Go North, Young Man, Go North

When you live on Raritan Bay across from Staten Island, there are really only three directions you can take to get in some good motorcycle roads--West, South or North.

Going East is expensive. It takes you to Staten Island (a thirteen-dollar toll), Brooklyn (another thirteen-dollar toll) and Long Island and the Southern State Parkway, which is usually more clogged than a French-fry fanatic's arteries, even on a weekday non-rush hour. Nice places to live, maybe, but I wouldn't want to ride there.

So North it became yesterday, after an abundance of miles West and South. And, after many pleasant miles in the Empire State, my travels put me in front of a place called Rhodes North Tavern. I had actually been at this somewhat legendary biker bar once before a few years ago, on a day when every biker and his brother was either coming from or going to Bear Mountain. The parking lot of the place was a zoo, so we didn't stay; I never even went in.

But I did yesterday, and I'm very glad I did. And what impressed me was the sign outside the place in support of our folks in blue--Cops Lives Matter. My kind of place. There's a very "homey" feel to this tavern (which used to be an old bait shop), and the gal who worked behind the bar--Lisa-- made me feel like we were long-time friends as soon as I sat down. It wasn't a put-on phony friendliness, either. Some people you can just tell are genuine right away. Lisa was one such.

The clientele was decidedly un-biker; I was the only guy at lunch with a patch-laden vest. There were seasoned citizens seating on my left and right, a young couple in obvious love across from me.

After taking my sliders and beer order--she made sure to tell me that they ground their beef and made their sausages right on premise--she exhorted me to try some nacho chips with house made salsa.

"It's delicious," she advised. And she was right. So were the house made sliders, and because they were huge, I probably could have been filled up with just two instead of the three I ordered. But, because it was so tasty and done exactly as I ordered it, I ate the third anyway.

The beer list at Rhodes North is as interesting as the plethora of bric-a-brac that lines the walls of this airy, bright-at-lunchtime bar. I enjoyed a perfectly poured Two Roads Road to Ruin DIPA with my lunch, but there were other solid choices on the list as well, and had I not been on two wheels with more riding to do, I might have had another.

But that will wait for another day, because I will definitely be back.

In riding season, good roads matter just as much as good pubs, good beer and good people.

And Rhodes North has all the ingredients.

Cheers!

The PubScout