If you’re already dreading the nightmare that will undoubtedly come with the two-month closure of the M train between Middle Village and Bushwick starting this weekend, one bar in Ridgewood has the cure.
The owners of Sweet Jane’s, located at 64-02 68th Ave., have created what they are calling the “F the M train” drink menu — a changing menu of daily drink specials that will run for the entire length of the M train closure beginning on July 1.
Nikki Koch, co-owner of Sweet Jane’s, said she and the other owners, Julia Kingrea and Keith Satnik, originally came up with a single drink special with the same name that they would offer to customers for $4 on any day the M train was not running, which was usually confined to weekends.
The original “F the M” drink was a cocktail made using any well liquor (vodka, gin, rum, tequila or whiskey) combined with honey simple syrup, elderflower and a splash of pink grapefruit juice.
When they learned that the M train would be out of commission for an extended period of time, the owners of Sweet Jane’s collaborated to come up with a weekly drink menu to cater to the different tastes of the customers.
“We decided that, for the long window of time that the M train is shut down completely near us, we are going to change the “F the M” concept to be a daily drink special, with a variety of options on a weekly basis to appeal to even more customers,” Koch said. “We are working out the details of that now, and will post on social media once we have it all sorted.”
Although Sweet Jane’s is located just a few blocks from the M train’s Fresh Pond Road station, Koch is remaining optimistic that the closure will not have a negative impact on business, and even believes it could bring more people into the bar.
“We don’t know how this will affect our business, but we hope that we can keep people local,” Koch said. “A large portion of our customers are local already. Our core customers live really close by so if anything, it will help bring more people here. Maybe with the M train being down it can bring in more locals. I live in Ridgewood myself so I know it will be inconvenient, but that means I will be able to keep it local and support local restaurants and bars.”
In order to attract more customers, Sweet Jane’s has begun hosting karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights, live music performances on some Thursday evenings, and trivia contests on Wednesdays. Be sure to check Sweet Jane’s social media pages to stay up-to-date on everything happening at the bar.
