A Love Letter to Escobar
Let me be the first to say this. Yes, the title is commercial grade clickbait. Now that that’s out of the way, here’s my love letter to EscoBar — my favourite dive bar in Goa.
Those who know me, know that one of my most beloved pastimes, odd as it may be, is meeting strangers and trading stories in a friendly local dive bar. Acquainting myself with staff and regulars at dive bars has been an important part of feeling like I belong wherever I’ve traveled to. In the interest of perpetuating the good vibes, and easing the work of others who might be on the same quest, I want to highlight my favourite dive in Goa. Just over the 5 month mark of living in Goa (which makes EscoBar and I roughly the same age), and having had plenty of time to appreciate and settle into many of the state’s watering holes, I feel equipped to dive right in. Was the pun intended? We’ll never know.
Let me kick this off by saying — Escobar doesn’t have a demographic. Despite being stumbling distance from some of the biggest names in the Goan F&B landscape, it punches well above its weight. Neither is it a primarily tourist destination, nor a hole-in-the-wall escape for service-industry workers and locals. Rather, it’s all of those and more simultaneously. I’ve been to EscoBar for birthday celebrations, for a post-meal drink with my mother, on a first date and just to read a book with a cold local brew on a quiet evening. In fact, even a business meeting has been successfully conducted here — albeit, my associates and I altered the geography of this bar quite drastically in the process. But this only speaks to how incredibly accommodating the staff are.
I often refer to EscoBar as a national treasure. That seems like a throwaway line, but it packs a punch. We’re living in an age of social media where there’s a lot of interaction but no contact. Being able to talk to somebody next to you is vastly different than talking to someone 20,000 miles away via Facebook. As much as we like to think we see the worst of people in bars, I’ve come to disagree with that. I see a tremendous amount of humour and kindness. I see a sense of community. It’s not uncommon that you’ll find patrons rallying around someone that has had one drink too many to take care of them. There is the odd drunk that might become belligerent, but that’s far more the unusual case. The real strength of EscoBar and dive bars in general is that, no matter how odd, or out-of-place, or weird you feel you are, you come in here and I can promise you you’re not the most odd, out-of-place or weird person. You’re not alone.
Written By Rhea Baweja
Week 46, November ‘20
