The East end of Town

I've lived in Newark for longer than a decade. I like the town; Main street is collegey, reminding me of Dinkytown near the U of MN. I've walked from one end to the other several times over the years, and visited practically every store. But I never quite got to the East End Cafe. It's just a little bit past where everything is, and it looked a little bit run down, so I never checked it out. Recently Val and I joined the Newark Arts Alliance, where she plans to display some of her art, and I plan to give a series of talks on how to communicate in writing. The Alliance office happens to be right next to the East End Cafe, and that led us to pay a visit to check the place out. Yes, the place seems a bit run down at first glance, and rather dark inside. Bar in front of you, pool table with college kids on the right on the way to a large covered patio; separate dining room through a door on the left. Oops—the dining room has a bar, too. After we got used to the lighting, the place looked pretty clean, actually. Fresh paint, no stickiness on the counter. A family with children came in for supper, and I saw not a hint of rowdiness. Seems the place is one of the oldest businesses on the street, and its age is part of the, um, charm.The kid behind the bar seemed to like his job, and it turned out they had a full menu. The weather was nice enough that they didn't have the air conditioning on, but we decided to eat on the patio, the better to watch passersby. Good thing, too. We saw a good friend (a foreign student we're hosting) and had a nice conversation. So. Full menu. With rules on the back, including one that said they'd charge more if you acted like a jerk. The rest were in a similar good-natured–agressive vein. The place has personality if nothing else. Turned out their waitress was off for the night and the guy behind the bar had to walk the entire length of the building to be our waiter. He didn't seem to mind. Ever hear of Irish nachos? Me neither, so that's what I ordered. Alas, they had sold out of the item at lunch, so we ordered burgers, which seem to be a specialty. They're half pounders, and come in several versions. The burgers were cooked correctly—Val's medium, mine rare, and with the best mushrooms I've ever had with beef, I kid you not. Val said hers was the best hamburger she had had in recent memory. She said to say that in 20 minutes she had hot meat in her mouth, and she finished before I did. That's a true statement, but it sounds funny, somehow. She laughed a lot when she told me to say that. So the place isn't much to look at, but the food and service were excellent. We'll have to go back. For one thing, I want to try the Irish nachos.