Alright, let's bring this one all down the line to the current:…read more
I'm going to let the music do the talking. For every visit where I've checked in here over the past five years, I've probably forgot to on a 1:1 ratio. I'm somewhere in the ballpark of 40 check ins here, which should give you an idea as to how we feel about DAT.
Not a whole lot we haven't seen here over that time.
Masks, menu changes, trivia night, music trivia night, brunch, lunch, etc.
There are three keys that run throughout.
1. Hands on owner. Nate is very present in some capacity almost every time we're here. Nothing he won't do from seating, bussing, food running to turning the Yankees on a nearby TV for a fellow fan :)
2. The randomness of the music being played. Anything from 60's to 90's rock, occasional R&B, maybe some disco or my favorite from last Wednesday at lunch, Yacht Rock. Nothing goes down smoother than hard cider with grilled cheese and goulash and a side of the Admiral himself, Michael McDonald. Fantastic vibe and hang here every time.
3. The consistency of the menu. The short rib goulash and any of the soup renderings are fantastic. Past that, house made tots, wings, burgers, crab cakes, beef on Weck, links, perogies. It's all so damn good, even though I think the secret weapon is the seafood. Anything done here with crab, shrimp or the seasonal scallop specials are guaranteed winners.
I guess to keep 'em honest, if there's one small ding I could bring up it's the pricing. Admittedly, some of the menu offerings are on the higher end of the spectrum but then again, the quality is there and so is the consistency. You get what you pay for.
It's a 40-45 minute each way hike to come here and as long as they keep doing what they've been doing here since the beginning, in the immortal words of the prophet Randy Newman: "We're gonna ride it till we just can't ride it no more."
