
- Jefferson's Pub--"my bar" in this town. More weird decor, kind of an odd clientele, and very good food (most of the time!). The first time that I ate there, several other tables were filled to capacity with packs of roaming seminarians on furlough. It set the tone.
- Betty Jo's--my other bar. Very good food and a long but useless beer list (no descriptions, just names & numbers). Part of my affection is due to nostalgia; it used to be the site of Godfather's Pizza, from the era when my junior high friends and I tried to smuggle a to-go bag filled with Pepsi into the nearby movie theater.
What about you? For drinks, food, or whatnot, where have you gone that everybody knew your name?
[the title quotation is Coach and Norm, from Cheers]
No comments:
Post a Comment