When I was in middle school and the Nets were not godawful for the first time in my entire life, my father and I went to a lot of games at the Meadowlands. Tickets were cheap and plentiful, the Byrne was fairly near my house…anyway, I’ve taken this particular trip down nostalgia alley before in this space. But en route to the games, before we discovered the smoke-filled delight that is Carstadt, NJ’s Steve’s Sizzling Steaks, we used to eat at LT’s. If you don’t want to deal with the flash animation on the website, just know that Steve’s current motto is “Serving You and Your Ancestors for Over 70 Years.” It’s a much better restaurant than LT’s was, but has a notably smaller collection of autographed jerseys.
LT’s was, as the acronym suggests, named after Lawrence Taylor, who shared ownership with a bunch of scummy mob-affiliated guys whose affiliations — much more than the place’s totally decent mozzarella sticks — eventually led to it being shut down. It was, briefly, known as McConkey’s, after this mustachioed Giants immortal. I think the place was eventually knocked down and is quite possibly now a Houlihan’s. I keep forgetting where the Houlihan’s is, and it was erected in like 45 minutes.
Anyway, there’s a certain risk inherent in going to eating establishments owned by and named after star athletes. There’s always the chance you’ll wind up someplace corny. Sure, every now and then you get lucky and wind up at a workmanlike establishment like the Minneapolis fish joint owned by food-friendly former UConn star Khalid El-Amin. But the lows are too terrible — too greasy, too cheesy, too memorabilia-intensive and unflatteringly be-muraled — to think about. That’s why it’s a relief to find a place as understated and classy as Seau’s of San Diego. By which I mean: holy shit, can this really be the BEST sushi in San Diego? Can anything be good in a setting like that?
I found out about this via Jeff Johnson’s playoff picks at Vice, which are of course worth reading even leaving aside the restaurant recommendations.
David, speaking of the ‘zod you may have seen this but if not it is worth a read:
http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/1/8/713645/fan-experience-at-izod-a-j
Weird, Andrew: an old friend just sent that link to me via email. It’s pretty harsh, but I think very true.
This year’s Nets can be pretty fun to watch when they’re right, and they remain my favorite NBA team, but going to games at the former Byrne is really shitty, even compared to the similar but lower amplitude experience of a couple years ago. Beyond being expensive and surly — which is kind of a given at most NBA games I’ve been to, anywhere — the author was exactly right about how queasily assaultive the whole experience is. I don’t know if there are arenas where fans are “left alone with their thoughts” or whatever, but I’d love to go to one of those and just, you know, watch basketball and drink a beer. The echo-y, bummery Nets games of my youth were a treat compared to those featuring the much better team currently on the floor, mostly because the fans weren’t constantly getting hit up to buy something in the context of watching some blaring, manic 90-second idiocy explosion.
That picture makes the whole thing worth it, GC. Thanks a lot. Also, so everyone knows: it looks even shittier on the inside.
Can’t seem to open the Vice site at work, but Seau’s doesn’t look much tackier than Earl Campbell’s sportsbar in the Austin airport.
Gawd…LT’s. Spent many a Go-Go haunt-jaunt in that Vinnie From Hell dumper.
The watered down coke was a serious blast in the bathroom…yeech.
If it were not for Bobby Valentine’s memorabilia-decorated sports bar in downtown Stamford, CT, I would not have known where to do my underage and illegal drinking, and subsequent drunk driving. This place put the “high” in high school. Thanks, Bobby V!
http://www.bobbyv.com/
How were the wings? Did they serve potato skins with or without bacon bits? How many clams were in the New England clam chowder? Who the fuck cared! They served beer to minors and that was enough.