Christmas Cosmo. Photo courtesy of Will Masters Photography.
“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.”– Mark Twain
Twain’s words seem appropriate for this season of indulging in the holiday spirit, sometimes a little to the excess.
So, it only seems fitting that our first stop, in a new quarterly series of features titled “Bartender’s Choice,” is a place known for some of the lowest prices on the kind of guilty pleasures many of us like to enjoy.
Underdog Sports Bar and Grill, located on Paxton Street in Harrisburg, is what bar manager Jill Yurcic describes as “a little hole-in-the-wall, hometown bar” renowned for its wings, burgers and quesadillas—all large-portioned.
“It’s like a melting pot,” she said. “We have businessmen, we have car salesmen, we have industry workers, nurses, mechanics … it’s very diverse.”
On any given day, the clientele at Underdog is likely to arrive between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m., just in time for the Swatara Township eatery’s popular happy hour, featuring $1 off drafts, most domestic beers for $1.75, imports for $2.25, plus $1 off mixed drinks.
“It’s a good mix, and it’s really cheap,” Yurcic said. “So, people come in here and they’re like, ‘If I had this downtown, I’d be paying double.’”
The mixed drinks are often just as popular as what’s on tap at Underdog, and for good reason. Yurcic works with her team of four bartenders and the restaurant’s liquor rep to come up with tasty concoctions.
On my visit, Yurcic mixed up a pair of tantalizing drinks for us to sample.
The Underdog Punch, perhaps the most-ordered drink on their menu, is a refreshing mix of passion fruit rum, mango rum, coconut rum, pineapple juice, orange juice and grenadine (“a lot of ingredients, but not a lot of alcohol,” said Yurcic).
The Christmas Cosmo, offered, as the name implies, only in December, stirs together vanilla vodka, triple sec, crème de menthe, grenadine and Sprite in a colorful tribute to the holidays (“with a little bit of candy cane around the rim, when available,” said Yurcic).
Yurcic, a Steelton native who attended Central Dauphin East, started bartending when she was 20 and has been at Underdog for eight years. In between all that, she spent 17 years doing hospice nursing and home health care, which she confesses “took an emotional toll.” She is happy to be back doing the job she feels she knows best, with fewer hours and less stress, and looks forward to gradually spending more time with family, especially her 9-month-old granddaughter.
Underdog Sports Bar and Grill is located at 3100 Paxton St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.underdogsportsbarandgrill.com.
YURCIC’S CHOICES
Words of advice to home mixologists
Don’t be afraid to mix and try new things.
Favorite spirit straight
Crown Royal Vanilla
Recommendations for two or three spirits to try
Jim Beam’s Red Stag Whiskey, Jameson Orange, Angel’s Envy Bourbons
Most commonly ordered drinks at your bar
We’re a simple, blue-collar kind of place, so I would say vodka & cran, rum & Coke—or just a beer and a shot.
Days/hours you normally work at Underdog
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday nights.
DRINK FOR DECEMBER
Christmas Cosmo
1 oz vanilla vodka
½ oz triple sec
Sprite
Green crème de menthe
Grenadine (a splash)
Garnish with lime and/or crushed candy cane
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