02.1
09
09
Where Everybody Knows Your Name!
by Simone ·
FENWICKS BAR (A True Neighboorhood Bar) - Riverdale (238th Street)
I spent a wonderful day walking around Riverdale (more posts coming soon) and I find myself looking forward to going back. I wandered in to Fenwicks Bar to ask for directions (I’m sooo not the type of woman who feels comfortable in a bar alone), but within minutes I found myself welcomed-like-I-was-a-long-lost-friend by bartender Regina Wallace (pictured below) and the many regulars (Karyn, Doris, Maureen, Robert and all the others whose names I seem to have forgotten but who interacted with one another as if they were regulars on Cheers). I had a great evening and I learned more about Riverdale (and the Bronx in general) in just a few hours than in all of my research on this borough put together! It will take me months to visit all the places these insiders were so gracious enough to turn me on to. Riverdale is a little enclave that (at first glance anyway) feels like a true village (with the usual small town cast of fascinatingly unique and colorful characters) - quite surprising, refreshing and heartening to find! TIP: Apparently, this place gets packed with the college crowd later in the evening, so if you’re older and want to enjoy authentic local company and flavor, drop by during the day and early evening.
I spent a wonderful day walking around Riverdale (more posts coming soon) and I find myself looking forward to going back. I wandered in to Fenwicks Bar to ask for directions (I’m sooo not the type of woman who feels comfortable in a bar alone), but within minutes I found myself welcomed-like-I-was-a-long-lost-friend by bartender Regina Wallace (pictured below) and the many regulars (Karyn, Doris, Maureen, Robert and all the others whose names I seem to have forgotten but who interacted with one another as if they were regulars on Cheers). I had a great evening and I learned more about Riverdale (and the Bronx in general) in just a few hours than in all of my research on this borough put together! It will take me months to visit all the places these insiders were so gracious enough to turn me on to. Riverdale is a little enclave that (at first glance anyway) feels like a true village (with the usual small town cast of fascinatingly unique and colorful characters) - quite surprising, refreshing and heartening to find! TIP: Apparently, this place gets packed with the college crowd later in the evening, so if you’re older and want to enjoy authentic local company and flavor, drop by during the day and early evening.
Extraordinarily hospitable bartender Regina and local Maureen.
Fenwicks is the place with the black awning
And oh yeah - be prepared to hike these stairs if you come by bus or subway!
