Nights at Your Mother’s House Kitchen & Bar

More often than not, new nightlife opportunities on Long Island tend to arrive in areas that are already home to a number of similar clubs, lounges or restaurants -- often leaving long stretches of driving to do between arriving at spots that offer evening activities. One of those “stretches” is Jericho Turnpike in Nassau County -- for, except some local pubs, this big road is mostly small on bar scene. However, evenings in Garden City Park have recently received a jolt via the event calendar of Your Mother’s House Kitchen and Bar, after its arrival in early February.

Located in building that formerly housed Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse, this is a restaurant (with a new American menu) -- but the attitude is set for good times from the get-go as photos taken from such comedies as ‘Anchorman,’ ‘Wedding Crashers’ and ‘The Hangover’ hang throughout -- noting the house personality. Sports are a big deal here too, as all major games can get big-time treatment in the rear-section of the building. Behind the three-sided bar is a room that holds long tables equipped with bar stools -- and that space is lined with 50-inch flat screen TVs. However, while the monitors along the length of the room are sizable, they are dwarfed by the rear-wall set-up, where four monstrous 100-inch screens surround an even larger, 270-inch jumbo projector tube (that’s over 20 feet in width).

In addition, YMHK&B has parties all weekend, starting early on Thursday with a Ladies Night that kicks off at 4 p.m. (with half-price drinks for women, DJ spins starting at 8 p.m.), then live bands on Fridays (starting at 10:30 p.m.) and a trivia contest on Sundays after 6 p.m. 

As for Saturdays, the scene is also a DJ night, and it stays lively well past 1 a.m. There’s no actual dance floor, but the spirit borders on a bash as the mixer plays pop, dance and other beats at club-quality volume. The crowd is also energetic and ranges from 25-45 in age, all dressed as per the very casual-yet-neat code. Inspiration is also found in the drink menu, especially for those who enjoy something more than the average big-company bottled beer -- which is there for sure -- but the selection also features $7 “layered” two-brew blends, like the “Black Smith” (Guinness over Smithwick’s Ale),“Black N Blue” (Guinness over Blue Moon) and “Mother Goose” (Mothers Milk stout over Goose Island-brand product).

Cocktails are also possibilities, and Mother’s has a list of “Specialty Drinks” for $9. Options include the “She’s My Cherry Pie” (cherry vodka, crème de cassis, lemonade, grenadine and 7-Up), “Lucy In The Sky (With Diamonds)” (gin, Blue Curacao liqueur, tonic, lemon twist, sugar rim) and the semi-eponymously titled “Mother…In Law’s Punch” (pomegranate liqueur, grenadine, Captain Morgan and Malibu-brands rum, orange juice, pineapple juice and two cherries).