Bars Buzzing For Hoops, Hops

Long Islander News photo/Jano Tantongco
From left, bartender Amy Tanner, waitress Lauren Meltzer, a bar patron, waitress Giulia Gallo, with Chef Frank Arcarola in the front pose for a picture on St. Patrick’s Day at Christopher’s pub and eatery.

• By Jano Tantongco
• jtantongco@longislandergroup.com
• As March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day overlapped last Friday, Huntington village was brimming with excitement and a slight buzz to end of the workweek.
• At Christopher’s pub and eatery, the crowd was merry and “festive” as the second day of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament filled the television screens with games played across the country. Doubling up on the festivities, the bar also served up shepherd’s pie and corned beef and cabbage. Waitress Lauren Meltzer joined in by wearing shamrock socks during her shift.
• “I love dressing up, honestly. I like people coming together. I love this bar,” she said.
• Giulia Gallo, another waitress, wore a leprechaun hat, complete with an attached brown beard.
• “The whole mood is just more upbeat, friendly. It’s very festive,” she said.
• Sapsuckers saw a quieter atmosphere just before 5 p.m., but still played games throughout the day and also offered corned beef sandwiches, and drink specials with Jameson, Guinness and O’Hara’s, an Irish dry stout.
• “March was a really good month for us with St. Patrick’s Day and we just had the parade on Sunday,” server Emmy Sau said in the midst of the bar’s Friday happy hour.
• Meanwhile, Rust & Gold opened early at 12 noon to welcome the March Madness crowd.
• “We’ve been rotating the games all day, it’s been an awesome crowd,” co-owner Frank Antonetti said.
• He added that the bar was pouring Guinness, which it doesn’t usually carry, as well as Redbreast, a single pot still Irish whiskey. Rust & Gold also offered unique corned beef dishes, including sandwiches, tacos and even eggrolls.
• Sitting at the bar was Tyler Ramie, who just moved back to Long Island from Florida and now works at a country club in town.
• “Nothing else to do on a Friday on St. Patrick’s Day, so you might as well do something right?” Ramie, of Syosset, said.
• He said he was taking it easy Friday in anticipation of Saturday’s scheduled leprechaun bar crawl.
• At Nag’s Head Ale House, bartender Kieran Black was pouring drinks of all kinds, expecting a “pretty good crowd into the night.”
• Black, who also runs the bar’s open mic nights, said the weekend seemed to be kicking off with more pleasant weather going forward.
• Watching a game and meeting up with some friends was Carlos Ramos, who was seated barside.
• “I was just watching this one that came down to the wire. USC just won by one point,” Ramos said.
• The University of Southern California Trojans had just edged the Southern Methodist Mustangs, 66-65 for one of the first upsets of the tournament, which is set to enter the Sweet Sixteen round today and tomorrow.
• Usually the driver, Ramos, had taken the train from his home of Kings Park.
• He and his crew began at Meehan’s, mosied over to Crabtree’s and then found themselves returning to their stomping ground.
• “We’ve been coming here for a long time,” Ramos said. “This is old faithful right here.”