Paul's really is an oasis on a Boomsday night

Photo by Greg Wood/Special to Knoxville.com Clint and Lindsie Griffin enjoy drinks at Paul's Oasis.

Photo by Greg Wood/Special to Knoxville.com Clint and Lindsie Griffin enjoy drinks at Paul's Oasis.

In the past year or so I've heard a lot about Paul's Oasis from friends of mine who live all over the city. Even though the place is a neighborhood pub, several people I know would drive out to the Bearden-area venue for Friday night karaoke or the food.

So on a recent Sunday night my curiosity finally got the best of me and I ducked in to see what (if anything) was going on.

My girlfriend and I grabbed a table near the large-screen TV toward the front windows and ordered a pitcher of Miller Lite. The venue is divided into a seating area and an area with two pool tables, a "Lord of the Rings" pinball machine and dart board, with a bar in the center of the two regions.

The evening started off pretty tame, but around 10 p.m. the lights dimmed and the jukebox started blaring. We decided it was time to go play pool.

The crowd was sparse, but it was clear that something was going on as all the people in the pool table section were conversing while holding sheets of paper.

The guys at the table next to me explained that their fantasy football league just finished their draft, which they held at the bar.

Photo by Greg Wood/Special to Knoxville.com Brian Kelly, Tammy Rutherford and Jody Wolsey sample some of the food at Paul's Oasis.

"We don't do computers," said Brian Kelley, who explained they do their draft manually and have held it in bars for the past eight years.

While my girlfriend and I played pool, Kelley and the others at his table kept us in hysterics with their audacious antics. At one point Jody Wolsey came up to me and apologized for putting "like 20 songs on the jukebox." I appreciated his apology but had no complaints with the music that played for the next two hours, which included Nirvana, Duran Duran and Meat Loaf's "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" (twice). He was even a good sport when I made fun of him for playing Green Day.

Within an hour of being there, I had managed to talk to most everyone at the bar. Lindsie Griffin, a former employee of Paul's Oasis, even called me out, saying "it's interesting you chose the night of Boomsday to check this place out," she said.

Truth be told, I had planned only to stop by, but I got sucked in and ended up staying for hours.

As I was leaving, the bartender, L.B., introduced me to the owner, Paul Osterbrink, who was there celebrating with his son (who just graduated UT). I can't say I expected the owner to be there late on a Sunday night, but it's fitting given the bar's friendly attitude.

Paul explained to me that when he opened the bar six years ago he wanted food to be the focus. Growing up in New Jersey, he learned what good food was by going to bars with his dad:

"I was a kid, I couldn't drink" he says. So, he'd eat bar food.

Now that he owns Paul's Oasis, he focuses on food. "A bottle of Bud is a bottle of Bud," he says, pointing out that the price difference between bars is negligible and that to stand out he wanted to serve great food.

Paul's Oasis has a vast menu with all the staples - like hamburgers, pizza and wings. But unlike other small sports bars, they have several variations of each item. Paul takes the menu so seriously he even makes some of the food (notably pizzas) himself. The place has a buffet table toward the back of the venue (Paul explained it was open the day before) - something not many bars have.

And Paul's features something else uncommon: a boxing ring in the back corner, which sticks out like a sore thumb. It's impossible not to glance over at it every now and again, even if nothing's going on.

"It fit the theme," Paul said when I asked him why he included it.

The ring serves as a stage, with colored lights above it.

"Bands love it," he added, "it separates them from the crowd."

I expected my time at Paul's to be uneventful, but I ended up staying longer than I planned and enjoying every second of it. I'd go back for the crowd alone, but I'd also be sure to check out their food.

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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