Taking a long lunch Friday. Mets get a 1:10 start and of course the Yankees are on at almost the same time, so every bar around Woodside/Elmhurst tells me the same thing: 'We can put the Mets on the screen but the sound is the Yankees.' I don't hate the Yankees, I just can't do another silent side screen where I'm squinting at the bottom line. Does anybody in this part of Queens actually patch the SNY/PIX feed through the speakers, even in a back room? Willing to get there early, order real food, and not ask for the channel to be flipped off a close game. What's the move?

I'll start with the uncomfortable part: most modern sports bars in that strip are built to run one main feed and a dozen mute TVs. If the Yankees are on at the same time and the place is half full, a manager is going to protect the room, not one guy at the rail. So you need a bar with actual audio zones or a back room that acts as its own zone.

The places that have worked for me are usually older pubs where the bartender controls two or three separate rooms or speakers, not a giant wall with one remote. Instead of asking 'are you showing the Mets game?' ask 'can you put the Mets audio on in the back room or at the end of the bar and keep the Yankees on the main sound?' If they say they only have one system, you can still get the game on a TV near you, but you're right, it's basically silent.

Also check whether the Mets are on SNY, PIX11, or MLB Network. Some bars carry one package but not another, and PIX11 can be a headache if they don't have an antenna hookup. I've had better luck with weekday 1:10 games than Saturdays because the room isn't already claimed by a bigger crowd. One caveat: don't sit by the service well and ask while the bartender is printing tickets. Go early, sit at the rail, order real food, and ask the bartender by name. It shouldn't require all that, but it often does.

Sorry if this is dumb—can you just listen to the radio call through your phone at the bar? I just moved to Woodside and I've been doing that for Rangers games because my apartment has no idea how to get MSG. I know there's a delay but if I'm only half-watching the screen it doesn't bother me. Do bartenders care if you have one earbud in? I don't want to be rude.

Oh the delay will absolutely bother you! I tried the radio call at a place on Broadway in Riverdale once and the whole bar yelled for a double before I even saw the pitch on screen. Then the radio called a squibber up the middle while the TV was still showing a replay! Madness!

If you're doing the earbud route, don't use WFAN 880 for the Mets call if you want it to be close; use the MLB app radio feed, and even then it can be 15-40 seconds behind the cable picture. The strange thing is some streaming TV boxes are delayed too, so occasionally the app lines up with the bar TV by accident. That's the holy grail! Have you tried sitting near the kitchen, where the main sound bleeds less, and asking for closed captions? Not the same as Gary/Keith/Ron, but it saved my sanity once!

astoria_arch, that's the most realistic answer I've gotten. I called one place on Roosevelt and the guy said 'we have the Mets but you won't hear it,' like it was a fact of nature.

RiverdaleRambler the delay would make me insane. I once had Howie on the kitchen radio while the cable feed was still showing a runner on second. Never again.

There's a little Irish pub just north of Queens Blvd that used to have a back room with its own speaker. I'm going to try them at 12:30 and ask for the back room, not the game. If that fails, I'll be the guy at the end with one earbud and a plate of wings.

This is probably a Dyker Heights thing, but I went to a bar on 13th Ave for a Nets game once—wrong sport, I know—and asked if the game could have sound. The bartender flipped a TV by the dartboard and nobody complained. It was maybe three people in there. So maybe the secret is just an empty room? Friday 1:10 might be empty enough if you find a spot that opens early. Do bars even open that early in Woodside? I'm following because I need a Mets spot too.

This thread makes me realize I've been way too polite about asking for audio. I sat through a whole Liberty matinee in a place that had Knicks postgame on the main sound for no reason.

If anyone is trying to bounce between spots without a car, the old thread on Dollar vans on Flatbush: do I just wave like a cab, or is there a stop? has some useful stop talk: Dollar vans on Flatbush: do I just wave like a cab, or is there a stop? — a couple of the replies name spots right off the stops, including one bar that used to put the Mets on sound in the daytime if you asked before the lunch rush. Not exactly Woodside, but if you're chasing a guarantee it may be worth the hop.

One more thing for the original ask: not all 'bar with sound' situations are equal. If you find a place that does it once, learn the bartender's name and tip like a local next time. That's how you become the back-room Mets guy instead of the weirdo asking for volume.

DykerNewbie, empty rooms are the cheat code. A bartender will flip a close game for a regular or a generous stranger in an empty room every time. The problem on a 1:10 same-day game is the room doesn't stay empty long if the Yankees are also on. I'd still try the place Flatbush_Fi mentioned just north of Queens Blvd. It sounds like the right shape: old Irish pub, separate back room, no giant wall of screens. Let us know if the speaker actually works.

I'll check back Friday to see if there's a winner. If someone finds a spot that gives the Mets audio without side-eye, post it here.