Plated and Sated

There are many bars and pubs with good beer, good food and good people within a ten-mile radius of my castle. So why would I drive further after shoveling out from a ridiculous, unnecessary spring snowstorm that buried most of Jersey on my birthday?

Simple. A comforting sense of delightful tackiness that only the best dive bars can offer. And the Riverside Inn--aka The Dive--offers the full Monty. I mean, where else can you see an admonishment about avoiding certain behavior as in one of the pics below?

I contacted Pete Jacobs (R.) on FaceBook after seeing two of his mouth-watering prime ribs being offered for sale. Pete reserved a table for four of us with a paper plate that had RESERVED written on the back.

Those same paper plates serve The Dive well elsewhere as individual menus stuck to the wall at the back of the bar, but don't be fooled into thinking that the food offered thereon is in any way substandard. On this visit, the Buffalo Shrimp, the pierogies, the Chicken Quesadilla and the Veggie Burger drew raves from my crew, as they enjoyed an accompanying Stella Artois or Victory Hop Devil from one of Pete's taps.

I managed to seek their reactions in between bites of a Prime Rib every bit as fabulous as those advertised, and even that advertisement couldn't depict the tenderness of that well-prepared, succulent cut accompanied by tasty mashed potatoes and asparagus. With a cup of Au Jus for dipping and a few Innis and Gunns (Whiskey Barrel Oak-Aged) from the tap,my inquiries were, of necessity, limited. But the Fam was clearly pleased, as I knew they would be.

We left The Dive fully sated, and the comforting aroma of a wood-burning firepit out back put the finishing touch on the night. To think that the town fathers and mothers of Cranford would ever consider a plan that involved erasing such a "PubScout Approved Pub" is not only abhorrent, it is pretty much sacrilege. And because you never know what dastardly plans can be concocted in the hearts of politicians, it would behoove you to get to The Dive, even if they reserve your table with a paper plate.