There's something about modern saloons that just plain creeps us out. Is it the fact that saloons existed over 100 years ago and never since? Does the sight of such an old-fashioned thing, newly fashioned, haunt us like a phantom come back from the dead for its unholy revenge?
Why, then, does the sight of this saloon (and sports bar) fill us not with fright, but excitement? It's probably because it looks cool as all get out and then some. As in, massively cool. As in, as cool as a modern saloon has ever looked. The walls and floors and tables and chairs are all hardwood, as you might expect, but more cleanly polished than even the presidential suite atop the Trump Tower (we would know.) But that's not all! Take note of the infinite number of flat-screen TVs spread out across every wall.
Unfortunately, the sheer amount of TVs actually also adds to what can become an unbearable noise level. Hey, we're all about loud noises and shiny objects, but when you can't even talk to the person you came with on a Sunday afternoon, there's something...wrong, to say the least. Isn't there a passage in the Bible--thou shalt not…turn the all the TVs up too loud on His most holy day so this particular reviewer can't even talk to the person he's with? Or something.
Still, the food and drink is pretty good. Take the appetizers, which include the Clydesdale (a grilled cheese sandwich you can share that comes with tomato soup; alas, no horse meat included), the go-to buffalo wings, Cajun rock shrimp and calamari and waffle nachos ($6-$9); the grilled items, which include the black angus hamburger, the cowboy burger, sliders and filet mignon sliders ($7-$9); sandwiches, which include the chicken club sandwich, the chicken cordon bleu sandwich, the buffalo chicken sandwich, the parmesan chicken sandwich and the buffalo chicken sliders ($8-$9); and the drink and martini menu, which includes the stoli around the world, the sangre martini, the sweet val, the diva, the chocolate martini, the pineapple upside down "cake" and, of course, the classic martini.
Take comfort in knowing the reason the owners named their restaurant "The Pony" was because, and we quote, "Everyone likes a pony." Yeah, we like to eat them, so hurry up and see your way to putting that on the menu. It could be your niche.
Centerstage Reviewer: Benjamin Andrew Moore
