The OnCenter
complex is within a few blocks of Ale’n’Angus and aside
from the midday business crowd, Beach describes the place as an
“event-driven restaurant.” Dinner is regularly served
beforehand to people attending Mulroy Civic Center and Onondaga
County War Memorial events, while those not looking to go straight
home afterward sometimes come back for a round or three of drinks.
During the summer, the kitchen at Ale’n’Angus is open
Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Fridays, 11 a.m.
to 9 p.m.; they are closed weekends through August. If closing time
comes and a few imbibers are still at the bar, Beach ensures drinks
will pour for as long as business and time complement each other
financially.
“For most restaurants it’s unheard of that you take
weekends off,” observes Beach. “We’re fortunate
enough that we’ve got 10 good months of business and only
two slow months. But that could be the other way around if we had
a restaurant on the beach with only two good months and had to close
the rest of the time.” Besides, the name Beach House has already
been taken.
During the summer is when most of the 15 staffers use their vacation
time, the shorter hours also frees up time for Beach to tend to
his second hobby: the local classic car scene. As a member of the
Right Coast Car Association, the organizers of the Syracuse Nationals
car show that will be taking place Friday, July 18, through Sunday,
July 20, at the New York State Fairgrounds, Beach offers a 10-percent
discount off meals for fellow members. Anyone who eats at Ale’n’Angus
that drives a classic car can bring in a 5-by-7-inch picture of
it and he’ll provide the frame to hang next to the 50 or so
others currently driving themselves up the restaurant’s wall.
“A lot of regulars who have their picture on the wall will
go over there as soon as they get in to see what’s new and
who has been here,” he says. “It almost gives them a
sense like it’s a place of their own, and that’s how
we want to make everyone feel that comes in.”
- From The Syracuse New Times 2008 |