Now
Fair
28°
High
32°
Low
21°
Full Forecast

Jobs

Cars

Homes

Rentals

Alerts

Subscribe
Home > Living > Gz > Dining
Bookmark Us   •   Make Us Your Homepage

Down The Hatch

Comments 4 comment(s)  
E-mail Story E-mail Story
Print Story Print Story
Share  Share
Text Size: 
Tools Sponsor

BY L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / GZO

Friday, Jun 06, 2008 - 12:09:35 am CDT

Over the past 20 years, neighborhood taverns have largely disappeared. In their place have come sports bars, establishments that offer the same combination of beer and food that was standard tavern fare, adding walls of TVs and sports-related decor.

More family-friendly than the old taverns, sports bars generally have far more expansive menus than their predecessors, providing something for everyone on a single, moderately priced menu.

Like the taverns, the sports bars tend to cater to their neighborhood.

Story Photo
The Hatch burger (left), chicken salad and chicken quesadilla. (William Lauer)
Down The Hatch

5601 N.W. First St.

Atmosphere: Casual

Specialty: American bar food

Payment: Cash, major credit cards

Cost: Appetizers, $6 to $8; sandwiches, $6 to $8; entrees, $10 to $13

Hours: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday-Saturday, closed Sunday

Phone: (402) 476-6700

Notes: Off-street parking, alcohol, takeout, Monday through Friday lunch specials

* * *

Food: 3 stars

Service: 3 stars

Atmosphere: 3 stars

Vegetarian friendly: 2 ½ stars

The Last Bite: This neighborhood sports bar has a menu that runs from steak to pizza to Rocky Mountain oysters. Its half-pound hand-pattied burgers are the most popular item on the menu.

Rating system: Excellent 4 stars; Good 3 stars; Fair or uneven 2 stars; Poor 1 star

That’s exactly the case with Down The Hatch, a bar and grill at 5601 N.W. First St. that’s the sports bar for the Highlands.

Owner Lindsay Kroger runs the place with the neighborhood in mind. That starts with a menu that was increased from burgers and sandwiches since Down The Hatch opened in August 2006.

“It’s quite a large array,” Kroger said of the menu. “Originally, it was just the sandwiches and fries. We kind of wanted to get away from that for the people who work out here and live out here. We wanted them to have pizza and salads and come in more than once a week to get a variety of things.”

In that same spirit, Kroger offers Monday through Friday lunch specials, with dishes such as hot beef sandwiches, chicken -fried chicken and spaghetti.

I made a couple of visits to Down The Hatch in the past week, sampling their New York strip steak, a prime rib dip sandwich, a burger that comes covered in hot cayenne pepper sauce with blue cheese dressing to cool things down and some chicken strips.

All of the above were good — well-made bar food that is perfect for its environment.

The burgers are the most popular item on the menu, Kroger said

“They’re half-pound,” she said. “A lot of our regulars think we should say they’re the best burgers in town. We patty them ourselves back there (in the kitchen). They don’t come pre-pattied. They’re fresh and thick.”

The side dishes that come with the entrees were of the same quality. The cole slaw was especially good. Down The Hatch also offers two kinds of fries — crinkle and curly. I’d highly recommend the curly variety.

There’s a full page of appetizers on the menu, including Rocky Mountain Oysters. I didn’t have the courage or stomach to sample those, but the rest of the appetizer sampler was, again, solid, tasty bar food — and large enough to serve as a meal.

The New York strip is the most expensive item on the menu at $12.95. Most of the sandwiches, which come with a side dish, are in the $6 to $8 range. 

The service was quick and friendly, with near instant drink refills, and the atmosphere inviting. Most notably, Down The Hatch wasn’t as noisy as many eateries with open booth and table seating — a very good thing.

Down The Hatch doesn’t have the overwhelmingly huge TV screens that are featured at some sports bars. The west wall has nine TVs with a big screen in the middle, and four more monitors hang over the bar. That’s plenty. Especially because, unless there’s a special game on — like the Lakers/Celtics NBA championship series — the TVs are more background than anything else.

At least that’s how I’ve come to view sports bar behavior. It’s just like going to the old neighborhood tavern, except it’s brighter and with a bigger menu.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.


$1 Sunday Delivery - Subscribe Today!
Dining > Back to Top of Story

Post Your Comment

Standards and Rules
All posts to JournalStar.com are subject to our Terms and Standards.
Your posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.
(optional)
   
Hide Comments Hide Comments   Newest First Newest First  
Bad Service wrote on June 6, 2008 8:07 am:
" I don't know when you went there or if they knew you were a reviewer so you got good service, but the two times I've gone there, they had one person taking orders. The first time our food came out and it was cold, my girlfriends fries felt like they had been sitting for at least 10 minutes. The lady said she would bring new ones, we were done eating before she came back and told us she had just thrown in new ones. The second time our waitress came to take our order and we weren't ready, then she seemed to forget about us even though she walked by multiple times, I had to finally wait for her at another table to tell her we were ready to order after waiting over 15 minutes for her to come back. I heard another story from Wednesday where a customer went to see if their food was done and it was sitting in the kitchen, so he told them he would like it to go and they asked why and said they'd bring it to their table. He had to ask them if they heard the tornado sirens going off for them to realize why he wanted it to go. I'll agree the food is pretty good, but the service left something to be desired. "

 BL wrote on June 6, 2008 9:58 am:
" I will never set foot in that restaurant again. Service is awful, food is average, and the beer selection leaves a lot to be desired. "

 Call me an oxymoron wrote on June 6, 2008 12:29 pm:
" Family friendly bar? Why do parents take kids to bars? The portrait of the American family sitting in a bar is sad. I'm no prude, but it's a pathetic sight to see mom, dad, and little junior around a table with a 1/2 full pitcher and a full pitcher between them; one hour and 1 final pitcher later, they're off jumping in the car and driving home with junior in tow. My friends and I call the Brewskys on 70th and Van Dorn, ChuckyCheese East. It's become an indoor playground. Want to play pool? Forget about it! There's more loitering going on there than there is on O street. Our kids deserve better than this. "

 North Lincoln wrote on June 19, 2008 8:07 pm:
" The Hatch does serve great food - order the curly fries and you'll get a mountain of fries. Excellent grub. HOWEVER, the many times I've been there I've noticed a totally inept wait staff. My glass routinely gets empty and I have to nearly stand on my table and yell for a refill. A shame, because if they could clean up the wait staff issue I think it would be a great bar. Oh, and they do need to update the TVs - no HD on the main wall of TVs is a no-no in my book. "

Ads by Yahoo!