A View from Calico Jack’s...
A periodic—maybe weekly—perspective on Little Buffalo at Calico Jack’s

by Phil Mann

Now it gets interesting.

You probably think I’m referring to the season. And, in part, I am. Let’s hope that as it pertains to the season, “interesting” means “wild,” “gusty” and “exciting”, rather than “The Buffalo Bills are on the clock.”

But, I’m not really referring to the performance of the Bills as much as I am to the performance of the Bills’ fans. Slobs like you and me. Well, like me, anyway.

Bills fans like to distinguish ourselves from the many fair-weather fans out there. We gut it out. We’ll embrace a 3-13 team, week-in and week-out (although, let’s hope that particular belief isn’t put to the test ever again.)

But, is it true? Will Calico Jack’s and McFadden’s still be packed on Sundays if the Bills trend downward? Will we be able to maintain the Little Buffalo community we’ve built in midtown Manhattan? Can we continue to suck down a half-ton of wings and vats of beer every week or two? I, and every gastroenterologist in the city, eagerly await the answer.

Again, now it gets interesting. In any case, I believe the Bills will beat the Saints next week, evening our record heading into the Fish game. And that game should be PACKED, regardless.

Moving onto Calico’s…

I shared my bias in my last column, but I honestly believe that Calico’s really stepped up its game this week. The big-screen TV and sound were fine. The wings were plentiful and well prepared. Service was great. I saw a boiled hot dog or two, so we’ll have to fix that.

More intriguing to me is that Calico’s, at least for now, has really taken shape as envisioned: a mellower, but still really fun, place to watch the game. The place was pretty crowded, but we have room for more, so I hope some of you check it out if McFadden’s is too crowded for you, or if you haven’t come to either place this year.

I headed to McFadden’s at halftime to check out what was going on over there. I ran into a smug, curly-haired bastard who, for the sake of this column, we’ll refer to as “Kevin Smith.” He asked if the Calico’s folks were playing canasta at halftime, clearly a poke at what he views as our older demographic. I said, “No, shuffleboard,” realizing only later that “mahjong” would have probably been a funnier response, although we’re still not talking belly laughs. Hey, “Kevin Smith,” just because I’m old(er) doesn’t mean the rest of the folks are. Check out last week’s Fan of the Week, for God’s sake. And we hardly had to pay her anything to show up.

E-mail feedback and comments to Phil Mann at
pjmann at nyc.rr.com

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