Key West Florida Weekly

BARTENDER OF THE WEEK

Erica McBride – Oodles of Noodles



 

 

Erica McBride was born and raised in Barrington, N.J., and lived there for 30 years before packing up and moving to Key West in 2000.

“I came to visit my sister,” Ms. McBride said. “She had a bed and breakfast: The Frances Street Bottle Inn. I fell in love with the people here. Not much later, I packed everything I had into a Jetta with 300,000 miles on it and moved to Key West.”

Her first job was working for a public defender, and at Bagatelle on Duval Street, which she also managed for five years. She put in a year at both Publix and at Home Depot, and bartended for a while at the Sunset Lounge at Naval Air Station Key West.

Nowadays, she’s bartending at Pat Croce’s Rum Barrel on Front Street. At the same time, she works mornings at the Monroe County 16th Circuit State Attorney’s Office, something she’s done for 10 years.

“I worked as a hostess at Rum Barrel for two years, waited tables for a year, and have been bartending for four years now,” she said.

The Rum Barrel, a full-service restaurant with two floors and live music most nights, has arguably the largest inventory of rum available on the island, upward from 200 varieties from all around the world. They’re displayed alphabetically in a large glass case behind the bar. The restaurant has a rum “bible” for interested guests to peruse and study, and also offers rum flights, a series of four different rums each, for discerning tastes. Want to drink like a pirate? The Rum Barrel offers you that opportunity.

This week, from 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29, the Rum Barrel will present Pilar Rum Happy Hour, designed as a business networking event. Papa’s Pilar Rum (Pilar was the name of Ernest Hemingway’s boat), both dark and blonde, are “crafted to reflect Hemingway’s passions on both land and sea,” the company says. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in rum to try it and enjoy one of the best, with experts such as

Ms. McBride to answer questions.

You may find Erica behind the main Rum Barrel bar from 5 p.m. to close Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on football Sundays.

Ms. McBride’s husband, Steve, is an emergency manager at Naval Air Station Key West. The couple has been married for six years and are parents to Tequi, a rescued Catahoula leopard dog.

When she’s not working, she likes to be out on the water.

“We like to go out on our sailboat and fish,” she said. “Just a half hour away, you can find peaceful, deserted islands with no one else around.”

Erica’s mom, Loretta, is affectionately called “Mama Noodles” by locals. As a hostess at the Rum Barrel, she has been with the outfit for 10 years. (The “Noodles” nickname is from the movie “Once Upon a Time in America,” Loretta explained. “Someone thought Damon looked like a young Robert DeNiro, who went by the name Noodles in the movie, and it stuck.” So, by relation, that would make Erica “Erica Noodles,” right?)

When asked what she likes most about living and working here on this little island, Ms. McBride had this to say:

“Everyone in Key West is so good to each other. Everyone is so laid back. I’m from Jersey. The first time someone said ‘how you doing,’ it shocked me.

“Here in Key West, when they ask it, they really do mean it.” ¦

Pilar Rum Happy Hour December 29, 5 to 6: 30 p. m. The Rum Barrel 528 Front St. www.rumbarrel.com


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