And then we decided to have a bar crawl of sorts of Lambertville/New Hope. Not that big of a deal - it goes with the territory. I feel like day drinking and bar crawling are sport-like in these towns, and part of the charm. But on this night, knowing that we needed to work in a swing through one of Philadelphia Magazine's 85 Best Bars while at the same time visiting friends at other bars, the progression of our night wound up having the same effect as a good strong case of whiplash. We decided to stop by Anton's at the Swan for a few cocktails.
Here's what Philly Mag has to say about it: Like partying at some musty old English manor house, but down the back stairs, with the servants.
Anton's at the Swan is a little old, and yes, musty, spot in Lambertville, NJ, possibly the edgiest adorably-quaint-village ever, tucked away on the Delaware River across from adorably touristy, but still cool, New Hope, on the Bucks County side. For such small little postage stamps of towns, they both pack a punch in terms of night life and fun. Lambertville is the locals-only brother to the happily queer, charmingly boozy, touristy sister town, New Hope. The bars range from dirty and skanky to storied and haunted to quirky and bizarre on both sides of the river.
Anton's is in the quirky and bizarre category. The sister haunt (at least decor-wise) of another of Philly Mag's top 85, the Boat House, I'd say that if these two places were members of a family, the Boat House would be the cranky and colorful great aunt who smells of mothballs and stale smoke but with whom you still love to have a drink and Anton's is the colorful, but less cranky, more intellectual uncle who will talk your ear off about the election of 58 and Hemingway's cats all in one shot.
Like the Boat House, it's covered wall-to-wall in photograph memorabilia. Magazine covers, old advertisements, and other bizarre historical tidbits, there is hardly a 6 inch span of wall free in any part of Anton's. See above for a shot of the inside of the stall in the ladies room. Seriously, the whole place is covered.
The bar is old and heavy and the bartender appears to have been working there since the doors opened. He makes a mean martini (this is what I always order when I get a bartender like him in a bar like this - they somehow always know how to mix a perfect martini.) He makes an even better Manhattan, which is what my trusty side kick, Ian, ordered. It was the smoothest Manhattan I've ever had - and I've sipped a lot. It's Ian's cocktail of choice.
The crowd was mixed between locals and sort-of locals from NYC and Philly, and maybe one tourist couple, who I'm only calling tourists because they were wearing what appeared to be gym clothes but had clearly not been exercising at any point that day. It was a good cocktail in a pretty cool spot. I'll go back - but sandwiched between visits to the Inn of the Hawke before and after, it certainly was a stark change of pace.
My arbitrarily assigned grade for Anton's at the Swan is a B. Quirky for days, which I love, great cocktails made by an experienced gentleman, but kind of a trek if you're not in Lambertville/New Hope anyway. Still, you should go out there for a night of weird fun, trust me.
