Even though I had been to The Players Bench Sports Bar & Grill before when Joe and I test tasted the Ultimate Players Burger back at the end of March, The official Grand Opening did not take place til last night.

And what a turn out!

The Oshawa Ogre’s Views, News & BBQ‘s mascot Coolio had not been to a bar before and he begged me to take him along.

So Coolio, Joe Simeunovich and I dropped in at around 7pm and the joint was jumpin’

The people there were having a good time and all of the seats were taken accept for two at the bar so we st there for a while.

The band was just getting in and starting to set up as we arrived so some tables were being moved around. A table opened up at the back so Joe & I had a seat.

Donna Darling-Butler and her husband Rob were working there , Donna as the hostess and Rob preparing the fantastic food.

Donna took our order and Joe & I decided we would try the Players Bench Starter Platter which consists of 1 lb. of Wings, a huge order of Onion Rings, Garlic Bread, and choice of 2 other starters from the menu. and we chose the Spud Skins and Mozzarella Sticks.

It was not long of a wait at all and as you can see the presentation of this platter is done right!

But how did it taste?, pictures of food can only go so far, if you were to go visit The Players Bench you need to know if the food would pass the test.

How about an A++, Man oh man was that ever good, the Wings were perfectly done, they were hot and juicy with lots of meat on them and we asked for a medium sauce on them and it was a good choice, great taste with enough of a kick to satisfy as I am not one to want the high heat.. the Mozzarella sticks were average what you would find so nothing out of the ordinary. the veggies that were added to the platter with the Ranch Dressing was a nice touch. we enjoyed the Onion Rings, a huge portion and great batter on them and not greasy. The Garlic Bread with their homemade Garlic butter tasted really good as well, but again not out of the ordinary, but the Spud Skins????  They were the hit of this party platter. I think what Joe & I liked best about them was that they used BBQ sauce in them. They were fantastic and Joe and I fought over the last one.

Coolio seemed most interested in my bottle of beer but his interest changed when the Rock Girls came over to bring us some free sample of other starters. Coolio asked me to post that picture on the Rock Girls Facebook Fan Page, it seems that the gals really enjoyed Coolio’s company and now he is smitten

Now as you can see in the next two photos it is a matter of taking a picture at exactly the right moment and from the right angle (though not on purpose) you can be assured that no Rock Girls were harmed in the filming of this blog piece.

Coolio decide that he wanted to check out the pool (he misunderstood me when I mentioned there was pool, he thought I meant Swimming, not as in Billiards.

The Players Bench has 4 full size Pool Tables and they were in use the whole time I was there.

Just before Vance McKenzie and the band began their 1st set, the Rock Girls had some T-shirts to hand out and did so drawing names from a box. Joe and I did not win any of the shirts though I doubt we would of fit in them anyways.

As far as the type of crowd that was at the Players Bench that night I would have to say that most of the patrons were in the late 20′s to 50′s range which was nice as there are lots of bars that cater to the teenagers in this end of the city, this is more of my speed.

Until the band started music was played from a juke-box and the sound in the Bar was perfect, not too soft and not to loud that you could not talk to your friends.

Donna also made the rounds and brought us over some Deep Fried Pickles, good tasting… something a little different though not something that I would want more than 1 or 2 of.

Rob’s wife also brought over some other tasty treats throughout the evening and Coolio flew over to her tray to get a close up view.

The Band Something Extra with Vance McKenzie started to play and their first song was Hotel California. They played very well and Vance did a great job of involving the crowd, though from where we sat the balance between the volumes of the instruments and their voices could of been better. They also played Walking on Sunshine and Black magic Woman before we headed out at just after 9pm.

 

Here is a Video of the entertainment. singing Hotel California

and a second one where the band plays Walking on Sunshine

You have to understand that I am not much of a bar hopping kind of fellow, so maybe this is not something I would do very often, but the food here at the Players Bench is superb and the crowd seems to be in my age group. The staff is very friendly and service was exceptional. The next time I drop by I hope to play a game or two of pool.

Here are a few other various pictures from the evening.