The East End Cafe, strangely enough at the East End of Main Street in Newark, is a much better place to eat/drink/see bands. Also the Crab Trap, around the corner from the Deerpark, is a fun place to go, though a bit of a hole.
A little known bit of Newark history is that Edgar Allen Poe once, while drinking at the Deerpark, got thrown out for annoying the customers. On the steps of the deerpark, he cursed the town of Newark, saying that anyone who was born there, would die there. Bummer.