The "Cheers" bar of Perth Amboy

The Barge Restaurant in Perth Amboy will never make the list of Jersey's great beer bars with only Yuengling , Sam Adams and Stella Artois on tap.

So why is The PubScout writing about it?

Very simple. Everybody who's anybody goes there regularly--and everybody knows not only your name, but probably your life story, just like at that Boston Bar that existed only on TV. The real Cheers Bar in Beantown is actually named The Bull and Finch, and neither it nor its sister bar upstairs look anything like the bar on TV.

The Barge, which had its beginnings on an actual barge that sat in the water, has been a staple of Perth Amboy since 1925, and despite not having the flashiness or the direct "on-the-water" presence that other places do, if you're from Amboy--or even if you once were from Amboy--The Barge is truly a place where you are a stranger just once.

From its bartenders--who know every drink of every regular customer by heart--to Head Cook Charlie who puts out some really fabulous seafood and steaks, to the waitstaff, busboys and "Hostess-with-the Mostess" Mary, countless diners and barflies like yours truly have experienced the real sense of family that exists there.

That's because owner Alex Vosinas cultivates that sense of family, taking great pride in what he serves his customers.

And, sadly, it is a family from which I must take my leave very shortly. Full disclosure: I performed at The Barge for twenty-five years on the outdoor patio in Spring and Summer. And it was so much fun, I'd have gone there even if I weren't performing. I've been privileged to make hundreds of friends, young, old and everywhere in between, who enjoyed having great drinks and food while testing their memories with my own brand of Trivia--invented long before it became an electronic game. And what I--and they, I hope-- enjoyed most was the kibitzing between performer and audience.

Often, the patio became a dance floor, especially when the oldies doo-wop tunes or the Salsa rhythms provided the motivation. Passersby in the street would often stop and dance together on the sidewalks, though they could have come up and joined the others, as there was never a cover charge.

I'll never forget the many times the patio audience would get up from their chairs and close down Front St. to do "The Electric Slide" in the street, until the cops had to come and clear the road.

One year they came to clear the road and couldn't because another cop--a pretty famous one in Amboy who was actually a traffic cop-- had led everybody out into the street to dance. He told the arriving officers that he had the situation under control and would clear the street himself--when the song was over.

There were also some very special Fourth of July celebrations which saw that Patio pack out weeks in advance due to the wonderful view of the fireworks over Raritan Bay.

I also performed for a few decades inside for New Year's Eve parties, some of which required a police intervention. Not for anything bad, though. Just to help cars get past the revelers, led often by John Fallan, who would lead them all into the street to dance like mummers to the Alabama Jubilee. John has since gone on to his reward, but I wouldn't doubt he dances and celebrates just as heartily when God plays that song.

And John was just one of the regular characters whose image adorns the walls in the Barge Memorial Hall of Fame. Not surprisingly, it is those "regular characters" who sit at the U-shaped bar and engage with each other regularly about topics that range from Yankee and Mets Baseball to Giants Football to taxes to local politics--which can be rough and tumble at times. But it's never so heated that they won't be buying each other drinks all night long, even while arguments may be ongoing.

Bottom line is that if you want to get a handle on what's happening in Perth Amboy, just go sit at the Barge bar for a while. If a patron doesn't have the whole story, Alex Vosinas will.

And while I will surely miss the Shrimp Parmigiana, the Fried or Broiled Scallops, the Shrimp a la Greque, The Chef's Masterpiece, that amazing double-baked potato and that kick-ass, high octane red sangria, it is the people who frequent the bar and those who work there that I will miss most.

For The Barge is surely a Perth Amboy institution.

And where would an institution be without its inmates, among whom I proudly count myself a member? That's why whenever I return to my hometown, my visit will always include a stop at my hometown bar.