Some people go to Caroline Street Pub to play darts, while others go to grab a drink (they now serve Aperol spritzes, people!) in a laid-back setting. But there’s a strong contingent of industry workers and bar scene regulars who go to hang out with the CSP staff—namely, bartenders Jake Spiegel and Margaret Stanley.
“I love it when Margie is mean to me,” says Justin LaViolette, who fits in both of the aforementioned categories. “And I like it when I go in and Uncle Jake automatically cracks me a Miller Lite.”
“It’s an elusive skill the way they’re able to efficiently handle a packed bar while holding a conversation,” says Michael Scialdone Sharkey, another regular, of the duo. “Any one of the bars in Saratoga will serve me a drink, but CSP is the only one that makes me feel like the bartenders have been waiting for me to get there.”
While it may seem like the pair has been working weekends together forever, The Jake and Margaret Show has actually only been going on since Stanley, a Saratoga native, started working at the bar three years ago.
“She was pretty new to bartending when she got here,” Spiegel says of Stanley. “She kind of just learned as she went. Because on the weekends, you get thrown to the wolves. If you’re not ready…Well, you’ve got to be ready.”
These days, come Friday night, Margaret’s ready.
Spiegel, on the other hand, is a CSP veteran. He started bartending there when he moved to Saratoga from Chazy up near the Canadian border 11 years ago, and is now a part-owner.
“I stay out of his way,” Stanley said when asked if the duo had any system for when it gets busy behind the bar. As for her bartending philosophy? “Be yourself, because it makes other people feel comfortable.” To that end, if you catch Stanley at the bar on Tuesdays or Thursdays, when it’s less busy and she has more time to chat with customers, chances are you’ll be treated to several of her signature self-effacing jokes. And if you’re lucky, she’ll give you a piece of candy.
Spiegel’s no-BS, tell-it-like-it-is attitude also seems unapologetically him. And while he’ll tell you not to vape in his bar to your face, he’ll never tell another soul about that embarrassing thing you did last night.
“I remember everything, so I always have it in my back pocket, but I’ll never repeat it,” he says. “It’s never really my story to tell.”