What’s on tap? With so many places to grab a beer around campus, Pulp debates which one is best
Chuck’s Café
‘Mr. Jones’ by Counting Crows blasts through the speakers. The big-screen projection TV has the Syracuse game on. You’re surrounded by three pitchers of Miller Lite (it is Happy Hour, after all). Names of Syracuse University students past and present are written like graffiti on the walls. You’re home.
Ah, Chuck’s Café. The perfect way to spend a Thursday night. Or Friday. Or Saturday. Everyone you want to see is at Chuck’s on the weekend. Sure, there isn’t ‘more than 40 beers to choose from,’ but the cheap prices and great food (have you tried the burgers yet?) make up for it.
Still not sold that Chuck’s is the bar for you? Have another drink …
Where everybody knows your name
Chuck’s delivers the perfect environment to get to know your bartender. Post up on a bar stool one night and chat up the bartender. Let him show off his bottle openers — it’s worth it. Tomorrow night when he makes eye contact with you behind a crowd of people, he’ll shout, ‘Single or a double?’ Double, please!
Besides knowing your bartender, you know your surroundings. The one intelligent guy from your group project is sitting across the bar. Say hi. And order him a drink.
Let the games begin!
Whether it’s cards in the corner booth, pool or the new basketball arcade game, Chuck’s provides plenty of social opportunities beyond chitchatting. Arrive early enough in the night and snag a table. Either flip cup or a card game can be the perfect drinking game to involve the entire crowd you’re with. If you’re too antsy to sit, shoot some pool with your friends. Guys — it’s a good time to show off those skills to the ladies. And ladies — nothing is sexier than a girl who can shoot some pool.
Sign here
Bring a Sharpie marker and sign your name on the wall or the pitchers. Names are everywhere, making friendships and memories created at good ‘ole Chuckles live on. So sign it, and help leave a legacy that lasts longer than your four years as an undergraduate. Intoxicated students for years to come will wish they are as cool as you and your friends. Shout out to ‘The Zoo, 852.’
Closing time
‘Good times never seemed so good!’ But now it’s 2 a.m. and time to go home. Maybe nothing extraordinary happened tonight, but Chuck’s can always promise a guaranteed good time. As the crowd pours out of Chuck’s onto Marshall Street, you can meet up with your roommates that were confused and went to Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar instead. I guess those Fish Bowls are the only thing that can rival a $3.50 pitcher. Since you’re a few drinks deep, a walk through the Quad flies and you’re home eating DiGiorno pizza before you know it.
The Blue Tusk Pub & Wine Bar
The bartender asks, ‘Whad’ya have?’ This might be an easy one to answer at some bars given their limited choice of drinks. But at The Blue Tusk Pub & Wine Bar in downtown Syracuse, you might have to take a minute or two to think. With more than 40 beers on tap and a collection of wine and fine liquor, The Blue Tusk is, without a doubt, a drinker’s paradise.
The thirst
If you’re into craft beer, this is the place to be in Armory Square. No matter your mood, you will find a beer that fits you. Whether you want to slug down a couple Labatt Blues or slowly enjoy a real craft beer like Bear Republic’s Racer 5 India Pale Ale, The Blue Tusk offers both. The Blue Tusk really shines with its beer selection, as it’s a beer hotspot of Central New York that offers brews you won’t find anywhere else.
The knowledge
Meet your bartender, Tom Paxton. He’ll tell you everything you want to know about beer. Whether you like dark or light, bitter or sweet, Paxton knows all the different styles of beer and what one might like given their preferences. Depending on the season, or what The Blue Tusk has on tap at the moment, Paxton can make suggestions you will not be sorry about. Call him ‘the beer encyclopedia’ or simply ‘Tim,’ but however you refer to him, just know that you will find whatever you thirst for.
The hunger
All that drinking making your stomach beg for sustenance? Instead of greasy burgers or french bread pizza, check out The Blue Tusk’s amazing menu. It offers quesadillas filled with goat cheese and mushrooms, grilled paninis with buffalo chicken, deli sandwiches, exotic salads, sandwiches with pulled pork and spicy Asian slaw, and much more. The basic idea here is that the food is just as good as the drink. And that is saying a lot.
The fresh air
Stepping outside only to find you’re self-dodging a pile of vomit or some couple frisking each other can get old pretty quickly. The Blue Tusk has an outdoor patio with chairs and tables that lend themselves to a cool breeze and the summertime feel that puts you on the porch back home. Whether you enjoy beer or food out on these tables, it’s very refreshing to avoid the stuffy, sweaty, shoulder-to-shoulder feel of some other bars around town.
The location
Finally, The Blue Tusk takes the win with its location. Smack-dab in the center of Armory Square, The Blue Tusk is great for treating yourself to a fine beer and then continuing a crazy crawl to the other solid downtown bars. Take a left out the door and you run into The Limerick Pub, an easygoing Irish pub with pool tables, darts and a great atmosphere. Farther down is Kitty Hoyne’s Irish Pub and Pastabilites if you’re both hungry and thirsty. Across the street you get Empire Brewery Company and Syracuse Suds Factory. To your right, you’ll take the night up a notch with a bull ride at Daisy Dukes or live music at Al’s Wine & Whisky Lounge. Finish your night off down the street at Clark’s Ale House, with the best roast beef sandwich in town — guaranteed.
Published on April 20, 2010 at 12:00 pm
