After all the pre-Thanksgiving cooking was complete on Wednesday, I headed out to the best local tap-room on the Main Line: The Roache & O'Brien.
This joint has been around forever...since the 30's. I had 9 oz drafts in here when I was 16.
The guys behind the bar know what you drink and know their job, always have a hearty hello and put the proper games on TV. Darts and a good Juke comprise the entertainment. Smoking is allowed and there are always a few guys you know from the neighborhood or from high school sipping a pint.
You have to appreciate a joint that is open from 7:00 A.M. on Thanksgiving day...and then closes at 2 P.M. so the staff can get their turkey on...and then re-opens at 7:30 until 2 A.M. so revelers can have a few drinks amongst friends after the bird is digested.These days, joints like these are few and far between in suburban America....this sportsman is damn glad one is in his jurisdiction.
It sounds awfully nice, and I was thinking the exact same thing about the few and far between-ness of genuine neighborhood bars like this now. If you ever find yourself in Minneapolis, check out Nye's Polonaise on Hennepin just across the Mississippi from downtown. It's also a truly great (and increasingly rare) neighborhood place.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Heinz-Ulrich von B.
My kind of joint!!
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I got to go to a country pub in England once, in the company of some locals who were distant relations of the wife. It was just like this. Nice.
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