When a lot of people around Athens "especially people new to town" hear about the Oak Room, they scratch their heads and wonder, Where's that?

We're only a five-minute walk from the intersection of Court and Union streets. But those are five minutes that make a world of difference.

We're a cozy tavern and restaurant with prices students can afford and a relaxed, come as you are atmosphere that you don?t get anywhere else in town.

I've worked in restaurants all my life. I've been a busboy, a dishwasher, a cook, a waiter, and a bartender. Now I own the Oak Room. It's a job that keeps me surrounded by what I love most about the restaurant business: people.

Just being around people, being of service to them, helping them out, making friends. That is what I do every day of the week, and it's a role I couldn't be happier with.

The restaurant industry has changed a lot in the last 10 years. It used to be people would Go Out To Dinner. Going Out To Dinner took an hour-and-a-half or more. It was cocktails, an appetizer, a meal, dessert, after-dinner drinks.

Now, people go out to eat. They're not dining; they're refueling. I know I can't change the world. Fast and faster is the way society has been heading for a while now. But at the Oak Room, we still strive to give you all the pleasures of Going Out To Dinner with the prices and convenience of going out to eat.

We've got great variety, at prices everyone can afford. And you can be out of here in 20 minutes or linger for two hours.

We dish up everything from New York Strips with baked potatoes to Turkey Reubens with potato salad, from chicken wings to French onion soup, from fish dinners to mozzarella sticks.

On Monday and Tuesday nights, you can get a cheeseburger, an order of seasoned steak fries, and a beer for $5.95

Happy hour is every weekday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Most beers and drinks are 50 cents off, most pitchers of beer are about $2 off. And we have a special happy hour for waiters and waitresses from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Personally, I think that here in Athens people often pigeonhole themselves. They say, ?This is a townie bar.? They say, ?This is a student hangout.?

But I try to have a place where all the segments of society in Athens feel comfortable, whether you're a vice president at the university, a college student or a waiter or waitress. I like that the Oak Room is a mixing place where people can converse with other people who they would otherwise probably never get the chance to meet.

We've got a lot of students and grad students who live in the neighborhood who come in here on a regular basis. We've got insurance men. We've got professors. We've got doctors and nurses. We have local professionals from different agencies. We have dentists, construction workers, salespeople.

There's as many different uses for the Oak Room as there are people who use it. It is a place to sip beer and read the paper, a place to shoot some pool, a place to take a date, a place to celebrate your anniversary, a place to get a sandwich before you head uptown, a place to bring four or five friends and drink some pitchers and watch some football, a place to meet after class or after work when you want to unwind.

Stop by sometime and let's get aquainted

The Sparhawks