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papayagirl
Citizen
Username: Papayagirl
Post Number: 335
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 11:16 am: |     |
We've been to the Gate, Bunny's, and Cryans. And we like them all, for different reasons. Wasn't terribly wowed by O'Reilly's, but it was nice enough. Papillon seems a bit too much for a casual drink, and i've heard very few good things about the Gaslight.
Has anyone been to any of the other bars in the area? Like the Liberty Tavern (off Vauxhall, by the entrance to 78)? Or the place that's currently changing ownership over by the Quick Check on Burnett? Any others? |
Wendyn
Supporter
Username: Wendyn
Post Number: 1459
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 11:18 am: | |
Martini's is pretty swanky. Big singles crowd.
I hear Huntly Tavern in Summit is nice. |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 3073
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 11:27 am: | |
I want to go to Colorado Cafe and ride the mechanical bull -- maybe someday .... I'd love to go to a cheesey dance club with the girls and pick up cheesey dance club guys .... jusat for fun of course.
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Soulful Mr T
Citizen
Username: Howardt
Post Number: 170
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 11:50 am: | |
I've always been curious about the Liberty Tavern, too. I keep threatening to take my wife there but she has no interest. Maybe it's a cool, sophisticated lounge, with hip, bright and beautiful people and the best worldbeat music and fine international wines...NAAAAAH.
I liked Pappillion the few times I've been there. I liked the diverse crowd. One odd thing about the place, tho', the bar and the food are offered by two diferent entities and you have to pay separately.
And I agree that the Martini in Milburn is hot hot hot...sometimes. If I ever find myself on my own for an hour two on a Friday night, I try to sneak over there. Shhhhh.....
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redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 706
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 11:53 am: | |
Liberty Tavern is great; it is a perfect Dive Bar, for darts etc. |
Kevin LaPierre
Citizen
Username: Lapnlu
Post Number: 14
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 11:53 am: | |
Out of curiousity, where's Bunnys and what type of place is it? |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 3074
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 11:55 am: | |
Someone once told us the Liberty Tavern was cool -- it looks cool (in an "uncool" sort of way). |
redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 709
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 11:57 am: | |
Now the bar I think would be the ultimate dive bar would be Hawks. |
Soulful Mr T
Citizen
Username: Howardt
Post Number: 171
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:01 pm: | |
What/where is HAWKS? |
Hank Zona
Supporter
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 2167
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:13 pm: | |
Hawks and Liberty Tavern are fine establishments. |
redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 711
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:14 pm: | |
Hawks is on Springfield Avenue just before you hit Vauxhall and the gas stations. Very divey looking bar from the outside. (which is a good thing in my book) |
ajc
Citizen
Username: Ajc
Post Number: 3600
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:18 pm: | |
The Colorado Cafe is always a hoot. Crowded as hell, but well worth the hassle...
Actually, H2TA is looking to add a few extra dance nights a month to our schedule if we can find some good local teachers.
Does anyone know any teachers for Line Dancing, Ballroom, or Salsa lessons?
BTW, thanks to Algebra, maybe we'll add another night with lots of cheesy dance club guys and gals for pick up... just for fun of course. 
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Strings
Supporter
Username: Blue_eyes
Post Number: 442
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:20 pm: | |
Scotty's in Millburn has become a frequent alternative to S.O. bars. Pretty good juke box, not a bad crowd - pretty diverse age-wise. |
ajc
Citizen
Username: Ajc
Post Number: 3601
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:23 pm: | |
...one more thing. I know we're not a bar but as everyone knows, BYOB is permitted in all New Jersey restaurants. |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 3076
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:32 pm: | |
We like Scotty's -- it's got that weird early 80's feel. A friend referred to Scotty's as the "affair bar" cause you aren't going to run into anyone from around Maplewood there to bust you. |
Hank Zona
Supporter
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 2171
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:33 pm: | |
so did you have any luck? |
SoOrLady
Citizen
Username: Soorlady
Post Number: 1878
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:40 pm: | |
Liberty Tavern - we went there to see the Kootz. I called ahead to see if they served dinner or were just a bar with bar type food. I was told that they had a full menu. Should have asked if they had tables. Full menu? Not so much. Passable food.. three round tall tables and a long bar...very smokey atmosphere.. Kootz were great as always, but I think we'll just see them when they play at The Gate. |
Bill P
Citizen
Username: Mrincredible
Post Number: 121
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:53 pm: | |
Have to echo SoOrLady on the Liberty tavern... we went to see a friend play with a band (can I remember the name of the band? No). Very smoky. Lots of the clientele were ordering buckets of beer. Typical dive bar food, and no real good seating.
Now I don't mean any of this in a negative way ... just trying to report the facts. You'll pay less for a beer there, and you'll probably do okay having a date with your extramarital significant other. I might have been more inclined to hang there in my early 20's.
One other thing ... the music was L-O-U-D loud. Don't know if that's typical or if it was this particular band, but after a while I couldn't hear myself think, let alone talk to the people we were there with. |
Lucky13
Citizen
Username: Lucky13
Post Number: 11
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 12:37 pm: | |
are there any smoke-free bars in the area? |
xavier67
Citizen
Username: Xavier67
Post Number: 463
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 12:54 pm: | |
Hank, how's the wine selection at Hawks Tavern? |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 3087
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 12:56 pm: | |
I mentioned Verjus in another thread ... it does have a bar and it is no smoking but I'm not sure if people hang out at the bar other than when waiting for a table. |
davidbuckley
Citizen
Username: Davidbuckley
Post Number: 264
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 2:17 pm: | |
I have been to every place mentioned here--this is pretty much it. I like the Liberty at off times because at prime time the smoke is unbearable due to our godforsaken states' backwards lack of care for the health of its' citizens....!!
Which applies to all of these places except Verjus which is lovely and a great place to have a glass of wine or 2, varied, well-chosen and NO SMOKE!!!!!
The Legal Seafood at SHM is a nice bar and restaurant but it's in a mall.
I've been to Hawk's 2x, once was friendly and pleasant, once was bad vibe. The place is serious bang-for-the-drink-buck for sure, which is sometimes useful.
Be well and drink well (and responsibly!), all.
David Buckley |
redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 741
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 2:21 pm: | |
Best dive bar I ever went to was in Arizona. It was a biker bar with the coldest beer you could ever imagine.......what I would give for one right now |
Hank Zona
Supporter
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 2190
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 2:22 pm: | |
one what...biker or biker bar? |
redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 742
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 2:28 pm: | |
 |
Rick B
Citizen
Username: Ruck1977
Post Number: 511
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 18, 2005 - 12:04 pm: | |
Verjus has a bar? Geesh...so close and never even considered looking in there!
Is it a bar you can comfortable just go in and have a drink or two and then leave? |
jet
Citizen
Username: Jet
Post Number: 789
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 18, 2005 - 12:35 pm: | |
My Bro & I walked into Hawks a couple of years ago , bartender asked if we were lost. |
laugh
Citizen
Username: Laugh
Post Number: 23
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Friday, March 18, 2005 - 8:08 pm: | |
did you stay in hawks? details? that place looks like a safe for a million good stories! |
mjc
Citizen
Username: Mjc
Post Number: 390
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, March 21, 2005 - 9:48 am: | |
lucky - Paul Mulshine's column in yesterday's Star Ledger was about a smoke-free bar (maybe 2?) in NJ.
(sorry, no clue how to link  ) |
tabby
Citizen
Username: Tabby
Post Number: 186
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 9:21 pm: | |
The Stable on Morris Ave in Union is a great "dive" bar. The drinks are good and the food is WONDERFUL!
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jamie
Moderator
Username: Jamie
Post Number: 850
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2005 - 12:11 am: | |
Here's the link mjc: http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1111298008265190.xml?starledg er?colmul |
NewsDeadline
Citizen
Username: Newsdeadline
Post Number: 5
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Friday, March 25, 2005 - 8:32 pm: | |
I'm not sure why Gaslight gets such a bad rap. They have an excellent menu and their homemade beers are consistantly excellent (better than most beers found on tap in the area).
And, while I've heard complaints about their service, in last year or so it has gotten much better.
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Mayor McCheese
Supporter
Username: Mayor_mccheese
Post Number: 222
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 2:14 pm: | |
News, I think I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. I will admit the food is good, but a little pricey. The beers are nothing special, or just not very good. (Very disappointing because I love all sorts of beer) The service, which I will say has gotten a little better in the past year or two, is still very bad.
Although I think the thing that really stops me from going back is the type of crowd they have in there. Not to lump all their customers into one group, but most of the times I have gone in there I have ended up leaving because of the customers.
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SO Refugee
Citizen
Username: So_refugee
Post Number: 96
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 2:55 pm: | |
My problem with Gaslight is the attitude from the bartenders/Beer Nazis...I only go there if I'm waiting on the train to meet someone. |
drewdix
Citizen
Username: Drewdix
Post Number: 867
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 1:19 pm: | |
Gaslight alienated a lot of early enthusiastic, hopeful supporters (see drewdix).
beer is C to C- . |
NewsDeadline
Citizen
Username: Newsdeadline
Post Number: 8
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 7:00 pm: | |
Beer, like many other things, is a matter of personal taste. Some people enjoy Bud and Coors while other people prefer the taste of microbrews. And Drew, if they alienated you early on, it might be worth stopping back and trying their beers now. They are certainly above a C average. The homebrewed stout on tap is better than the Guinness you can find in the area (St. James included) and the eliminator, aside from a 7.8 ABV is also mighty tasty. Plus, they usually have great guest beers on tap from Magic Hat to Liberty Ales and Sierra Nevada. |
drewdix
Citizen
Username: Drewdix
Post Number: 868
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 9:06 am: | |
I have stopped back just to check on the beer.
No thank you, still.
Heck, I can be caught drinking crappy beer at any number of places. The alienation had to do with their attitude, atmosphere and service, not the beer. The "Gaslight" zeitgeist...
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Mayor McCheese
Supporter
Username: Mayor_mccheese
Post Number: 226
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 1:52 am: | |
News,
I like to consider myself a beer connoisseur. I enjoy many different kinds of beer, and I am always looking for something new or better. In fact I make my own beer. I have to say that in general the gaslight beers do nothing for me. And the beer is definitely not good enough to make me put up with the service there.
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