On the clock outside of the Great American Pub is a sign that reads “Conshy Tyme.” It doesn’t seem to matter where the hands are resting when you look at it. You should, for a brief moment, forget about time and immerse yourself in the small neon lights that brighten the rows of windows on Fayette Street in Conshohocken.
The Great American Pub is the kind of bar that is pulled out of the pages of a novel describing the transition between leaving college life behind while trying to hold on to every last piece you can get your hands on.
The atmosphere is, as Stephanie Herr of Media says, “Like a really nice frat house.” It has that certain over-ambitious attitude about it that tries to please everyone that walks through the door and fights their way in out the crowd in pursuit of the bar. Each of the four floors that the “Pub” houses is its own separate entity. The first floor, after working yourself through the entrance, is set up like your typical run-of-the-mill bar. There is shortage of about 100 bar stools and every so often you can feel the warm splash of some wobbly patron’s beer smack you in the neck and trickle down your back.
The second floor is pretty much the same deal as the first with the exception of a few tables here and there. The next two floors seem to be forgotten or just missed by most people. Pool tables are stashed away on the fourth floor and the handful of people up there look at you as if you’re intruding their personal space.
One of the key factors to what makes or breaks a bar are the strangers who decide to make it their home for a night. “It’s a bit of a yuppyish crowd,” said Ed O’Brien of Drexel Hill, “but that’s OK, yuppies usually have some pretty good looking singles strolling around.” But for every “yuppie” at the Great American Pub, there was a complete opposite to be found. Some were dressed in tattoos while others looked as if they had just strolled out of bed.
There was a disproportionate mix of men and women. The men came in groups of four or more in hopes of scouting some unattached women. The women, however, were scattered only in a few small handfuls around the bar, leaving some men to hash over last weeks sports scores for the thousandth time.
In the far corner of the second floor was an “Internet ready” station. The attempt at melding the web and the bar is a noble one, but not many people like to knock back a few cold ones before checking their Hotmail accounts. In other words, the station remained untouched for the majority of the evening.
If you are able to arrive at Fayette Street a couple of hours before midnight rolls around, there are plenty of other areas to be explored. The Great American Pub falls into the same category as most bars that you will run into at one point or another. Unfortunately you cant always forget about the time, so if you find yourself standing outside of the bar be sure to keep an eye on “Conshy Tyme” because even there, last call is at 2 a.m.
