Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

The Sandbar has been a local establishment long before Earl and I came to town in 2001, but we’d never been there until tonight. I had no preconceived notion of what to expect, although I’d been warned by our dining companions that it could be loud. Even though we got there early, it already was.

We chose a table in the corner, hopefully the better to hear one another and avoid the multiple TVs on multiple channels that marked The Sandbar as a sports bar. My back was to the screens, so it didn’t faze me.

We ordered water, drinks, and dinner and listened to the loud and quiet take turns as customers came and went. Loud won most of the time, and we had to lean over the table to shout at each other.

Still, in our quest for great dive bar hamburgers, Earl was not disappointed. In fact, he rated The Sandbar right up there with the Chatterbox, the gold standard around here.