The Barn

I said this before and I left a comment on Syd’s blog about how I find that restaurants with large signs have the worst food. The best food can be found at restaurants with small or no signs at all.

When I lived back on the East Coast there was a place that I used to frequent that was called it The Barn. As its name indicated it was a barn that was once part of a working dairy farm in the late in 1779. The land around it was sold and homes were built in the early 1900’s. The barn became a speakeasy during the prohibition years,and after prohibition was repealed it remained a quiet drinking establishment.

There was no sign for the barn. You couldn’t see it from the road. There was only a light bulb on a tree that when lit people were welcome. There was limited parking so an attendant guided patrons to a spot and when the lot was full the light on the tree was turned off and saw horses were placed to block the entrance. There was no on-street parking.


The Barn was total atmosphere. There were beams that anyone over six-feet tall had to duck under. The floors were the original warped and cracked planks that were nailed down with nails that were made by some local black smith. The tables were carved with names and dates or past patrons from the 1920 and they weighed a ton from all the beer they had sopped up over the last century.



Now I have to admit that the place had great bar food, or at least as good as upper end bar food can be. It was the privilege of eating in such a hidden, historic and exclusive place that made meals there extra special.