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01/22 Sorb’s Restaurant and Bar
Liverpool, Pa.
Grade: A
Owner: Bob and Wendy

I had the pleasure of seeing a cover band at a local hot spot the other night in a small town named Liverpool. Sitting on the side of the road next to a Mobil station on 11&15 it is easy to miss but worth looking for. From Harrisburg, go up 11&15 for about 26 miles and it is on your left.

The front door opens up and you enter a forier that in past days held a host or hostess stand, now it is the lack of one that makes you feel like you are entering a diner. If you turn to your right you are going to see tables that allows a person to sit in comfort and eat some of the best bar food around. Their wings are great and their daily specials are affordable and largely varied. They are one of the few places that offer an all you can eat meal, like Old Fashioned Waffles and Gravy with mashed potatoes. If you look closely, you will see that the person most likely to be serving you is none other than Wendy herself.

This Diva of the dining area is an energetic woman who loves to see her guests have a great time and it shows in how she treats her customers. She serves with a smile and isn’t afraid of a good joke.

When you go to the left, you will notice a large area with 2 pool tables in it. One of the things that strike you is how clean the whole area is, and how comfortable the place seems. From this area you actually enter the bar through an arch in the wall. The bartenders are friendly and fast, and they can remember what you were drinking without asking on most occasions. They do everything in their power to make it seem like you are part of the family and not just another customer. Their drinks tend to be a little stiff but that is the way I like it, so it’s a bonus in my book. Affordable, fast, and a friendly atmosphere all add up to a good experience from start to finish.

When the time rolls around for to party (usually around 8ish) the whole Restaurant side transforms. Due to the dining area serving until 8:30, all sound checks are held off until then. When the last food customer has been served and is, for the most part done, the band takes it’s place onstage and does sound checks. The tables are pulled back for a good-sized dancing area, and let me tell ya, it is needed. Bands such as Wiskerbisket, Funny Money, Emily’s Toybox, Amy K, Feedback, and Stomp’d have filled the place and rocked the house. If you look carefully, you might see Bob up front playing air guitar when the band plays anything by Van Halen (Sammy Hagar of course).

The place has a good sound, great dance floor, and caters to the customers better than most. The family atmosphere of the Restaurant, coupled with the understanding of the owners that people want to have fun while partying, makes this place a topnotch party area. Review provided by Grizzleypappa

11/25 Center City Gingerbread Man

One of the many Gingerbread Man restaurants in HBGOnline coverage area, Center City Gingerbread Man is located on the 300 block of Market Street in Harrisburg. It’s also across the street from the tallest building in town, the Pennsylvania Department of Education Building. Consequently, it’s pretty easy to find, even with bad directions.

Upon entering the establishment, one will notice many pool tables in the main room. There are also televisions spread throughout set to sports and news channels. There are nice, comfortable chairs to sit in near the pool tables. Also located near the pool tables are several places for shooters to put their drinks.

Center City also has another smaller room where they have bands. The space is a little small, but everything goes well provided the band keeps their volume considerably low.

Yesterday during my lunch hour, I noticed that the G-Man has an entrance via Strawberry Square. I decided to stop and have a bite to eat, a first for me. I sat down at a table and lit a cigarette after finding an ashtray (they are under the condiment racks in the middle of the tables).

My waitress greeted me promptly, gave me a menu, and took my drink order. Upon her return, I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and fries. She came back with it before I finished my cigarette, which surprised me. Talk about fast service.

My burger was good to go, and it even came with a gingerbread man cookie. I was pleased. My total for everything was under ten bucks.

A decent meal, served fast, at an ok price. Review provided by Silverback

10/14 Smalls

We had the pleasure of a one on one interview granted by Jamie Pascotti, manager of Smalls, just one day before the bar was to open to the public. Smalls is located where Mars once stood. The inside was still being prepared for the grand opening on Oct. 14th, but you could see that this place was taking the shape of something totally different on 2nd Street.

The first thing that catches your attention are the animals on the wall with brightly colored Mohawks. Squirrels, one smoking a cigarette, a largemouth bass and a raccoon attached to a leash.

You’ll also see various song versus covering the windows on the opposite side.

Walking towards the back, a small stage is covered with old PR band photos and flyers from shows in the past that took place at the Metron and Vault. Next to the stage is a built in tribute to Joey Ramone.

Even the restrooms were decked out to scream, you are not in the average 2nd Street bar.

While giving us a tour, Jamie had a Mad Dog Spritzer made up for us to try. He said “Our drink pricing will be realistic with nothing fluffy. We will have a policy if you ask for a Martini, we’ll ask you to get the hell out because it’s not that kind of place. Or if you wanted a Cosmopolitan we’d make you one but probably charge you forty bucks, because it is not our thing. We’re going to do PBR and Shit Shot specials, we’re doing some good down and dirty drinks with realistic pricing and if your looking for those flu-flu drinks your not going to find it here because it’s not that kind of bar. There’s enough places down the street to get them.” He also said “We’re actually looking for an applause sign to put over the bar so everyone can laugh at you when you ask for your Cosmopolitan.”

Glancing through the CD Jukebox, we noticed the wide selection of various punk and old school rock bands. When asked about future live entertainment at the bar Jamie said “We are going to be very selective with our live entertainment, we’re not going to use any of the “me 2 bands”. We’re going to make sure we do really cool original stuff, no covers. We’re actually going to be very selective. When you take a look at our jukebox, which is the epicenter of this establishment, our jukebox is so legitimate that some bands are going to be hard pressed to convince us they should play here.”

We asked Jamie why he named the bar Smalls. He said “ Actually I used to work out in LA a lot and I got tired of a lot of the bars that were around the Hollywood area until I found this cool little weird black room that was called Smalls. It was at the opposite end of Melrose away from everything else. It was a place that I always held special to my heart. I said if I ever had a chance to design a cool black room I would call it Smalls. Smalls is no longer there. Ironically, when promoting our bar on My Space one person named “Jen” from Mechanicsburg, I think, emailed us and said “Hey there used to be this really cool bar in LA that was called Smalls on Melrose” I emailed back, you’re right. She was the only person that got it.”

Smalls is not trying to be another bar that caters to the blind sheep walking 2nd Street looking for a drink. Jamie said “Smalls took a direction opposite of the “over ground”. We have a place that a lot of the clubs don’t touch on, it goes back to the old days of the Metron and The Vault were you had the good ole, dirty, grimy, rock and roll, punk rock bar where you could have fun and you didn’t have to be uninhibited to have fun. We don’t have that in downtown anymore.”

“I actually think we’ll cater to a wide demographic of people because there is a wide demographic being missed. A lot of people would call this a niche market bar and I think there’s a pretty wide spread demographic of a lot of people from college kids to all over that really aren’t into the same old cover music, hip hop or the same old stuff and really need a place where they can go express themselves.”

Smalls will be open 7 days a week. Mondays thru Thursdays from 5pm to 2am. Friday will feature Fuck off Friday’s opening at 2pm till 2am with specials in the afternoon. Sunday hours will be from 4pm till 2am.

So if you’re looking for a place that doesn’t have a dress code and want to get loose while enjoying a good time amongst friends, be sure to check out Smalls, 2nd Street’s newest addition with an attitude. (In a good way)

Review provided by BigJim

04/23 Nathan's Cafe

Nathan’s Café is a small bar and restaurant just opposite the Norfolk Southern Train Yard on US Routes 11 & 15 in Enola. I now go there about once every two weeks. The following story happened on my third or fourth visit to the establishment and won me over as a semi-regular customer.

I went into Nathan’s a little buzzed on Super Bowl Sunday. After a few beers, I ordered Montreal wings and another beer. Out came some mozzarella sticks.
I said, “Sorry, but I ordered Montreal Wings”. They gave the sticks out to the folks surrounding the bar, no big deal. They were very apologetic and put my order through to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, they came back with my order of wings – mozzarella cheese covered wings. I realized that I had probably slurred my speech while ordering and that it was very loud in the bar. Hey, mozzarella and Montreal sound similar, so I smiled and said, “Just the way I like them”, and started to eat the wings. They were great! Something I never would have thought of on my own. Their cook, Donnie is a miracle worker on wings. I have since ordered several more of the thirty-some odd wing concoctions they have – all good stuff.

Another thing that Nathan’s has, in addition to good wings, is karaoke every Tuesday and Thursday hosted by “The Brucester”. This is the most fun karaoke I’ve ever been to. Ad-libbing foul words in exchange for the actual lyrics is encouraged by the regulars, who are loads of fun. They actually have “Chocolate Salty Balls” by Isaac Hayes in their collection of karaoke discs. Good times.

In the end, I would recommend this place to anybody who does not have a stick up their ass. A great place to let your hair down and have a good meal. Review provided by Silverback

02/28 Noma Remixed

Noma Remixed, which used to be Cabana’s, (which used to just to be Noma), has a classy atmosphere for those younger Harrisburgian’s (I made that word up) who want to convince themselves they are in a big city bar like those in New York or Philly. Don’t get me wrong though, the atmosphere is pretty rad. They have two lounge areas with couches and contemporary lamp shades (which you can buy from Ikea, I know, I own one).

Immediately as I entered the bar, I ordered my current favorite shot, a “left hook”, which consists of yager and goldschlager. The very attractive bar tender had no clue what that was, but I told her and she was real friendly about it. She did a great job of mixing it and I would hope so, it cost $5.

We took a seat near the side of the bar, and ordered a round of beers. They were $3 and Noma only has bottles. On the table, we noticed a menu with a long list of Martini’s that Noma offers. I’m a little too intense to be sipping on a martini, so I asked one of the patrons what they thought, and they responded positively. I’ll take their word for it; I was not going to order one.

Hanging on the walls are these massive red curtains that cover part of the windows. Located on the windowsills are candles sitting on the window, which makes me wonder, “Is this a fire hazard?” Nothing caught fire thankfully. Besides the curtains, I became concerned about the other possible fire hazards, primarily the many large collars floating around the bar that night.

The layout in Noma Remixed seems much roomier than Cabanas and it is not nearly as cheesy. A warning though, above the bar there are about 6 to 8 flat panel televisions that show trippy graphics all night. The more and more I stared at them I kept seeing this message “drink more, NOMA owns your soul” (kidding). I would suggest Noma Remixed to anyone looking for a good martini in a big city atmosphere. Review provided by Mr. Bito

01/18 Cragin’s Brickhaus

The Cragin’s Brickhaus located right downtown Harrisburg (across from Dragonfly) among many of the other 2nd street bars is a great atmosphere for anyone who is looking for a nice medium between a rowdy college party and neighborhood bar atmosphere. The pub has to two levels each with different appeals. The upstairs bar is where most of the action happens and on the weekends its jammed packed with mostly patrons in the mid-twenties and a jukebox that pumps out rock music. The first level is typically less crowded, a tad bit quieter and more ideal for group conversation.

For me, service is the most important aspect of any bar. The staff at Brickhaus is extremely quick, knowledgeable and friendly. One thing I notice is that the bartenders on the second floor constantly scan the room beyond those sitting at the bar(I find it real annoying to not find a seat at the bar and then be ignored when ordering). Drinks come fast and they know how to make almost any shot. The Bouncers are friendly, yet quite intense as well. Anyone who thinks about starting a ruckus at Brickhaus would no doubtable get their ass kicked.

The last visit made there, I decided to order a variety of different drinks. The first of the night was a mind eraser (I figure it’s a Saturday, why be sober?), which is a mix of Vodka, Kahlua and sprite (Yum!) and should be taken down by a straw. I have to say this is probably one of the best mind erasers I have ever had. The other two shots I ordered that night were a kamikaze and a left hook. I was extremely impressed with both and shot glasses here seem a tad larger than other bars. The prices were not awful. The mind erasers were $5.50 each and Yuengling drafts cost $2.50. I don’t remember the costs for the rest of my drinks; it was that good of a night.

Overall, I say this is place is a good stop on 2nd street if your downtown bar hopping. If you’re lazy like me, and it’s too damn cold to go anywhere else, this place is also great. Brickhaus staff is extremely friendly and quick. The drinks are reasonable and mixed well, plus you can request Slayer on the jukebox (which should be a requirement for any bar). Review provided by Mr. Bito