“The view from the grove was soothing and overwhelmingly peaceful.”
Club Watch: Go beyond the bar for the true Hilltop Inn experience
It was a gorgeous Thursday afternoon when I moseyed through the main entrance of the Hilltop Inn. Mosey being the operative word since I felt like I was entering a saloon in the Old West. The Hilltop is a gigantic wooden leviathan on the border of Millgrove, Newstead and Alden where one could almost imagine John Wayne stumbling in through the front door.
After finding a spot at the black-lacquered bar, Vikki (the sparkling brunette bartender) took my order immediately and served up a pitcher of Molson Canadian and a double of Wild Turkey on the rocks for $11. The price of the round alone would explain why every seat at the bar was full at 1 p. m. on a Thursday.
A gaggle of golfers arrived, took advantage of Hilltop’s “free drink with scorecard” promotion and put in three matching orders for cheeseburgers and fries. An older couple asked Vikki to change the channel on the modest flat screen to “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and half of the patrons watched intently. After clearing the place out on its reserve of Wild Turkey, I ordered a double of Jim Beam on the rocks for $5, against my better judgment. Van Halen played at a reasonable volume over a pair of perimeter speakers while two customers traded stories about their kids.
A multitude of antique beer signs decorated the interior. A Miller High Life mirror, a Genesee beer sign, a red Budweiser clock and an Old Vienna sign covered the surrounding walls. Pictures of the owners’ children during fishing excursions, vacations and school football games were thumb-tacked on the wall behind the bar. A hand-drawn caricature of the Marx Brothers hung above the Lotto machine. The right half of the building housed an expansive dining room with a turn-of-the-20th-century wood-burning stove. A pink collage in the corner featured a who’s who of regulars over the years.
I wandered out to the raised patio in the back for a smoke and feasted my eyes on the grove section of the property, complete with a volleyball court, a horseshoe pit, an outdoor grill and a field of trees with leaves going through the slow autumnal process of dying. The view from the grove was soothing and overwhelmingly peaceful. Wild woods lined the border and the occasional bird song punctuated the peaceful silence.
There are only a few establishments I’ve been to over the years that pack the place on weekday afternoons and The Hilltop Inn is part of this elite group. I blended in effortlessly with the golfers, retirees and the rest of the crowd buying a few idle hours with a cold drink and a stellar view out back during a rare Indian summer day. •
Hilltop Inn and Grove
11389 Genesee St., Alden
937-3430
Scene:Corner bar on the edge of suburbia and a great destination after 18 holes.
Music:Live karaoke on Thursdays.
Drinks:$2.50 bottles of Bud and Molson from 3-7 p. m. Monday through Friday and one free drink with a golf scorecard.
DressCode:Country casual with suspenders, flannels, golf outfits and jeans.
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