Published: August 27, 2008 11:06 pm            

NORTH TONAWANDA: Business at Crazy Jake’s is off and running

There’s nothing particularly crazy about Crazy Jake’s, the newest eatery on Webster Street in North Tonawanda.

Visitors at 2 p.m. Wednesday walked into the air conditioned dining room to the lilting sounds of Pachelbel’s Canon. Neatly folded napkins stuffed into handsome vessels sat atop thick white table cloths.

But in making one’s way across the hardwood floor to the bar, it is somehow comforting to know that floor was salvaged from a long-gone roller rink and that bar, with its curiously thin wooden decking and clear smooth coating, is what’s left of a bowling lane.

Blue collar meets blue blood, to stretch a comparison — a place of welcome contradictions.

The fancy tin ceiling and ornate iron columns running from it to the floor are kept in check by the rough brick walls on the opposite side of the room; the less formal patio lounge outside and the three plasma screens in the main bar — each dedicated to total coverage of national sporting events.

“Crazy Jake’s” is at first the kind of name that seems more appropriate for a joint offering all-night billiards or all-you-can-eat clam specials. But on another level, it reflects the intended spirit of the place.

“I think what it is we wanted people to walk in here and think one thing and say ‘wow,’ ” Manager Jim Fingerlow said from his perch near the end of the bar Wednesday.

“We want to be known for — on a Sunday, you can come in and watch a football game and you don’t have to have just wings, but a steak. We want to consider ourselves a restaurant with a sports bar,” he said.

And that it is.

The menu features everything from macaroni and cheese for the kids up through filet mingnion, depending on how you choose to prioritize such things. Prices follow, from about $7 to $27 for the 16-oz. New York strip steak dinner. Fingerlow said the steak is already set to come down in price.

“We thought we were going to go with barbecue (as a specialty).”

Their ribs won first place according to visitors at this year’s Taste of the Tonawandas, held Aug. 17 at Gateway Harbor Park.

“(But) our Chicken Michael has been flying out the door,” Fingerlow said.

The sandwich, featuring grilled chicken, portobello mushroom, spinach and more, sells for $15. It is Atkins Diet “friendly,” until potatoes are added next week.

The restaurant is also distinctly North Tonawanda. It is also evident in the menu — the Webster Street burger and a seafood section jokingly entitled “From the Canal,” testify to that.

Owners Mike Parker and Greg Doel are from the city, with Parker now living in Niagara Falls. Fingerlow hails from North Tonawanda as well.

A grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 18.

“We’ll be doing drink specials and we’ll have hors d’ oeuvres, you know, trying to get some of the community down here,” he said.

The event will feature the music of Greg Sansone, voted the top single male vocalist in Buffalo three years running.

Next week, a tailgate event is scheduled to coincide with the Sept. 7 debut of the Buffalo Bills in the regular season. A haunted courtyard is in the works for Halloween, and further off, an “enormous” New Year’s Eve bash.

“I remember what Webster Street was like when I was a kid,” Fingerlow said. “There were always people down here. We want to bring people from town here as well as people from out of town.”

Contact reporter Neale Gulley at 693-1000, ext. 114.

        

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