Park Hill Tavern (January 2009)

by Megan Horsington

Park Hill Tavern (View Map)
4623 James St.
East Syracuse, NY
(315) 432-0786

There is no formula for opening a successful restaurant. Timing, location, and experience help. But there are no guarantees. A successful neighborhood bar is often the result of a little luck and an excellent staff, interesting and engaging enough to attract a multitude of returning regular guests.

John Kochovski bought the Park Hill Tavern on James Street in East Syracuse in May, at a time when he felt the landmark tavern’s reputation was beginning to falter. He’d worked in engineering most of his life, and his decision to become a bar owner seemed to spring from a desire for independence and autonomy. He wanted to be his own boss, make his own hours, and create a welcoming neighborhood haven to grab a cold drink and good conversation. Though he has no previous experience in bar ownership, he seems to have the key qualities, patience and personality, to preserve the reputation that Park Hill Tavern has earned over most of the last century.

John is a family man, with two young daughters who may at any given day be found rooting around their father’s bar. He and his wife take turns tending bar with the rest of the staff, a combination of veteran barmaids and newcomers. Tiffany is a charming and chatty new addition to the staff. As she takes lunch orders and distributes cold beers, she and John exchange tales of parental joys and woes. The customers seem delighted and eager to join in on the humorous banter.

John keeps a tarnished coin in his wallet next to a collection of colorful Australian currency. He pulls the coin from his billfold proudly, as if a symbol of the longevity of the bar he is still becoming acquainted with. The coin promises a free ten cent draft from Park Hill Tavern for its owner. Though John doesn’t know the Tavern’s exact birth date, the age of the ten-cent beer is decades upon decades past. The coin surely represents the successful Tavern’s staying power in Syracuse.

The Australian bills are representative of John’s adventurous spirit. He is a man with many stories. He’s as eager to share his experiences touring his ancestral homeland of Greece as he is about mischievously confessing his local exploits, tooling around bars and pubs with his fun-loving friends. Australia, he shares, is a place where he dreams of someday spending his retirement years. These are the kinds of stories you can expect to hear if you’re lucky enough to drop into the Tavern on an evening or afternoon when John tends his own bar. And typical of man who’s a natural as a neighborhood bar owner, he’s just as eager to hear stories from the other side of the bar as he is to share his own. A Park Hill guest can expect to come in for a cold beer, a hot lunch, and plenty of friendly conversation.

Though John is hesitant to characterize Park Hill Tavern as a sports bar, the hunter green walls are covered with professional sports memorabilia, game schedules, and game night specials. Five dollar beer buckets and discounted drafts are offered during NFL games. Happy hour is held Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 pm, and extended from 4 until Midnight every Thursday. “Wild Wednesdays” offer two for one well drinks, a bucket of five Miller High Life ponys for five bucks, and $2.25 Miller Lite bottles. Guests can entertain themselves at the MegaTouch game consul, peruse through the jukebox selections, play at Quick Draw at the bar, or try their luck with scratch-off lottery tickets. There is also an electronic dartboard beckoning guests from a corner in the main room.

The Tavern’s front door opens to a cozy barroom, with dark woodwork complementing the deep green walls. An assortment of colorful ceramic beer steins that once belonged to a friend of John’s are now displayed across a shelf above the bar’s back wall, and in a glass enclosed cabinet built into an adjacent wall. A small passageway leads guests to an open dining area close to the kitchen. Though space is somewhat limited, John is still open to the possibility of bringing live music to Park Hill. “I could potentially have some bands here” in the future, adds John, as he originally hoped to do.

The current bar menu is extensive, and though the bar has long been considered a destination for excellent wings, John has proudly implemented his signature hot and spicy garlic-infused recipe that has quickly gained popularity among guests old and new. With the help of his new chef, Mick, John hopes to give the current menu a bit of a makeover. Current selections fall into the category of classic fried pub fare, and John hopes to inject a more Italian theme to his upcoming menu.

One menu item that is not likely to change is the fish fry, featured every Friday night. For $9.95, guests can enjoy a fish dinner complete with two side items. In his first year as owner, John has already been nominated by the New Times for the award of Best Fish Fry in the area. “The fish fry is really big here,” explains John. “I’d say that’s actually probably the best thing” from the current menu.

John seems patient in allowing both the menu and the atmosphere of the Park Hill Tavern to unfold gradually under his ownership. In the meantime, he maintains a friendly rapport with his ever-growing family of regular guests and has successfully established a relaxed environment welcoming to newcomers.