Episodes

BehindBars.Network

Dagda grew out of a long bartending career at Iron Monkey, Northern Soul, and other First Street institutions, and stands on a liquor license rescued after Iron Monkey’s failed redevelopment. The room stays bar‑service‑first so guests can move, meet, throw darts, and play pool instead of being locked into tables.

We go back to the mile‑square city before craft cocktails and condo towers—into an Irish Hoboken built on parish bells, corner saloons, and ward politics. Drawing on state surveys and Hoboken Historical Museum oral histories, we tell the story of a community that rarely owned the bars, but absolutely owned what happened inside them.

In Part 2 of this oral-history series on Hoboken's legendary First Street Irish pub scene, veteran bartender Brendan T. Gillespie takes us behind the bar at McSwiggin's during its golden era — and explains why genuine hospitality, not gimmicks, was the real competitive advantage.

In this episode of the Behind Bars Network Docuseries, we explore the legacy of The Nag's Head Pub and its larger-than-life proprietor, Barney Finnegan, whose approach to hospitality left a lasting impression on generations of bartenders, regulars, and first-time visitors alike.

Philadelphia Eagle legend Lito Sheppard stops in and has a beer with us.

Earl Strickland is an American professional pool player who is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time.

Regan Fletcher Stephens a Philadelphia-based freelance journey and food writer.

Casey is the restaurateur behind Jose Pistola's, Sancho Pistola's, and Pistola's Del Sur.

Jim is a Food & Beverage lifer.

At a very young age, Brandon Novak was signed to the acclaimed Powell Peralta skate team.

Mike Gretz started as a beer driver in the '70s and then joined Delco Beverage's sales department after college.

Ed McHugh is a liquor license attorney in Philadelphia, providing comprehensive legal representation and commercial guidance to clients in the restaurant/tavern, food service, and hospitality industries.

Chuck owns and operates the oldest Tavern in Delaware called Sullivan's Irish Pub at the Witherspoon.

Bob Cullen started out bartending in his early 20s in the Cherry Hill, NJ area.