Flushing, NY – One of the major drawbacks of having a ballpark in Flushing is the lack of after game activities around the ballpark area, unless, of course, you needed your car fixed. Unlike Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, which is littered with bars on River Avenue, there was nothing around Shea Stadium, except the short lived Bobby V’s restaurant and its successor The Pine, both of which are a car ride away.
Enter McFadden’s, the nation chain of Irish themed sports bars, setting up home on the street side of Citi Field, accessible from inside the ballpark itself.
At first glance, this has to be a home run for the McFadden’s franchise, as it now has a monopoly on location for the beer thirsty fans attending Met games.
This is a very spacious bar with plenty of room for fans as the get set for a matchup in the stadium or winding down after an event. They open up around three hours before game time, so there’s plenty of time to get a few brews in before the gates open.
As far as pricing, McFadden’s is pretty fair as far as New York City bars go. Regular draft beers run $6.00 with imports and tall Budweisers are $7.00. Mixed drinks will be anywhere from $7.00 to $10.00 depending on what you order.
Much like every other bar in the city, the crowd depends on the time of the week. Weekends tend be to more packed compared to weeknights and according to the staff, when the Mets win, there’s between a 20 to 30 percent increase in traffic, compared to a losing outing.
The staff seem very friendly and late night after games, the female bartenders dance on the bars, much to the delight of the male populous. Over the next few months, the staff said they will be bringing more and more promotions to their newest location, including having the Citizens Bank Park staff come up for Phillies games.
If there’s one thing though that can be viewed as negative it’s that the saloon lacks any type of Mets memorabilia. When standing at the bar, you don’t know you are at Citi Field or any other McFadden’s location. Of course, this was a problem that plagued the actual stadium last year, and the Mets corrected that, so we will give the bar some time here on it.
Overall, though, McFadden’s successful fills a void at Met games. Unlike most stadiums, there was never a place to drink after the game at Shea Stadium or Citi Field. That problem has been successfully resolved.
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