Minisink Hotel

Photo: Chris Francz 7/21/16

Minisink Hotel: America's only 'inspiring' bar

Pocono Record

The Minisink Hotel in Minisink Hills. 

The bar's unassuming front is a facade for the tight-knit community of regulars within.

By KIETRYN ZYCHAL 

Posted Jun 15, 2007

The Minisink Hotel might be the only bar in America that can be described as "inspiring."

Perched on the banks of Marshalls Creek, just a few hundred feet from where it meets the Brodhead, and less than a mile from the Delaware River, the Minisink brings new meaning to the phrase "watering hole."

Three times in three years, the water outside has come inside the bar, up to a height of five feet during the flood of 2006.

"The insurance money didn't come near to covering the cost of rebuilding three times," said Frank Ottinger, one of the two owners.

All of the regulars gathered there on a Friday evening in March took pride in sharing stories of their favorite bar.

Wendy, who was playing pool with George, said, "It has the look of a bar you shouldn't go in if you don't know anybody, but it's not like that at all."

Briana, the bartender, agreed. "We rarely get any kind of trouble. It's a very eclectic crowd, but awesome."

Owner Rick Strunk said he prefers working with female bartenders.

"When I get off work, I don't want to get a beer from some ugly guy who wants to talk about football," Strunk said.

Michael Reiner, a union carpenter who moved to the Poconos from Teaneck, N.J., goes to the Minisink every weekend.

"Years ago, I went to a place that used to be down the road called Mimi's. They told me, 'You don't belong here. Go to the Minisink.' I did, and I've been here ever since," Reiner said.

In fact, the last time the bar flooded, Reiner was one of the people who helped construct the new cement and tile floor.

Chuck Horan, who has owned a vacation home in Bushkill for 30 years, also helped build the new floor.

"We put drains in so the water can go into the basement and be pumped out from there," Horan said.

A sense of ownership of the bar extends beyond Ottinger and Strunk to the patrons.

"Chili" Bob Melcer talked about Stump's Bridge, a $30,000 footbridge that spans the Marshalls Creek. It was built in honor of the late Howard Sten, one of the original three owners who bought the Minisink in 1990. Stump's Bridge has steel I-beams and concrete footings, and ironically, was built to withstand a hundred-year flood.

Melcer said, "During the last flood, Frank called me up and said, 'Can you get here at 6:30 a.m. to help us unload the bar?' I got here at 5:30. There were 15 guys inside the bar and 15 guys outside. We took the grills and the refrigerators out of the bar and loaded them into a truck. The furniture went upstairs. By 9:30, the water was going into my hip waders, but we got everything out."

More than one patron said the Minisink is different from the corporate restaurants popping up in the area.

Said a slightly drunk Seymour (not his real name), "The Minisink is a haven. Everything has been getting corporate since the 70s, but not here. America ain't gonna be like this much longer."

Perhaps that bridge outside is more than a monument to Sten. It's also a symbol of the spirit of the Minisink Hotel: Built to last and a link between the old Pocono residents and the new ones.