Twenty-Third Street Stroll

I didn't hit any bars yesterday but took a bit of a busman's holliday by going to a Superbowl party. I can't exactly say it was a break from drinking. But all things in moderation.

Today I took the subway into Manhattan, got off at 14th and walked up to 23rd. I passed a lot of bars on the way, but those will be saved for another day. Today my objective was a relatively modest one, walk from Park Avenue South to 7th Avenue and hit the bars along the way. There were only four so this was a fairly easy task.

167) Live Bait

This place, at 114 East 23rd Street is a real classic. Gives you the ambience of a small bar in a Southern rural area. It has been around for quite awhile, but certainly is nowhere as old as it is made to appear. Decorated just right to convey that ambience without being overly cute about it. Madi Gras beads strewn about the place and tastefully placed around the neck of the stuffed alligator in the front window. They have a small oyster bar but it wasn't set up yet.

I had a draft Abita, brewed in Louisianna, keeping with the theme of the place.

168) Outback Steakhouse

Just down the street a bit at 60 West 23rd Steet was the Outback Steakhouse. Well, they have a very nice bar, and it is one of my favorite chain restaurants. The bar area is separate from the dining room so if you didn't know you were in an Outback Steakhouse very little here would let you know. Sadly, they only serve one Australian beer and, in my opinion, it is far from one of Australia's best. It is interesting because, in keeping with the somewhat Australian theme of the decor they have a big Toohey's Ale sign, they just don't serve it.

I had a draft Foster's.

169) The Limerick House

Across the street from the Outback Steakhouse is this old Irish bar. I remember if from when it was located on 2nd Avenue, but I guess it moved a few years back. The manager and I chatted about some of the bars that were in the old neighborhood, a couple of which I have already hit (Molly's and Rolf's). Kind of a traditional Irish bar, a back area with a table and a nice overhead stained glass light. The walls are kind of a pinkish red and the place was decked out, such as it were, for Valentine's Day. There is an old piano but, sadly, the piano player recently passed away. They do have a woman who comes in and plays the guitar on Sunday afternoons for the brunch crowd.

I had a Dewars and soda.

170) Francisco's

This is a nice Spanish restaurant at 159 West 23rd Street. It has a fairly large bar in the front. The place is decorated with mounted fish and a bunch of the largest lobster claws I have ever seen. And when I say big, I mean big. The weight of the lobster is written on the claws and I think the biggest one that I saw was 23 pounds. The manager said that size lobster gives you about 4 pounds of meat because so much of the weight is in the shell. I also learned that male lobsters have, proportionally, much smaller claws than females. They are also shaped differently, longer and narrower while the females are much "fatter" looking.

I had a glass of merlot and called it a day.

Not exactly heading down the home stretch, but only 830 left to go.