I rarely venture into a bar solo, but Friday night I planted myself on a barstool, ordered a pint of Absolution Brewery’s 405 IPA (on tap) and took in the Happy Hour scene at Moseley’s in the Tamal Vista Plaza in Corte Madera.
Soon I was conversing with a local who couldn’t be more excited by the addition of this close-to-home watering hole with friendly bartenders and a “grown-up vibe.”
I’ve lost track of the many restaurants that tried their hand at this location. I was a fan of Scott Howard’s Brick & Bottle, but after it closed in 2016, the location fell off my radar. Now, Tamale Pie’s Karen Goldberg and famed local skier Jonny Moseley have partnered and morphed the place into a sports bar with the gold-medalist’s name front and center. To invoke ski parlance, the new venture is a flawless Black Diamond run.
The place feels more intimate now with two pool tables and a combination of booths, high-top tables and a 30-foot-long, black-steel bar. Eleven flat-screen TVs surround the perimeter of the room and leave little doubt that this is, indeed, a sports bar.
Families, couples and yogis aglow from power-vinyasa flow-classes at the nearby NOW studio all pour in to end their week with a beverage, pizza, burgers, sandwiches or salad. There’s a kid’s menu, too, with mac-n-cheese, chicken tenders and ice cream sundaes.
Once the Happy Hour ends at 6pm, the crowd shifts to more adults and fewer families. The special menu of wings, a pulled-pork slider, Caesar salad and nachos also goes away, with heartier items available at full price.
On this particular Friday night, the gold medalist himself had invited extreme skier Scot Schmidt to his bar for a one-on-one conversation. Two chairs and a microphone were atop one of the bar tables and the two sat down to a conversation about Schmidt’s celebrated career. One of the flat screens was put to good use showing footage of Schmidt’s insane skiing antics. It was cool and sweet to see Moseley clearly in awe of Schmidt’s talent.
For someone who doesn’t frequent bars much, this experience made me wish Moseley’s was in my neighborhood. Anywhere that welcomes a full range of customers—young and old, male and female, sporty and not sporty (much like an English pub)—is my kind of place.
Moseley’s Sports Bar, 55 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera. 415.704.7437. moseleyssportsbar.com
