CLUB SCENE:
P'S PUB (February 2005)

by Eric Kainass

If you are tired of
1: loud, frantic clubs
2: chain restaurant/bars
3: unfriendly and unaccommodating bar staff . . .

then it is time for a stop at P's Pub. Located on Hickok Avenue, this warm and amiable spot is a home away from home. Antique photographs and beer trays line the walls, offering nostalgic remembrances of simpler times, now gone. The bar tables are fashioned from old wooden kegs and the entire ambience invites you to sit and have a drink. In spite of the aura of time and history, there are numerous high-tech games and amusements offering action and entertainment. There is also a designated indoor smoking area--an extreme rarity these days! -- so smokers do not have to go outside. P's Pub, more than anything else, is a place to unwind, listen to some music, watch sports and enjoy the friendly competition of the games

The original building was constructed near the corner of Burnet Avenue and Lodi Street approximately one hundred years ago. In the early 1900s, it was jacked up and moved to it's present site. It served as a butcher shop until it became the Victory Grill in the 1940's. The place remained The Victory Grill until 1992 when Phyllis Perrotti bought it and renamed it P's Pub. After purchasing the pub, Phyllis "renovated from top to bottom with a few exceptions: the old wooden cooler door left over from the butcher shop, the terrazzo floor, and the location of the bar." Phyllis and her husband Brian gave the Pub an unpretentious, warm and clean décor. As several of the customers remarked to me, "It's like being in your own living room." One of the biggest changes was the addition of the designated smoking room indoors. The room utilizes an exhaust fan to keep the smoke level to a bare minimum. The smoking rule is strictly enforced-in the designated area, or not at all. The end result makes both smoking and non-smoking customers very happy. Smokers no longer have to hurry outside to smoke in the bitter cold of Syracuse winters, and non-smokers can return home not smelling of smoke.

One more major addition, or actually, subtraction, was the removal of a refrigerator. In the days of The Victory Grill, customers would walk up to this refrigerator, retrieve their own beer and take it to the bar and pay. Phyllis wanted to continue this practice, but it cut down on space in the bar and interfered with seating. She auctioned off the refrigerator and donated the proceeds to Vera House.
Phyllis bought The Victory Grill because she grew up in the area and wanted to continue the tradition of the bar and make sure it remained open. When she reached the legal drinking age The Victory was "Always home base, my point of contact to meet up with friends-I had a vested interest in seeing the place live on." On holidays, P's serves a buffet for people who have no other place to go, and these holidays also give old friends a chance to visit the Pub to meet again and celebrate.

Phyllis enjoys the fact that her pub is out of the way, "I get great customers in here-loyal customers. I've had many women come up to me and say that they can come in alone and feel totally comfortable. There has reached a saturation point with bars downtown. I know people who work in Armory Square that come here." She adds, "We are always happy to have new customers come in and join the family."

If you don't feel like just sitting and talking with your friends, P's has other diversions for you. They have a soft-tip dartboard--they even sell dart supplies-and have dart leagues on Mondays and Wednesdays. P's also has Golden Tee 2005 for all of you cyber-golfers out there, and players can win prizes-one player there won a trip to Las Vegas. However, the ultimate amusements at the Pub are the National Trivia Network Games. P's Pub is one of the few spots in Central New York to offer the N.T.N. It's free to play and players can win prizes as they compete against others across the country. The wireless keyboard allows you to play trivia, football, blackjack and Texas Hold'em.

The Pubtender will provide you with the keyboard and instructions. If you want to hear music, they have an online jukebox with over 140,000 songs available for download.

In addition to these attractions, P's Pub offers drink specials four days a week and during every televised S.U. basketball game. During the S.U. basketball games all domestic bottled beers are $2.00. During the Sunday Happy Hour when you purchase a beverage the Pubtender will give you a pull-tab card allowing you the chance to pay from as little as 10¢ up to the normal price. Returning soon is the Sunday Bloody Mary Buffet, where they set up all the fixings and you create your own. For more information on the special, please see P's advertisement in this edition.

P's Pub, 554 Hickok Avenue, off Burnet Avenue, is open seven days a week: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 12:00p.m.-2:00a.m.; Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11:00a.m.-2:00a.m.; and Sundays 12:00p.m.-2:00a.m. For more information call 437-2626.
Please mention that you read about P's Pub in TABLE HOPPING!