For the last 11 months, the siblings have been putting their own imprint on the saloon, which they admit is a "neighborhood, working class bar." I mean, glamorous it isn't, but who wants a neighborhood, working class bar to look like something from the Plaza or the Power & Light District anyway? The exterior facade of Swagger is so unassuming it's almost invisible; even residents of the surrounding neighborhood have passed the venue and not noticed the new Swagger sign. Back in the 1980s, the southern half of the business was a popular Middle Eastern restaurant called Cafe Nile. When that restaurant closed, the space became the Village Lounge and, more recently, PJ's Bistro.
Derek Boone has had his eyes on the location for some time. The heavily-tattooed Derek has had his main business, Irezumi Body Art, in this same retail stretch for many years. When the PJ's Bistro space was up for lease, he decided it was time for he and Dustin -- who cooked in several local restaurants before changing careers and going into electronics -- to open their own concept: a neighborhood bar with "real" food.
"We hand-cut all our steaks, we only use fresh ground beef for our burgers -- never frozen," said Derek.
For the record: I used to work with Dustin, more than two decades ago, at a Greek restaurant in Midtown. He learned how to make a lot of excellent Mediterranean dishes working in that kitchen, including the hummus and grilled chicken flatbread sandwich that's on the current Swagger menu. But those are the only Greek offerings. The menu also features a Cuban sandwich as well as that Buffalo, New York, innovation known as Beef on Weck, and a Suribachi Burger: an Angus beef patty dipped in tempura batter, fried, topped with Asian mustard, Sriracha chili sauce and served with wasabi cole slaw.
The name of the saloon comes from a 2000 Flogging Molly CD.
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