I've always been bewildered by the fact that there's no real sports bar in the Marshall Street area. Sure, most of the bars have TVs, making it possible to watch sports while drinking there, but none of them really feel like a true, unadulterated sports bar (unless Chuck's is different now).
In its prime, Darwin's came close, though it always succumbed to the usual college meat market-y madness around 9pm, whether you were watching a game or not.
It was one of my many dreams to bring that back to Cuse. With my How To Grow An Orange revenue, I was going to break ground on The Absolute Magician Sports Bar & Grille & Shoppe & Chuckhouse & Pasta Factory & Face Stuffery. It was going to be beautiful. A place the likes of Marshall Street has never seen before.
Like Morpheus at the end of The Matrix Reloaded, I dreamed a dream and now that dream has been taken from me. Somebody else is opening up a sports bar on The Hill. (I blame everyone who didn't buy HTGAO soon enough).
A new sports bar, DJ's on the Hill, will open Jan. 13 on Marshall Street, at the former location of Maggies Restaurant and Sports Bar.
"I think that SU needs another place that kids of legal age can go to watch games, have good meals," said Dean Whittles, DJ's owner.
His cook, Bob Brown, previously owned a number of restaurants in the Syracuse area, and will bring "new and unique items to the hill," Whittle said. He would not comment on what these unique foods will be, but said the restaurant will also have typical American sports bar cuisine.
Hope those new items don't include burritos, cause I think someone else has that covered.
The best news of all? Maggie's will never, ever exist again. REJOICE!