This Tuesday, Pipe Dream’s photo editor, Caspar, and I ventured into Stadium 138, a sports bar located at 138 Washington St. in Downtown Binghamton. The establishment was crowned the best bar in the SUNY system by SUNY Barstool and the prospect of experiencing it while the New York Yankees took on the Cleveland Guardians in game two of the American League Championship Series was too exciting for us to pass up.
The sports bar and beer garden hybrid is decorated wall-to-wall with sports pictures and memorabilia. The main wall behind the bar features a multitude of television screens, primed for game days.
For our first course, I settled on the potato skins, which came coated in delicious melted cheddar cheese and topped with bacon bits. Caspar sprung for the stuffed mushrooms, also featuring tasteful amounts of cheese and bacon, as well as onions and cream cheese. We both stand strongly behind the proposition that you simply cannot go wrong when bacon and cheese are on the table. Needless to say, by the end of the second inning, the Yankees had scored three runs and we had cleaned two plates.
Before arriving at our main course, we were greeted at our table by Rich David, a co-owner of Stadium 138 and the former mayor of Binghamton. He gave us the vision behind the establishment — to provide a place for community, complete with an outdoor space, plenty of TV screens for sports viewing, and, of course, fun activities like trivia and line dancing on a weekly basis. Caspar and I had been fortunate enough to be doing our coverage on a trivia night. We were invited to join in on the fun, much to our delight.
After correctly answering soprano as the highest voice in a female choir and identifying an Ed Sheeran song, our main courses were brought out. I had selected the 12-ounce Delmonico steak and Caspar chose the Greek stuffed chicken. My steak was cooked to perfection and covered in a duo of mushrooms and onions, while the chicken came packed with feta cheese and spinach, a creamy and rich trio that didn’t stand a chance of lasting very long on the plate. Both dishes were accompanied by a baked potato on the side. Suffice it to say that Caspar and I shared very little conversation at this point, as we were far too busy enjoying our food.
By this point, whatever beginner’s luck we had in trivia had worn off and we had acquired a strong grip on last place. However, the sting of this ego check faded as soon as our dessert course arrived. My choice, the Stadium brownie, came topped with powdered sugar and a chocolate drizzle. Caspar’s selection was the tiramisu. While both of us were eager to dig in, we had to take a second to admire the intricate plating and presentation of both dishes. The brownie packed a satiating but not overwhelmingly rich punch and the tiramisu provided a cozy cap on our meal. Once the two of us indulged in our treats, we made sure not to leave one crumb behind. Of course, we may have to make another appearance at Stadium 138 soon to redeem our trivia reputation.