Hooray it’s 2012! A whole new year of drinking! Well, since I haven’t died from liver poisoning after reviewing about 40 Hoboken bars over the past year (and plenty of events, like the Santa bar crawl, Cinco de Mayo and the beer pong playoffs), let’s just kick off year two of boozing and carousing around town. For my first review of 2012, I probably should have gone to some glamorous lounge, or at least an old Hoboken treasure. But I went to a pretty generic sports bar, which is actually probably the most Hoboken place I could have gone.

From the outside, I always thought Rogo’s was some rock ‘n roll bar. It’s got that stucco exterior with a metal sign and posters in the window. I don’t know! Stepping inside, I was met with a long wooden bar and about three thousand TV’s mounted on the walls. This was undoubtedly a sports bar. It’s like if you shrunk down Wicked Wolf and crammed it into a smaller space out on Willow and Eighth.

A friend and I went on Tuesday, which is “Yuengs and Wings” night. The pints are $3 and the wings are $0.35 each. If you have a really good memory, you may be worried about the amount of Yuengling I have been drinking lately. Listen, guys, the holidays are a strain on everyone’s wallets, so sometimes I’m going to choose the $3 draft beer over the $6 craft beer featuring organic hops and notes of cinnamon. That’s double the beer right there. Science.

Anyway, other specials that the bar offers are dollar ribs and “Rogo’s mugs” on Mondays, $1.50 sliders of Wednesdays, $2 tacos and $10 pitchers on Thursdays, late-night Happy Hour on Friday and Saturday, and $2 Miller Lites and $10 Rolling Rock buckets for Sunday football.

Rogo’s used to be a sort of divey sports bar, I hear, with birch paneling and a design aesthetic of “whatever is cheap.” There were pool tables and plywood for beer pong. In 2007 the bar underwent some renovations, taking it to a bit more of an upscale level – almost loungey. Now the bottles behind the bar are lit up, the walls are deep red, the décor matches a bit better, and there’s a whole different floor for dancing and carousing (note, I did not check this out). So what is it, a cheap neighborhood dive where you can catch a game and scarf burgers, or a weekend dance club with techno music, and a heavy mist of cologne in the air?

It seemed that Rogo’s is at a bit of an impasse. Sure, the bartender was attentive enough, the drinks were cheap and the food was fine (so I heard). But all I kept thinking about was how I would much rather be at a quirky old-school Hoboken dive like Wilton House. Some place with a cast of characters and a bit of history. Or even at a new (non-chain) local haunt like Cooper’s Union, where the staff goes out of their way to make you feel at home.

For what it is, though, Rogo’s is fine. It’s a sports bar during the day and a dancey sort of place on the weekends. Fine. Neither are really my cup of tea, or are too original in Hoboken, but they are what they are. I’ll give Rogo’s six out of ten frosty mugs. If you live on the west side, and it’s been your local hang, well, don’t let me dissuade you. If you’re visiting, or new in town, I’d probably steer you somewhere else.

Rogo's, 734 Willow Ave.; (201) 217-1512, www.​rogosbar.​com