The Quest Continues

Jan 1, 2017
2 min read

It's 2017, and the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over. All that remains is to watch the Giants tease their loyal fans with feints at the playoffs and beyond. In that regard, my G-men are akin to the Sirens that lured Odysseus and his men to doom.

Oh, and it's also the season of resolutions, of which The PubScout has but one: to continue his quest for Good Pubs, Good Beer and Good People and to share those findings with you. And thanks to my middle son (and graphics whiz-kid) Kaz, I'll now be able to sport some new duds on my visits. After crafting my new business cards, he copied the design and put the important stuff on a shirt, which he gave me as a Christmas present.

While I'll be seeking new places, I'll also return to some of the pubs which have already won the P.A.P. Seal of approval. One of those is Porter's Pub in Easton, PA, reviewed here and here.

But I also have dealt with Larry Porter's products in another venue---his travel business called Porterra Travel. Larry, after all, was the guy in charge of a memorable trip the missus and I took to Belgium in 2014. And he recently launched a "Barter Beer in Belgium" promo. His business can transport you, too, to another beer world. Just click here . It will be a life-changing event; I guarantee you.

Our lives can be changed just by meeting nice folks, of which there are still many, and many of them work in places we visit. Take Mark, for example, who served the missus and me when we visited PF Chang's in Freehold last week. It was a Friday night, the place was packed to the gills and there was a seventy minute wait, as we had not made reservations. I sauntered back into the bar area, never afraid to dine on a barstool, and I spied a hightop table that was being vacated. I stopped the waiter and asked him, "is this table saved?"

His response was, "Yes. I saved it for you." He sat us down immediately and took our drink orders. I thanked him and we were seated within two minutes of entering the place.

Now PF Chang's probably doesn't qualify for most as a craft beer bar, but they had some pretty decent selections on the beer menu, including a few by Flying Fish (HopFish and Red Fish) and a good IPA from Lagunitas. Thanks to Mark we were slaking our thirsts pretty quickly, and we enjoyed our visit thoroughly. By the way, the Wok Filet Mignon is killer.

Here's hoping your 2017 introduces you to some Good People at Good Pubs with Good Beers. Larry Porter and Mark are just two of them.

As ever, I shall be toiling mightily on your behalf.

It's a tough job, and somebody has to do it. I promise to put my back into it.