Club 97
Family Restaurant and Catering
Callicoon, NY • 845/887-5941

Conveniently located on the village outskirts (or inskirts, depending on which direction you’re traveling), Club 97 is a comfortable, dependable pub-restaurant that serves satisfying lunches and dinners. Now, in high summer, beds and baskets of flowers and bright banners invite passersby from a distance in either direction, as do seasonal decorations at all times of year.

Once inside, the blackboard menu offers the most rewarding choices. The printed menu is promising, at least in quantity, but examination yields few if any surprises. The only truly international entry under “International Fare” is fettuccini Alfredo. Deep-fried appetizers and parmegianed entrees tend to dominate in an establishment which serves, given some discrimination in selection on the part of the diner, basically good food. Add reasonable prices, a concerned staff and an easy atmosphere, and it is easy to understand why the Club is popular, especially with year-round trade.

On the occasion of my most recent lunch, with friend Liz, French onion soup, always on the menu, was joined by not one but three soups du jour: cream of potato, crabmeat bisque and split pea. Liz, always partial to split pea, was only mildly disappointed to learn it was all gone, as she could then rediscover the crab bisque, which had dazzled her during her first Club 97 lunch. It was as good as she’d remembered, as was the rich cream of potato I chose. The cream base was not overly thick, but full of chunks of potato and bacon.

The specials on the day we visited, averaging $6, were an open steak sandwich with onion rings, pork in barbecue sauce with fries, hot open roast beef or turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes or sweet potato fries (all served with a sweetish deli-style cole slaw) and lasagna or stuffed pepper, accompanied by a sizable hunk of spicy garlic bread.

The roast beef special Liz ordered was a generous portion of thin slices, “rare, but not too rare,” smothered in gravy. The sweet potato fries were “crisp.” When I asked for a lengthier quotable opinion, she ignored me for a bit and then barely looked up from the plate while distractedly murmuring “abundance... nice contrast.” She was way ahead of me, savoring the moment and the mouthful that words could only interrupt. I gave myself over to the stuffed pepper, bursting with a fine, tender meat mince, covered with tomato sauce and mozzarella. How wise Liz is.

For dessert, we shared an order of apple-peach crisp softened with a high cloud of whipped cream. It was nice and homey, if sweeter than I prefer, and as hoped for in season, it was made with fresh peaches. Other choices included blueberry crisp, cheesecake and chocolate cake.

Considering sweetness, it’s helpful to know that the iced tea served here is presweetened, or at least it was on this visit.

The bill for two soups, two entrees, a dessert and three beverages was around $20, before the tip. The comfortable atmosphere must have dulled my usual attention to such matters, as I didn’t write the total down, nor do I remember it exactly. Suffice it to say, it felt like a bargain.

Our waitress was friendly and accommodating throughout. “We don’t want to send anyone away hungry,” was her explanation when we realized the probability of doggy bags immediately upon seeing our portions. She cheerfully reheated my soup (I’m probably extreme in my preference for really hot soup. The hot entrees here arrived hot enough to require a brief wait for cooling, a characteristic I consider a virtue). She made sure the shared dessert was on the large side. In general, she anticipated our every need and, in particular, admired pictures of Liz’s brand new grandson, ensuring Liz’s loyalty for future Club 97 lunches. We’d go anyway. So should you.

Hours:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday—11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Friday—11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday—4:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday—1:00 to 8:00 p.m.