A good Irish boy like myself couldn’t resist those magic first two letters on the sign of McIntyre’s Pub hanging high above the doors.  Located 213 Route 37 East in the K-Mart/Toms River Fitness plaza and touting itself as both an Irish Pub and a Sports Bar, it was right up my alley in location and in description.  I found myself agreeing with this description and I enjoy spending my time and money within its walls.  It is actually two bars in one, with the Sports Bar up front and the Irish Pub in the back.  The sight lines are excellent in the Sports Bar with 16 Flat Screen TVs and one of …

Looking for hidden gems in bars has been my goal throughout this writing project of mine, but also finding bars that are off the town’s radar is a great byproduct of my search as well.  My travels have taken me for this installment of A Man Walks Into a Bar to the Miracle Pub located at 201 Route 37 West.  This pub is not hidden in the sense that you can’t find it from the road because it certainly stands out from the bland doctors' offices and building in the area near Community Medical Center.   You can’t get a sense of how large the bar is initially and if you were to come in using the …

“No, Sir:  There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.” — Samuel Johnson, English Poet, Essayist 1709-1784  “Where’s Brooklyn At?” – Christopher “Notorious B.I.G” Wallace, American Poet, Musician 1972- 1997 I do believe it's possible they were both talking about the Office Lounge on the corner of Main Street and Rt. 37, and more specifically Mr. Wallace above was probably talking about where he could find Brooklyn Brewery’s fantastic libation Brooklyn Lager on tap.  Wait, what’s that you say?  He wasn’t referring to …

Welcome back to the "A Man Walks Into a Bar" column; pull up your bar stool to hear the best of what's on tap locally. I'll be out at local bars, prospecting for the golden nuggets in the river of bad beer out there. For my first foray into finding these beers, I chose Boston’s Gourmet Pizza located at the corner of Fischer Boulevard and Hooper Avenue in Toms River. I purposely went with a franchise restaurant to see if there was wiggle room in the bar’s selection and not just a handed down corporate edict for solely beers intended for the masses.  On tap and in bottle, all the Mega-Brews …

Come along with me on this scene: You are tired from a long day/week when you get home from work. You have resisted the siren song of your couch, singing to you to crash on the cushions and end your night’s journey before it began. You have made it out and you are at the bar. You order your adult beverage of choice.   The same reliable drink you get when watching a ballgame, at a barbecue, a concert or just your reward for helping a buddy move. It has almost become a Pavlovian response for you whenever you are asked the glorious phrase "What can I get for you?" by a bartender to blurt out …