A Brief Defense of Sawyer’s Cantina

A lot of people around here like to kick around the Downtown After Dark bars. Me included. I've made fun of the decidedly un-free "Drink for Free!" promotions and I've marveled at the enormous, um, rooster, that once graced the roof of Sawyer's Cantina. With all that said, I went to Sawyer's on Saturday night to have a few beers and I'll admit it, I had a good time. Was it fratty? Yes, it was fratty. Was the astroturf absurd? Yes, the astroturf was absurd. Did the whole thing look like it could have been cool had the owner spent roughly twice as much money as he did? Absolutely. Still, the beer was cheap, the weather was nice, we found a table and we parked there for most of the evening. Not to mention the fact that our waitresses were awesome all night.

Here’s the thing; people can decry these places all they want, but they’re consistently full. Sawyer’s Cantina isn’t the most attractive thing to have in the heart of restaurant row. It doesn’t do anything revolutionary or original, and the best things about it are that you can sit outside and drink cheap beer. But until that office building goes in — if it ever does — people are going to go there, sit outside and get drunk. It’s not as though there are tons of outdoors bars in Harrisburg to choose from.

I supposed that living in Lemoyne, Dockside Willies is kind of my neighborhood bar. We go there a lot during the summer to sit outside, but the place is generally dead later in the evening. It’s no fun hanging out on the deck by yourself. So while I’m still bitter that Downtown After Dark put a cheesy bar in the space that used to be Carmella’s/Max’s for one night at least, I had fun at Sawyer’s Cantina.