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Late Sunday morning, September 5, 2010, found me hiking from our hotel room in downtown Reno, to the Nugget Rib Cook-off in the adjoining city of Sparks, Nevada, via the long, scenic route - the bike path along the Truckee River. By the time I'd hiked the 5 miles or so to the rib cook-off, and arrived at the west end of Victorian Square, I'd developed quite a thirst, despite the fact that I'd regularly hydrated myself from available sources of water along the route, e.g., the occasional drinking fountain, but more common, the illicit drink from a homeowner's garden hose or faucet. Water is awesome, but it just doesn't take the place of an ice-cold beer, and that was what I had in mind as I approached the rib cook-off. Before entering the rib zone, I had planned to stop at Victoria's Bar, and power down a couple of brewskies before venturing into the rib zone. Much to my chagrin, when I arrived shortly after 11:00, Victoria's wasn't in business; in fact, they hadn't even begun setting up the bar. I didn't relish the idea of forking over $5.00 for a plastic glass of Bud at the cook-off, but my thirst was getting the better of me. Fortunately, I found another option... Photo: Burg's Victorian Bar has the beer trailer set out in front of their bar, which is in the brick building. Note the sign advertising Rolling Rock beer for $2.00, which is the best deal in town. Yesterday, for some strange reason, I walked right past Burg's Victorian Bar, without stopping to see that they had to offer. Perhaps I was focused on the rib festival, or was it because they didn't have any signs advertising their fine wares? Actually, I don't think they had any signs posted, advertising their prices, but today was a different day, as they had a Budweiser beer trailer parked on the sidewalk, in front of the bar, with a sign advertising $4.00 Bud or Bud Light, and a booth set up next door, complete with blender and ice, where you could purchase a margarita, made with José Cuervo tequila for $5,00. Well, I wasn't in the mood to pay $4.00 for a Bud, but heck, by patronizing Burg's, I was going to save a buck over what I'd pay within the rib cook-off area, so I asked the girl behind the beer counter, Briana, to pour me a beer, straight from the tap. After forking over my $4.00, I was rewarded with a cheery "thank you" and an ice-cold, 16-oz, Budweiser beer. The beer tasted good, so I ordered another one. At the time, I was the only customer, so I got a chance to chat with friendly Briana, the gal that was taking charge of the beer taps, and I made a comment about how their beer was a dollar cheaper than the same beer sold in the rib zone. Briana pointed out to me that they were selling Rolling Rock draught beer for only $2.00 for a 16-oz beer. What??? Before today, I'd never heard of the Rolling Rock brand or beer, but for $2.00 a glass, I was willing to give it a try, so after powering down my Budweiser, I ordered a Rolling Rock beer, from the tap, and gave it the ol' college try.
Photo: Helen pours a Rolling Rock beer for me from the green tap, as Briana munches on a slice of pizza in the background of the photo.
Photo: Helen, and Briana (holding the beer) were the two friendly gals serving beer at Burg's this Labor Day weekend. Briana and I were joined by Helen, the other gal working the outside bar, who pointed out to me that Rolling Rock beer is distributed by the same folks that distribute the national brand of Budweiser beer, yet it costs half the price of a Bud. I have to be honest, as Bud isn't my favorite brand of beer, and I'd never heard of Rolling Rock beer before today, but at $2.00 a plastic glass, I could be in beer heaven all day, drinking Rolling Rock beer, without taking a second mortgage out on my house to support my weekend or drinking beer and enjoying the rib cook-off. Throughout the remainder of the Nugget Rib Cook-off event, I stayed near the west end of the rib zone, and made numerous pilgrimages to Burg's Victoria Bar, to enjoy an ice-cold glass or two of Rolling Rock beer. There were plenty of shady trees to sit under while sipping beer, and watching various beautiful women strutting their stuff while walking to the rib cook-off. Without exception, as each customer would purchase a beer or a margarita, Briana, Helen, or Briana's daughter Brittney would send each customer away with a cold beer, and a cheery "thank you."
Photo: I'm doing what I do best, and that is to tip my beer to the friendly servers and let the ice-cold goodness flow down my throat. Check it out that I'm wearing my "Best In The West" rib cook-off shirt for the occasion. By the way, Burg's is super-close to the west end of the rib zone, as they're only a few feet away from their friendly competitor, Victoria's Salon and Bar; both are so close to the rib event that you can hear live music from the stage, but the music isn't so loud that it drowns or overpowers conversation. On a rather interesting note, I was chatting with a group of guys who had just purchased 12-oz, $2.75 beer from Victoria's. In passing, I remarked that I'd purchased a 16-oz Rolling Rock from Burg's for only $2.00, which caused a commotion among the group of guys, and after gulping down their beers, they made a beeline to Burg's and purchased a round of $2.00 draught beers. When I ran dry and headed back to Burg's for a refill, Briana poured my beer on the house, as a gratuity for sending the group of customers her way. Photo: Burg's Victorian Bar, at twilight time. As I snapped this photo, the dude wearing shorts and the white shirt, to the left of the photo, walked up to me and asked me, in a surly manner, "Why are you taking photos?" I basically told him to screw himself, which I'm known to do, when morons, like this guy in question ask me stupid questions like that, and get offended when I take photos. Hey stupid, I'm not in North Korea!!! On the way back to the hotel, I decided to stop at Burg's for one more beer, and it was just beginning to get to twilight time, and the light looked interesting, so I whipped out my camera for one more photo. A dude wearing short pants approached me, obviously at least two sheets to the wind, and asked me why I was taking photos. I replied to him "for personal gratification," downed my beer, and began the long walk back to the downtown Reno hotel. I figured the dude was either too drunk or too stupid for me to explain to him that I'm a journalist, and I was taking photos to illustrate this article for my Web Site. Burg's is located close to the west end of the rib cook-off, features delicious, cheap draught beer, and is staffed by friendly folks who really appreciate your business. It's a winning combination, and you don't have to feed quarters into a slot machine to enjoy it all... Burg's
Victorian Bar Copyright(c) 2010 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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