By Sally Deering

Luke Gomez, who owns HopsScotch bar and restaurant in Jersey City with his wife Sarah, compares running a restaurant to coaching a sports team. Every member of his staff participates – no benchwarmers – and when the place fills up with hungry patrons, itâ€s a huge win for the team.

You have to have your staff work well together, like a basketball team,” Gomez says. “The Line Cook is the Center. The Bartender is Point Guard. Servers are Guards. My management is my Assistant Coaches. And we donâ€t say we have guests. We have fans. Before the shift starts, I tell my staff we have a big game tonight and itâ€s not whatâ€s on TV.”

Gomezâ€s sports†analogies come from years of coaching basketball and working as a Scout. He melded those experiences with his 20 years in the restaurant business and his passion to open his own place. To find a bistro as big as HopsScotch is pretty rare these days. Thereâ€s the front dining room with a long bar alongside one wall and two levels of tables and chairs, and flatscreen TVs wherever your eyes land. If TVâ€s not your style, you can always go to the niche by the door and play darts. In the back, one side holds an area with booths and the other features a party room.

Not many restaurateurs can say they built their restaurant with their bare hands. Thatâ€s not the case with Gomez. He and his dad, Larry Gomez gutted the former Unoâ€s Pizzeria and created the restaurant to exactly what Luke Gomez wanted: a place where people come back again and again for the delicious food and wide selection of single malt scotch and craft beers straight from the tap. It took 89 days from demo –to-reno and HopsScotch opened July 2012.

“We offer quality not quantity,” Gomez says. “We offer better liquor and better food. Youâ€re not getting run of the mill French fries here, youâ€re getting pomme frittes. The quality comes from our chef Nick McCoy. Heâ€s been on the ‘Today†show and ‘Good Morning Americaâ€. Heâ€s a genius. On the menu, we have a Smoked Chicken and Waffle thatâ€s mind-bending. Not your typical chicken; not your typical waffle. We have a Pig Mac, which is ½ pound Angus beef burger, bacon and pork roll with a layer of macaroni & cheese inside the burger. Itâ€s between 6 and 8 inches high.”

HopsScotchâ€s menu offers a large selection of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers and “Big Bites”. Highlights from the appetizer menu include Hummus Three Ways (roasted garlic, oven-dried tomato, jalapeno); Wings (more than one pound served with a choice of traditional, fire, honey sesame or BBQ-spiced sauces; Crab Cake, Spinach & Artichoke Dip; and a Warm Bavarian Pretzel.

Burgers feature the Cowboy, hickory BBQ, HopsScotch beer cheese, and onion ring; HopsScotch Burger with roasted garlic, caramelized onion and HopsScotch beer cheese; the Big Larry, an Angus beef burger with pork roll, bacon marmalade and fried mac ‘n cheese; and the Garden State, a black bean or samosa burger..(Customers can switch out the burger and replace it with chicken.)

The menu’s Big Bites include Allagash Battered Fish and Chips, house-cut Kennebec frites Rauchbier tartar sauce and charred lemon; Mac N Cheese of the Week; a German Sausage Platter of bratwurst, knockwurst and weisswurst with sauerkraut, spaetzle and pickled mustard seed; Herbed Salmon Roulade with quinoa, kale, baby carrot, pea puree, and charred lemon; Grilled Sirloin with roasted garlic, creamed baby spinach and Lyonnaise potato and jus; and Crab Spaetzle with spring vegetable fricassée and lemon-thyme butter.

Gomez named his bistro HopsScotch for the playfulness of his pub and for the large amount of craft brews and single malt scotch he offers his customers. Twenty taps on the brick wall behind the bar spout frothy brews right from the line. They are categorized on the HopsScotch menu according to Hoppy, Toasted & Nutty, Crisp & Bright, and Strange & Boozy. Craft beers are known for their mix of flavors and crazy names and on a recent visit, the offerings included Ballast Point Dead Ringer Oktoberfest, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and Forgotten Boardwalk Funnel Cake.

Scotch is served according to region. Hereâ€s a sampling: Highlands: Dalmore 12, Dalwhinnie, and Glengoyne; Lowlands: Glenkinchie 10, Macallan Speymalt and Glenfiddich. Thereâ€s Islay and Island scotch, too. Single malt scotch can get pricey and Gomez keeps his shots in the $11-$30 range. He also keeps a bottle of Macallan 30 Fine Oak scotch behind closed doors; it sells for $125 a shot.

“Thatâ€s in case LeBron James comes walking in,” Gomez laughs.

Gomez believes that attention to detail keeps customers happy and his team on the ball. There are board games like Connect 4 and Trivial Pursuit to play at your table. Sports games are broadcast on all 22 TVs; with trivia and poker tourneys held during the week. Thereâ€s live music every Friday, too.  Gomez offers a little bit of everything to keep customers returning as regulars.

“Iâ€m ‘old-schoolâ€,” Gomez says. “I donâ€t really believe social media will make a good restaurant. It takes good food and drink. Our food is outstanding. Word of mouth works for us.”

If you go

HopsScotch

286 Washington St, JC

(201) 451-4677

www.hopsscotchjc.com

Hours: Mon-Wed: 11 am – 1 am

Thurs, Fri: 11 am – 2 am

Sat: 10:30 am – 2 am

Sun: 10:30 am – 1 am

Menu: hopsscotchjc.com

Gomez believes that attention to detail keeps customers happy and his team on the ball. There are board games like Connect 4 and Trivial Pursuit to play at your table. Sports games are broadcast on all 22 TVs; with trivia and poker tourneys held during the week. Thereâ€s live music every Friday, too.  Gomez offers a little bit of everything to keep customers returning as regulars.

“Iâ€m ‘old-schoolâ€,” Gomez says. “I donâ€t really believe social media will make a good restaurant. It takes good food and drink. Our food is outstanding. Word of mouth works for us.”

If you go

HopsScotch

286 Washington St, JC

(201) 451-4677

www.hopsscotchjc.com

Hours: Mon-Wed: 11 am – 1 am

Thurs, Fri: 11 am – 2 am

Sat: 10:30 am – 2 am

Sun: 10:30 am – 1 am

Menu: hopsscotchjc.com

The post RECESS FOR GROWN-UPS At HopsScotch Bar & Restaurant, It’s all about Food, Drink & Games first appeared on River View Observer.