Eagle Brook Saloon Carves Out a Name in Community

Chuck Horne has been with the Eagle Brook Saloon in Norfolk for more than 30 years, and he says it’s been a great ride so far.

“It’s done fine,” he said.

Horne said he originally came to the Saloon as a worker and bought himself a partnership in the business. He said back then, the place was kind of a hangout for Patriots players.

“A lot of them used to come in,” he said. “Back in the early 80s they were always there. Steve Grogan, Howard Cosell, Steve Nelson; we had a lot of Pats frequent the place back in the day.”

Horne said the Saloon was his first business out of school when he graduated form Northeastern University in 1981. He said the reason for the establishment’s success comes from the fact they are constantly involved in the community.

“We’ve very community oriented,” he said. “We do the Wrentham Hangover Classic on Jan. 1 every year. Some of the roadrunners are really crazy; we get some really serious runners.'

Horne said he always tries to participate in community events.
“Marcy, my bartender, raised over $11,000 for the Friends of Wrentham,” I mean the people here are great. You take care of them and they take care of you.”

Horne said originally the Saloon was more for trying different things, mainly in the wild animal department.

“When we first opened we had a lot of game meats,” he said. “Rattlesnake, alligator, boars' meat, people still ask for them. We don’t really do it as much now, we’re more family oriented. Occasionally, we’ll do some of those and we have a lot of fun with it.

He said many of the game meats had earned their category, but boar was the easiest to cook.

“The boar was probably one of the more tender meats,” he said. “Some of them were pretty tough though, but boar and bison were my favorite.”

Horne said now he relies heavily on his cook Daniel Bayer.

“He runs the kitchen and he’s awesome, we do a lot of cooking together,” he said.

In one respect, the Saloon was ahead of its time. Horne said they were one of the first places in the area to have their own micro brewed beer.

“John, my brother-in-law, worked it out,” he said. “We wanted someone to try and brew some beer for us and we started with Long Trail. That got to be a little difficult, as I’d be driving to White River Junction in Vermont. We then hooked up with Ipswich Brewing and they started brewing some beers for us. It was our recipes, but they brewed them. They still brew for us.”

Horne said you can actually buy Eagle Brook Saloon beer at many local package stores.

Horne said though much of the restaurant offers helps to bring people in, it’s still the establishment’s connection to the community that keeps them coming back.

The Eagle Brook Saloon is located at 258 Dedham St. in Norfolk.