A new option for the 21-plus crowd

The bar is located in the brick-walled basement formerly occupied by the Italian restaurant Sotto, and the owners hope it will attract a different set of customers that will make their business more financially secure.

John Procaccini, the bar’s co-owner and operator, explained that his goal is to create a sustainable off-campus hangout that lures locals from their homes and students from the Street.

“When we started [Sotto] in 2005, we were doing really well,” said Procaccini, who ran the restaurant with his brother and two cousins. “The problem was that the economy took a toll on every business. The mistake that all of us business owners make is that everyone wants to come to Princeton because people feel like there’s an affluent clientele — that people like the high-end bistros and restaurants — but that’s really just not the case.”

This Saturday is a big day for the bar because the Princeton football team will host Lafayette in its first home game of the year. Procaccini said he hopes that fans will watch the Tigers’ games from his bar and will stop by before or after home games. The bar has 15 televisions to show both college and professional sports matches.

Its menu is also University-themed, featuring items such as the Bicker Burger, the Street Chicken and Old Nassau Short Ribs.

Raymond Hsu ’11 said that the bar was crowded the first time he visited. “I would definitely go there for big games and to hang out every once in a while,” he said.

When doing thesis research on campus over the summer, Shihab Ali ’11 went to the sports bar with his housemates soon after it opened. Ali said the bar is “really affordable” and that “the bartenders are really cool and they have this trivia game set up” where customers can test their sports knowledge. “It’s basically the best bar in Princeton and the best place on earth.”

But Kati Herrera ’11 said she is “still mourning the loss of Sotto.”

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Procaccini said that Princeton students have not supported restaurants as much as people would expect. “There’s a reason Princetonians have money, and it’s because they’re very frugal with it,” he said.

Procaccini turned to beer and sports in an effort to attract a young clientele.

“At the end of the day, there are 32 restaurants in this town all doing the same thing,” he said. “We talked with a lot of business owners and restaurant owners, and they all said, ‘Things will turn around. Things will get back to normal.’ But we thought to ourselves, why do we want to compete with 30 other restaurants? Let’s say things do get back to normal — we’re still competing with six other restaurants within four blocks.”

While bars in many college towns thrive as social hubs for students over 21, those in Princeton must compete with the eating clubs, which offer free beer.

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Still, Procaccini said that his bar can offer something the clubs can’t.

“I think the one thing eating clubs don’t have that I do — at least from what people say — is that I have the entertainment value,” Procaccini explained. “We have the latest in technology and interactive TV gaming, we have comedy nights and other entertainment — things that no one else has and things that make this a fun, good place to hang out.”