Battered Mug

While living in a city where most bars are like chain restaurants and the cookie cutter developments don’t have the allowance for establishments like this to open I really miss the «local bar» scene.
The Mug is just how I remembered it when growing up here. The local place on the corner where friend and strangers meet to throw some cold ones down or have a bite to eat. There is a main area which a long bar and shuffle board table from the front entrance with a couple of TVs and a cooler for take out beer. Personalized mugs hang above the bar for the die hard regulars who frequent the place on a regular basis. Two smaller rooms in the back with a dart board or fooseball table and some tables to sit at. In the very back is a dining area right off of the kitchen.
This is always a must Visit when I come back to my hometown where I get to meet up with friends I grew up with and friends I just met. They do allow smoking in most bars in Hazleton, which is a turnoff for some, but I brave the clouds of smoke for that one night to reunite with some great friends.

i found this place during a walk around the city and stopped in for a drink and found a great hidaway that i very much enjoyed. very cool place to watch a football or baseball game and all the people i met were very freindly and the owners are awsome guys! also there is a beautiful shuffle board table that gets alot of use and its alot of fun to play.

You wouldn’t think that there would be an incredible piece of Americana to be found among the narrow lanes of Hazelton, Pennsylvania; nor that this jewel of antiquity could turn out comfort bar food with the best of them.
But, tucked away in this warren of narrow one way streets stands a corner brick row house that has been a bar, restaurant, boarding house, speakeasy, and likely bordello, since 1870. The Battered Mug takes its name from the scores of old pewter mugs hanging over the beautiful dark wood and mirrored bar. In the earlier years patrons had their private mugs for drinking, and left them in their favorite tavern as a sign of membership. After they passed on, the drinking vessels remained as silent remembrance of their attachment to the spirit of their community center. What a rich tradition!
Walking into the barroom on a snowy Saturday afternoon in January, the first impression was that this was the inn that time forgot. It was dark and moody. A few patrons sat at the bar drinking beer and eating lunch. Conversation was hushed but friendly. The barkeep owner stood behind his workbench in white apron swapping stories between long pulls of the lagers and pilsners on draft. As an outsider I did not feel any suspicious eyes fall on me, but only a look of curiosity. Who was the new guy, and what did he have to contribute?
I took a stool at the elbow of the bar and waited. The bartender moved slowly in my direction and asked, «What’ll it be?» «Yuengling Draft and a menu, please.» «You got it, friend.» I was in. The other patrons swiveled on their stools to include me in their conversations, and asked the expected questions. I ordered the Farm Burger off the short but intriguing menu.
Ten minutes later I was served a large oval plate with a 5 inch high burger and chips. My new friend to my right laughed and said the only way to attack this feast was to compress it, and he imitated the press down with his hands over the bar. He was right. As I was not given knife and fork this was my only option. The half pound of medium grilled ground beef, fried egg, lettuce, onion, and bacon squished together like they knew what would happen next and willingly gave up their space for my satisfaction.
First bite euphoria.
The sandwich required both hands to lift off the plate and some angling to get it all into my mouth. The fresh roll gave way and I felt my jaws start to close as my teeth cut through the layers of this magnificent creature one at a time. My eyes closed involuntarily, and I lost awareness of everything else around me. The beef had been grilled perfectly. It might have been cooked over a charcoal grill. Oh, baby! So juicy. So complexly simple. I quickly scanned my memory for a better burger moment, but could find none. This was the apex; the monarch on the burger throne.
I returned to reality quickly, opened my eyes, and saw the barman watching me with a sly smile. «Wow!» was all I could mutter. «The wife’s in the kitchen…» «Please tell her I am her greatest fan.» «Sure, but she hears that all the time.»
«Where can I hang my mug?»

Awesome wings! Other food is great too, burgers, etc. Cold beers, this place is perfect! There is a good story too about this place during prohibition. Ask when you’re there.

I just discovered this place a month ago and have already gone back a second time. Good food but a limited menu. Full bar service too. The only problem is the smoking. Patrons are allowed to smoke at the bar. There is a door between the dinning room and the bar but it still smells. The first time I was there it didn’t smell too bad. The second time it was VERY bad. If you’re a smoker then you will have no problem. If you are not a smoker, look elsewhere.

What an experience this place was. My boyfriend looked it up online as we were driving home from Syracuse and decided to give it a shot. It’s definitely off the beaten path and you have to meander through some one way streets to get there, but it’s really not far from 81. Apparently this place has been around since the 1870’s, used to be a speakeasy, and still has some of the original décor like the bar and I think the ceilings. It’s small, definitely what I would call divey, and we were so out of place it wasn’t even funny. Definitely a locals/​regulars-​only bar, so being an artsy girl there with a half shaved head felt a little weird at first. But the customers were nice and all knew each other (aka a people-watcher’s heaven), the bartender was a good guy who’s family owns the place, and the food was SO good. My boyfriend’s burger tasted like it came off a charcoal grill in your backyard, not some greasy skillet. My Philly hoagie was a meal and a half and was the best one I’ve had outside of Philadelphia. Supposedly their wedding soup and their wings are great, but I was way too full to try them.
Also, I’m a smoker, and I’ve never been to a place where you’re allowed to smoke at the bar. Such a treat. They were playing softer 70’s rock and I felt like I was a little kid again in my dad’s favorite Baltimore dive before it got turned into an Italian restaurant. Hopefully they didn’t think we were too strange, because we want to make it a regular stop when we go up north. Oh, and for the record, we had three beers, a shot of whiskey, and two meals between the two of us, and our tab came to something like $ 24. I can’t rave about it enough, if you go please make sure to tip the bartender well.