Deadheads now have a new place to hang
Nancy Pusateri.
Dave Zuchowski/for the Observer-Reporter
Nancy Pusateri. Dave Zuchowski/for the Observer-Reporter
Nancy Pusateri. Dave Zuchowski/for the Observer-Reporter
Nancy Pusateri. Dave Zuchowski/for the Observer-Reporter
Courtesy of The Drunken Hippie
Courtesy of The Drunken Hippie
The interior of The Drunken Hippie is eclectic and inviting. Courtesy of The Drunken Hippie
Jerry Garcia may be long gone, but his memory and vibe live on for a couple of bar owners in Monongahela.
Step inside the Drunken Hippie on West Main in Monongahela, and you’ll find evidence backing up one of Garcia’s most famous quotes about his fans. “Deadheads are kinda like people who like licorice,” the famous rock guitarist once said. “Not everybody likes licorice, but people who like licorice, REALLY like licorice!”
On a wall in one area where patrons play darts, owners Nancy and Justin Pusateri mounted a massive poster of Garcia. You’ll also probably see Nancy handling the bar wearing a hoodie with an image of a skeletal hand with a missing middle finger on the back.
It’s a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that the guitarist ranked number 13 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time lost his middle finger at the age of four while woodworking with his older brother, Tiff.
Justin, a dedicated Deadhead, attended nine Grateful Dead concerts. If Garcia, the band’s lead guitarist, hadn’t died in August of 1995, he said he’d have gone to hundreds more.
The Pusateris bought the establishment formerly called The Bar on New Year’s Day. They opened the Drunken Hippie the following afternoon in a building over 100 years old.
“As a hospice nurse, I needed something else to focus my energies on,” Nancy said. “I love being a hospice nurse and will continue to be one, but I also need a balance.
Justin, who runs a landscaping business, had wanted to own a bar for quite some time. When Nancy, who had worked at the former bar off and on since the age of 21, saw a for sale sign posted on the door, she asked her husband how he felt about buying it.
“We felt, if we build it, they would come,” Nancy said.
Since its opening, the bar has had a facelift. The Pusateris painted the walls, installed purple lights for effect, and covered the mirrors in the back of the bar with posters they bought on Amazon. One of the biggest is a poster ad for a free Grateful Dead concert in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Other signs posted in nooks and crannies read “Hippies use side door” and “Hippies spotted in the area. Peace, love and understanding could break out at any moment.”
“Originally, we wanted to name the place the Dancing Hippie, but it didn’t sound like a bar venue.” Nancy said. “So Justin came up with the Drunken Hippie.”
So far, according to Nancy, the customer base has been a mixed bag of people between the ages of 21 and 75. Some are customers she waited on from the days when she first started to bartend.
Something unchanged that loyal patrons will recognize is the black and white checkerboard-covered bar top, which Nancy said has served six previous incarnations of the bar.
While you’ll find some Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead music on the jukebox, the live entertainment every Friday and Saturday evening runs the gamut of DJ, karaoke and live bands like the Shameless Hex and My So Called 90s Band.
“The crowd differs every weekend here because the various bands bring in their own followers,” Nancy said.
If you like your craft cocktails with a hippie theme, the bar features the Janis, a mix of Southern Comfort, amaretto, peach schnapps, orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine.
Stroke the Deadhead in you with the Grateful Dead, a blend of tequila, gin, rum, strawberry vodka, blackberry schnapps, blue curacao and sweet and sour mix.
At the moment, the only food available is frozen pizzas and snacks. Once a new kitchen is installed sometime this summer, the bar will serve specialty sandwiches, its own pizzas and perhaps soups and stews.
Future plans include converting the outdoor tiki bar into Terrapin Station, the title of one of the Dead’s albums. Down the road, Nancy also hopes to paint a terrapin mural somewhere in the bar.
“We’ve had this vision of the bar for quite a long time,” she said. “Now that we’re open, we’re here to provide music and community to the area residents.”
The Drunken Hippie is at 131 W. Main Street in Monongahela. For hours and other information, phone 724-258-3211 or check out the Drunken Hippie’s Facebook page.