Light or Dark...Doesn't Matter

It was packed, loud and sun-splashed in the front room at 1:30 PM--just the way I've liked McSorley's Old Ale House since 1966. All the tables were pretty much filled and the bar was three deep, making navigation with ales and food difficult for the human computers that work as servers in the "Old House at Home."

There was, fortunately, some breathing room in the back of the house near the kitchen and the WC, and that's where I headed. I recalled, with a mixture of nostalgia and embarrassment, my first trip into that bathroom after McSorley's let women in in 1970, where the young lady who popped out of the stall behind me peeked over my shoulder and inquired," You call that a penis?" She was only joking.

I think.

I hope.

But eventually I saw an open seat at a table full of good looking, happy, young people. (Who isn't happy in McSorley's?) They beckoned to me and asked me to take the picture at the top of this story, which I did happily. As a thank you, the group, which hailed from St. Louis, invited me to sit and gave me a dark ale for my trouble.

That's the way it is--and has always been--at this iconic pub with a modicum of menu choices and only two ales available--light or dark.

Eventually, my buddies found seats at another table up near the front, where we sat down to do some day drinking next to a group of affable guys from Rockaway, NJ. Roger, who was celebrating his birthday, told the story of a visit he and his wife made some years back. They watched a young couple come in, look around tentatively (because on your first visit, you're either, like "Wow! This is my kind of place!" or "Will I be safe here?" You will be safe, by the way. McSorley's motto is "Be Good or Be Gone." And I've seen a bloke get tossed out into the street on a snowy Christmas Eve for not abiding by that rule.

Anyway, Roger says he watched the couple sit down and when one of the McSorley waiters went and asked them what they wanted, the young woman asked, "May I have a chardonnay, please?"

The waiter, without skipping a beat, responded, "Light or dark?" Whether the couple has been back or not, I cannot say.

But enough people have come back to make this place a must-visit at any time, really. Whether it's the fun of engaging with people you had never met, or the thrill of standing and singing God Bless America. as a packed house, mugs raised high, rises to sing with you in one loud, strong voice. There is an atmosphere at McSorley's Old Ale House that is simply not replicable elsewhere.

That's why my sons and friends make it a point to go there, especially during the holiday season..

And there was a line waiting to get in when we left at 3:30. Because there's no place like (the Old House at) Home for the holidays.

Cheers!

The PubScout--since 1996!

As always, feel free to share and steal the pics. Then come back and check the Gallery page for pics that didn't fit into the story! Happy New Year!