It’s early evening at College Street Pub & Grill in the middle of the week.
Tuesday and Thursday are “Party Nights” at College Street, with a bevy of specials ($2 Margaritas, 35 cent wings, $5 Long Island Ice Teas, $4 Highballs, etc.).
In these days of recession and belt-tightening, it’s a relief to be able to go out to a place, down two margaritas and 10 wings, and get out with a tab that totals less than $10.
Around 7 p.m. the place feels familiar, with a smoker puffing away (still legal until Jan. 2), while an old man in a straw hat sings along to the radio, the bartender ready and seemingly eager to dish everyone out another drink.
There are arched doorways separating the parts of the restaurant, each marked with a College St./Patton Ave. intersection sign, reflecting the bustling street outside.
“You want to hear something really f***ed up?” a woman says, leaning over conspiratorially to the bartender. “I just saw a guy with a tattoo on his eye.” Nodding at the apparently juicy secret, the bartender goes back to her work.
The service is prompt, and the food is old-school bar fare: simple and a little greasy but delicious. The prices are similarly old-school as well.
Party claims aside (and a place is very different at different hours of the day), College Street is a just the right place to relax after a hard day’s work.
