Day Of Penance

I had such a good time yesterday I felt compelled to somehow pay for it today. To do this I headed to Times Square and made a point of visiting places I would normally avoid at all costs. Things went according to plan until I got to B.B. King’s and ended up having a good time in spite of myself.

692) Times Square Brewery



A modernistic looking place in the heart of Times Square on 42nd between 7th and 8th Avenues. There is a large curved bar with a black marble top and a wood front. Even the foot rest is marble. Two gold beer stations sit on the bar with 5 spigots each serve their five house brews. Tubular frosted lights hang above the bar. Shiny metal and mirror backed glass shelves above black coolers behind the bar. There were two decent televisions above the bar but they were both turned off. The walls are rose colored and there is a huge round light set at a tilt in the back that looks like the underside of a flying saucer coming in for a landing. Orange lights under cone shaped shades hang from the rest of the ceiling.

A large white marble staircase leads to an upstairs dining area. There is a curved narrow ledge with stools opposite the bar and it had menus sitting on it. A couple of tourists came in with a little girl and sat down there but left after a few minutes grumbling because no one asked if they wanted anything. I guess they discovered no-man’s land, out of the bartender’s range and not within the hostess’s area of responsibility, although she was only a step away.

I had stopped in this place long ago in its previous location (they had to move when a new subway entrance was constructed) and didn’t care for their beer then. I tried a Dunkel that was supposed to have soft round chocolate and caramel-like notes and subtly accented by select European hops. I thought it had more of a burnt coffee flavor and was quite hoppy. At least, to the best of my knowledge, they still make their own beers.

693) Red Lobster



This Red Lobster is located on the corner of 7th Avenue and 41st. Don’t worry, you can’t miss it. Now, Bar Man has a confession to make. I kind of like eating at Red Lobsters, and Olive Gardens too (they are both subsidiaries of Darden Restaurants, Inc.). Drinking there is another story. Let’s start with waiting ten minutes for a drink because the one bartender was busy with two women trying to decide what they wanted to eat. Then I was offered that old airport special of one buck for a double. What they really mean is that if you pay an extra dollar you get a halfway decent drink. A double is two carefully measured ounces of liquor so a single would be just one. Not too many bars in New York pour a one ounce drink. After getting my drink the bartender announced that she was going upstairs for awhile. It turns out that she has to run up to the kitchen and retrieve the food for the customers. Then, when two customers had a complaint about what they got, she had to run upstairs and correct the situation. Poor bartender, poor customers who might want service. I am surprised she managed to stay so cheerful.

They did have a nice, highly polished bar though. It was a fairly standard bar back with three televisions that were turned on. A fish mobile hung from the ceiling and there were a couple of large fish tanks up front. Also a kind of undersea scene sculpture hangs from the walls up front by the windows.



Nothing to see here folks, just move along.

I had a Tanqueray in tonic, a “double” for only $7.50 plus tax. Do not drink, or eat, in large Times Square restaurants unless you are a highly experienced professional.

694) Pinnacle Bar



I decided to just walk around the block and came to a Hilton Hotel. I took the elevator up to the lobby, bar, and restaurant.



There is an oval shaped bar with truncated ends. It sits next to two large windows that look out on, well, buildings.



The bar has a marble top that looks like coffee after you first drop a dollop of cream into it. A silver bar rail and plush black bar stools with little, totally non-functional, backs. On each of the truncated ends of the bar is a small setup for bottles with silver coolers and more bottles below bar level inside the oval.

The bar is right next to the check-in counter and lobby so it is quite loud and kind of carries forward the airport lounge ambience from Red Lobster. It is a decent enough place to have a drink if you are staying here, but I wouldn’t step in off the street for one. They did have nice little bowls of bar snacks though and I managed to polish mine off leaving only the peanuts.

I had a draft Above Whitefoam Ale that had no foam and almost no taste. I guess most people are smart enough not to order one of these so who knows how long the keg has been sitting around. The beer was $6 plus tax but I just wrote down a room number on the bill and left. Bar Man is a highly experienced professional.

695) Applebee’s



Why stop the humiliation now, might as well push it to the limit and actually go to an Applebee’s just for a drink. At least it was easy to get to. The first floor of the Hilton is a block wide so when I walked out the door on the opposite side of where I walked in this place is right next door. Again, don’t worry, you can’t miss it. If you are the Bar Man the fun just never stops. Or maybe it does and I just never remember. I bypassed the dowstairs eating area and took the stairs up to the bar.



Well, it doesn’t get much better than this, and the place, except for the bar, was absolutely packed. When you consider that they have two large floors of seating, that is a lot of people. They do have a nice enough light wood bar with marble footrests and comfortable black cushioned bar chairs. The air-conditioning in here was almost numbingly cold. Too much junk on the walls and hanging from the ceiling to describe, but it is all just ordered from a warehouse so there is no real character to this place. But hey, if you are a fan of Applebee’s and don’t mind paying high, even for New York, prices for your hamburger, or whatever, by all means drop in. One thing, with all of the tourists chowing down I blended right in with my somewhat gaudy shirt and camera slung over my shoulder.

I had a Beefeater and tonic. They didn’t have any Tanqueray. They managed to up the price at Red Lobster by 25 cents charging $7.75 and then adding tax, that is another 85 cents. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not adverse to paying $8.60 for a nice drink in a nice place, but this is a bit high for an Applebee’s, even if it is in Times Square.

696) B.B. Kings



I headed right across the street to B.B. Kings and expected to continue my streak and complete my day of atoning for yesterday’s pleasures. Unfortunately I ended up having a good time. Damn! I blame this all on Merav the cheerfully friendly bartender and a couple of other customers who definitely were not tourists.

Merav, Who Made This Place Fun


Merav With A Better View Of The Bar Back


In fact, the place was blessedly deserted except for the few of us at the bar. Merav said it gets crowded with tourists later in the evening but the other side, where they have a large a theater-like area for really good musicians, attracts mostly locals. This side was pretty big too and had a large stage area where I guess the equivalent of Las Vegas lounge acts perform. And those can be very good.



I had a Tanqueray and tonic and then got into chatting and ordered what the guy next to me was having, an Appletini (I guess I was still trying to atone). I got my first drink paid for however because Merav thinks posting her picture here is going to make her famous. Best of luck, Merav.

I pretty much accomplished my objective although not completely. I can’t discourage anyone from dropping into B.B. Kings but you can pretty much skip the other four places unless you feel compelled to walk a mile, or at least a few blocks, in Bar Man’s shoes. I hit five bars for the day and still made it home in time to do a radio interview at 3:30 P.M. I am not sure how I sounded though. I have now hit 696 bars for the year leaving 304 to go.

Hell's Kitchen Revisited

I decided to wander up the West side a bit from Madison Square Garden. I headed over to 9th Avenue so this put me into the neighborhood affectionately known as Hell’s Kitchen. I have hit a few bars there before, most notably Siberia, Bellevue, and Holland.

688) Uncle Jacks’s





I didn’t have to wander too far to get to Uncle Jack’s at 440 9th Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets. Kind of an opera house meets bordello look about it, but I mean that in a good way. There is a long wooden bar with a brass rail. Nice wooden bar chairs with plush burgundy leather seats and brass tack studded backs. About eight places by the window were set up nicely for lunch. Fringed patterned cloth shaded lights hanging over the bar contributed to the bordello look. A very elaborate bar back with amber lit arches atop ornately carved wooden columns. One oval gold framed mirror with “Jack’s” written in gold sits under the center arch. There are glass shelves holding liquor mounted on the brick wall under the other two arches. Tiered shelves under those hold more liquor. Coolers with wooden doors and more shelving for liquor and glasses down below. Tall candles in pewter holders and a couple of silver ice buckets holding champagne bottles also sit behind the bar.

A large chalkboard above the arches lists the restaurants offerings. Now $70 for a lobster at Docks seems a bit high but $85 for a porterhouse steak for two here seems quite reasonable. There is an upstairs dining area with curved balconies that are decorated with red drapes and these reminded me of opera boxes. There are also gold fringed red velvet drapes gracing the windows and entryway up front. The high ceiling is pressed tin or copper. There is a little model of a steer showing the cuts of meat hangs on the wall up front.

This is a very elegant place and a good start to the day. A stiff drink and a friendly bartender. A lot of good sports talk (the Yankees/Twins game was just starting). The bartender and I agreed that we both dislike Dolan and Isaiah Thomas, have mixed feelings about Marbury, and hope Larry lasts.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

689) HK



Ah, Hell’s Kitchen, what has become of you? On the corner of 39th and 9th Avenue sits this new, not sure what it is supposed to be, a diner or bar. The subtlety of it, the small HK on the awning and door (HK, Hell’s Kitchen, get it?) with the HK made to look like a little picket fence.



It was so very cute I almost wet myself. Then design the place to look like an ultra-modern version of a roadside diner and the picture is complete. Decent looking cocktails though, if you like peach or chocolate martini thingies. Here is a review of HK that I lifted off the internet and I guess everything that this person liked about the place turned me off:

“Yes! That is what I thought when I saw HK being built. I knew it would be the trendy hot spot that Hell's Kitchen needed... 9th Ave is a dump and can get to you when you live there but HK is so good. The Portabella Mushroom Sandwich is to die for and if you're trying to be healthy you can get it with salad and no cheese… My favorite. Oh and the Espresso Martini's are so yummy!”

Eeew, a yummy espresso martini. And 9th Avenue is not a dump. It has character as you will see from the next two places that I visited. Ah, but then these are just my feelings on the subject.

The bar had a pale green glass top with a wide brushed aluminum edging and a grey metal front. Square metal bar stools with gray vinyl seats. Two levels of white shelves behind the bar held a decent selection of clear liquors for those precious drinks served in martini glasses. They do have a nice selection of tequilas though and a fair selection of bourbons and scotch. Yellow orchid blossoms in small metal vases embedded in the bar top and large arrangements of flowers that included something the Mysterious Chinese Woman calls “lobster claws.” There are three nice televisions behind the bar but no sports, even though the Yankees/Twins game was in progress. I guess this is more of a VH1 crowd because that was what was playing.

A very large mirror at the back made the place look much larger than it was. It has pretty much of a stark, white interior with large garage door type windows that can roll up. These separate the interior from the tables on the sidewalk. The place was packed with new neighborhood arrivals and a couple of old-timers who happened to be transvestites. Maybe there is still hope for the Hell’s Kitchen yet.

I got swept up in the cocktail atmosphere of the place and ordered a margarita. It wasn’t too bad considering it was made from a mix. Not too sweet, a bit of lime tartness, and a subtle taste of tequila. I wonder if I am developing a fondness for these things. I must fight the dark side.

690) Why Not



Now we are getting to my kind of place. It is located on 9th between 39th and 40th and is nestled (if nestled is appropriate in this context) between the Bellevue Bar and Holland. In fact, this bar used to be Bellevue Bar. Tracy sold it and moved next door. Probably easier to just open up a new bar then to fix up this place, given what it used to look like. I think the place got sold about the same time Tracy and Jimmy Duff (who is hosting my 750th bar celebration) parted ways.

The bar has the same boxcar dimensions as the other bars in this neighborhood (except for Siberia, which is big). It is fairly new and for some reason I originally thought it was a gay bar. When I entered there weren’t enough people to tell but the bartender was a babe.

Cathy, The Babe


When I asked her if it was a gay bar she laughed and said no. Then she called over the owner, Joe, and we talked a bit about Bellevue, Tracy, the scene in general, and Jimmy Duff. He knows both the guys and the bars here have kind of a clubby feeling to them because everybody seems to know everybody. He said Tracy probably was spreading the rumor that this was a gay bar to discourage his customers from defecting. He said this in a joking way, however.

This isn’t a bad place at all, although it doesn’t yet have the well broken-in ambience of the other places in the area. Bellevue must somehow have brought their ambience with them when they moved. The bar top here is kind of black linoleum with a decent wooden arm rest and a wood paneled front. There was a black linoleum foot rest. The tubular metal bar stools have very soft black vinyl seats. Small green glass shaded lights hang over the bar. Brick walls behind the bar and in back and dark green walls above light paneling opposite the bar. A nice pool table in the back along with a dart board. A fairly clean set-up behind the bar with low mirrors and three tiers of liquor on illuminated Lucite shelves. Quite a nice little place, if I do say so myself.

I had a Pilsner Urquell and then Joe bought me another along with a shot of Blackhaus Blackberry Schnapps. I think that this was because during our earlier conversation I had mentioned that Tracy was drinking blackberry brandy when I first met him.

691) Café Andalucia



Right across the street is this place that, quite frankly, I would probably have missed if Joe didn’t suggest that I go there. It kind of looks like it should be just a café if you walk past it but it turns out to be a very neat bar. On top of that they have octopus on the menu and pitchers of sangria. I will have to get the Mysterious Chinese Woman to this neighborhood one day, a something a bit out of the ordinary for her. Hell, we can hit all four bars in this small area and make a night of it. Woot Woot, I am getting excited already. Probably won’t be until next year though, sigh.

The bar in here is also black linoleum or Formica (must be the local style). Also a black linoleum topped foot rest. The wooden barstools have swiveling wooden seats, so much fun. There is all kinds of great original artwork on the bar that I believe is by the owner, Guillermo. Much of the artwork has, shall we say, an erotic content. Nothing vulgar though. Old white painted coolers behind the bar, a couple of televisions, and a bit of the standard old dive bar clutter on the old-fashioned cupboard like affair behind the bar. There is a chalkboard with food specials listed and the prices look good, Cod with a green sauce for $9 for example.

The bartender, Irit, was very friendly and when she found out about my quest gave me a list of bars to try in her neck of the woods, Bayside.

Irit, The Helpful Bartender


I will have to catch the train one day and head out there. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun. She said there are about 30 bars along one strectch.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic and then some guy came in and we started talking and the bartender joined in and then somehow shots of tequila started to show up and, well, one thing lead to another until it was time for Bar Man to head home, strangely content and wonderfully fulfilled. It is days like today that Bar Man loves his work (and there seem to be a lot of days like today). I hit four bars today making 691 for the year and leaving 309 to go with 58 to complete before August 20th.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to do a radio interview at 3:30 P.M., prime drinking time for me. I am going to head out early and try to get a couple bars in before. Maybe I can just do it by cellphone. For anyone in the Florida area it is WKRX.

One Heck Of A Day

I headed back up to the West side again, but a bit further uptown. Man, it was one hot day too. Hit a couple of somewhat mundane bars and a couple of real classics that should be on everyone’s short list of places to go.

684) Carmines





As I mentioned, it was a real scorcher so walking into this wonderfully air-conditioned bar and dumping down a cold one was heavenly. It is an Italian restaurant located at 2450 Broadway between 90th and 91st Streets. It had a nice dark-wood bar with a black foot rest. Tubular metal bar stools with red spinning vinyl seats. Lots of antique lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately the ones at each end of the bar were missing several pieces of glass. Lots of framed black and white pictures of guests and parties from years gone by. There is a large, loud and fancy dining area up a short staircase and in the back. There was a tour bus parked out front so I guess the majority of the diners were from that. There are also tables under an awning on the sidewalk but you would have to be a mad dog or an Englishman to be sitting outside. Did I mention that it was hot out?

The bar back has a lot of narrow shelves in front of mirrors displaying stemware, two bottles each of Stolichnaya Vodka and Sapphire Bombay Gin, the bottled beer selection, a wide array of wines, and about a hundred small bottles of Lurisia mineral water. This water comes from a spring, Fonte Santa Barbara Di Lurisia, located at the base of the Northwestern Alps in the Italian region of Piemonte. Now you know. Why they have a hundred bottles on display is a question I cannot answer.

There is more liquor on tiered shelves above coolers with wooden doors and brass fittings. They have some interesting liquors, Michter’s Straight Rye, for example. I have never seen that before. Not quite ready for a variation on a Delaware Club Cocktail yet. This is a nice looking place with a friendly bartender. Not friendly enough for me to ask to take his picture though.

I had a draft Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and it hit the spot.

685 Docks Oyster Bar and Seafood Grill



Not far away at 89th and Broadway is this seafood restaurant and bar where I found another air-conditioned sanctuary. It is a seafood restaurant with a bit of a French touch. At least there is a large poster for what I take to be a French fish monger, “La Compagnie Francaix Pecheurs Reunis.” The wood bar is fairly new with a brass rail and there are dark wood chairs. Crushed ice with oysters sit at one end. One beer station with four spigots sits on the bar. The bar back is light wood shelving with mirrors in kind of a Swedish modern design. Lots of black tile on the walls and small, mostly white tiles, on the floor. The walls above the tiles are painted white. Pictures of fish and a mounted sailfish on the wall up front convey the flavor of the place without overdoing it. A blackboard in the back above a window into the kitchen lists the available fish, the daily specials, and the lobster prices. Not a cheap place, $70 for a three pound lobster. I probably won’t be coming here for dinner anytime soon. There was a nice lunch crowd though. They did have a good lunch special, $11 for half a dozen clams or oysters with either a glass of wine or a beer. Seeing as how my drink cost $8 that wasn’t bad at all.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

686) Crossroads



Well, the day started to get really fun here. This is the former uptown branch of the downtown Raccoon Lodge. It is on Amsterdam Avenue, on the corner of 83rd. As you can see, the Raccoon Lodge sign hasn’t been replaced yet and the Crossroads sign is still temporary. I was assured that nothing would change due to the change of hands, but that isn’t quite true. Not all of the possessions were sold along with the bar so some of the decorations that were on the wall are missing. I am pretty sure there was a moose head hanging somewhere. If the bartenders remain the same this place should have no problems. Did I say the day started to get fun here?

Crossroads is a great old (kind of) place with a nice old long wood bar with a wooden footrest. Tubular metal barstools with green vinyl seats that do not spin. Well, you can’t have everything. They have a small selection of draft beers but a real nice selection of bottled beers. There was a pool table, a foosball table, and a Silver Streak Bowling machine to provide those all important sound effects. Customer’s ties hung behind the bar back that was primarily brick walls with mirrors. The rest of the place was either brick walls or wood paneling and there is a nice arched window. I loved the Periodic Table of Brewing Styles, chemistry could have been so much more fun.



I was perusing the bottled beers when the bartender, Melissa, suggested Dogfish Raison D’Etre. It was an interesting beer that is brewed with Belgian beer sugars and green raisins. You did taste the raisins and it had kind of a funky taste. Not one of my favorites. Without asking I got a Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale and this was more to my liking on a hot summer day. A beer distributor was sitting at the end of the bar and he and I got into a conversation along with the bartender and another customer. Naturally the conversation got around to my tour of the bars (facilitated by my passing out my cards left and right). The bartender wanted to use my expertise to check out a few of her specialty drinks (this is what Bar Man lives for). First I tried one of her specialty and unnamed cocktails that was quite refreshing, reddish pink with foam on top. Of course we then set about trying to name it, names like Bloody Sea Froth, Shark Attack, and, I am sure, a hundred others. The bartender settled on Ruby Mel so now the cocktail has a name. Be sure to ask for it if you ever go there. Then we got to try her specialty shot, the Raven Haired Slut. Kahlua and Butterscotch Schnapps. Well, Bar Man has gotten into trouble with Butterscotch Schnapps before, but that is a different story. Just had the one here and then made the mistake of saying how I liked well made margaritas but didn’t like the ones made with a mix. As you might imagine, Melissa had to demonstrate her prowess and making them and so, to be polite, I drank up. It was a very well made margarita too.

Melissa saw me taking notes about the place and the beers so she carefully removed the labels from the bottles and gave them to me. I thought that was sweet.

Melissa, The Considerate Creator Of Great Drinks


Her shift was ending and an equally friendly Heather showed up.

Heather; And The Party Continued


Whew, I could have stayed here all day, and almost did. However I wanted to get one more bar under my belt so I bid a tearful goodbye and promised to return.

I had, well, a lot.

687) Hi-Life



Luckily I didn’t have to stumble too far to hit my next bar, it was just kitty corner on the Southeast corner of 83rd and Amsterdam. And then the fun started again. A customer from Crossroads, William, who was chatting with us decided he wanted to go to Hi-Life too, so in a way the party just relocated.

William


If Crossroads was a bit barren with a lot of the wall decorations having been removed, this place was jammed with stuff. A lot of 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s pinups on the walls, some kind of a statue of an Indian elephant god, a large aquarium. On top of that the place has a semi-diner type of interior, that polished aluminum look. There is also an upstairs and a downstairs area too, but I never managed to see them. Ah well, this is another place I would gladly go back to again so one day I will, indeed, check it out.

Another set of good bartenders that were really friendly so we engaged in a conversation that meandered from inside to out to the tables in front on the sidewalk whenever someone needed a cigarette.

Matt


Natalia


Again, I had a few more draft beers than I should have. I think I was drinking mostly Pilsner Urquell, but a Samuel Adams Summer Ale might have snuck in there too.

I got William to write down a few thoughts about the places we had visited and I swear, I could read what he wrote yesterday. Today, however, I can’t decipher it. I am sorry William, next time I see you we will have to try it again. We did have an interesting conversation though and he recommended some other bars in the neighborhood that I will be checking out soon.

I had a couple of draft beers at least one of which was a Pilsner Urquell.

A fruitful day with four bars visited and a couple of classics to go into my list of places to return. That makes 687 for the year leaving 313 to go.

A Great Website

Man, I do not know why it took me so long to discover this website. You really should check it out, it is fascinating.

Go West, Not So Young Man

I decided on the spur of the moment to head over to the West side today instead of going back East again. Just thought it would be a bit of a change of pace and it turned out to be a pleasant day, a couple of real finds and the revisiting of a place that I hadn’t been to for awhile.

679) Kevin St. James



One of the old West side bars in the Times Square Area that retains most of its seediness (but a good seediness) despite the introduction of a couple of plasma televisions to go along with several older models. It is located at 741 8th Avenue at 46th Street. It has a good sized old wood bar with a brass rail and plain wood bar chairs. An extremely cluttered bar back as you so often find in places like this. I particularly liked the Taxi Driver clock with Robert De Niro in his Mohawk. Kind of a profusion of shelves with liquor, statues, signed softballs, candles, and who knows what else. One large gold framed mirror with fire-station badges stuck along the edges. Two nice lights, winged ladies holding orangish glove lights aloft in their outstretched arms, hang on the yellow walls. Towards the front are a flock of flying toucans with glasses of Guinness balanced on their beaks.

Colleen, The Irish Lass Who Graciously Served Me


A couple of brass beer stations sit on the bar and they dispense a decent selection of beers. Lights with red shades shaped like Asian coolie hats hang over the bar and five fairly elaborate looking stained glass lights hang from the brown tin ceiling up front. The wall opposite the bar is brick and is lined with brown banquettes with tables and chairs in front. A large Guinness mirror and an illuminated, round mostly green but with a heart shaped Gaelic crest in the center, piece of art hangs above them. Tables and stools up front. There is a Reefer Madness poster hanging on the back wall.

I had a Boddingtons.

680) Scruffy Duffy’s



Right next door is another of the survivors. They seem to be a bit more common on the West side than on the East, but it might be a bit premature to draw conclusions. Another old beat up wooden bar with a high wood footrest. They have a nice selection of draft beers served from 24 spigots mounted on three silver box-like stations that sit on the bar. The bar back is kind of a mixture of what looks like homemade wood shelving, an industrial looking metal rack for glasses, and an array of audio and video equipment sitting on top of old wooden coolers, cupboards, and drawers with silver colored handles and hinges and in front of mirrors and a brick wall. They have 9 televisions that I could see including one large screen one in the back.

There is a wide assortment of knick knacks that include a rooster carrying a Guinness on a tray, guitars, a conga drum, a bass drum, beer steins, and a Negro jazz band (not a real one, just ceramic figurines). The prize piece was a genuine Big Mouth Billy Bass. A couple of chalkboards list Scruffy Snacks and their beer selection. Neon beer signs sit atop a narrow overhang above the bar back.

The wall opposite the bar is a combination of brick, green stucco, and wood paneling. There are Irish flags, a surfboard, and beer and traffic signs hanging on the wall. A nice pool table getting some action sits up front with a moose head mounted on the wall keeping an eye on things.



Wood benches with tables and chairs in front of them line the wall in back and a narrow ledge with stools in front runs around the rest of the place. There is a dartboard in the back. Small green lights ring the walls near the ceiling.

The bartender was a bit shy at first and didn't want me to take her picture. After chatting with her for a while she finally surrendered to my charms. Well, at least she let me take her picture.

Triona, The Bashful Bartender


I had a Newcastle Brown Ale.

681) Blarney Stone



Somewhat of a typical Blarney Stone, but a bit lighter than most due to the good sized light wood bar with a bar rail. It was right around the corner on 47th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. The walls are a combination of dark green paint and light wood paneling. Mirrors and light wood paneling behind the bar and a thick wooden counter sitting atop black metal coolers. Five televisions sit in recessed shelves above the mirrors behind the bar. There is a steam table serving up sandwiches; roast beef, corned beef, pastrami, the usual. This is something you see less and less frequently these days and it is a pity because they usually serve up pretty good food. Little green glass shaded lights hang over the bar. It was a pretty generic place but with a decent and quite vociferous crowd.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

682) Bennigan’s



I know, I know, it’s a Bennigan’s. But hey, it was right there, almost right next to the Blarney Stone on the corner of 47th Street and 8th Avenue. And the bartender was attentive and friendly so it was fine by me. A decent sized bar with a brown patterned Formica top and a wide wooden edge. The front was paneled and there was a brass rail. Wood bar chairs with swirling seats were comfortable enough. Inverted cone shaped lights alternating in color between pale green and light orange hung above the bar. Three plasma televisions were mounted behind the bar above a couple of coolers with glass doors. These held the bottled beer selection, or at least most of it. There was also a small metal bin of ice that had a few beers icing down. A couple of small tierred shelves held what looked to be a fairly meager liquor supply and there was a beer station with twelve spigots. Above the spigots was a brass rack for glasses.

There was a couple of tourists from Indiana at the bar having margaritas. I am not sure why you would go here when there are so many neat authentic New York bars so close by. But, if you are a tourist I guess this is a familiar looking place where you might feel more comfortable.

I had a Magner’s Irish Cider

683) The Collins Bar



This place wasn’t open when I passed by earlier but it is right by Kevin St. James and Scruffy Duffy’s at 735 8th Avenue. Ah, another old classic that, to be repetitive, really makes you wonder why you would come all the way from Indiana and then go to a place just like one that you have at home. It isn’t like you couldn’t see this place.



They have a really great selection of bottled beers and a very decent selection of draft beers as well. They also had a major whiskey selection that included Tennessee whiskeys, Bourbons and Scotch. They also had about 20 kinds of tequilas. As you might expect, there was an old wood bar with a wooden footrest and plain wooden chairs. The music ranged from The Who to Dean Martin. Great clutter behind the bar including chalkboards displaying their beer and whiskey selections, their tequila selection, their specialty liquors (ooh, Pernod) ports and sherries, cognacs, and a limited wine selection.

Neat old cabinets, shelves and mirrors behind the bar. The wall opposite the bar was kind of peeling red paint above black wood paneling with a narrow ledge for drinks. A church-like pew in the back had tables with candles sitting in front of it. There were candles sitting on the bar as well. Another little ledge with stools in front was in the back next to the dartboard lane. Maps and pictures of baseball players, pin-up girls, a gold framed mirror, and much more hung on the red wall. The back wall was a somewhat pale green.

There were two guys and a girl in there and I couldn’t quite tell if they were from out of town or not. They were half in the bag (and this is coming from me after having five drinks) and were half discussing and half arguing about where to go for dinner. One of the guys was drinking Long Island ice teas with cranberry juice instead of Coca Cola.

Anyway, if you are in the Times Square area and want to do something other than hit places like Bennigan’s you could do a lot worse than just popping into the three in a row on 8th Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets.

I had a draft Rogue Brutal Bitter and a wee sample of Brooklyn Scorcher provided by Tara.

Tara, The Generous Bartender


They were both quite hoppy but the Brooklyn Scorcher had a nice pear-like back taste to it. I withstood the temptation to toss down a shot of Pernod.

Well, there may be more of the old bars hanging on in this neck of the woods, but there are, alas, still a few that didn't make it.

The Former Monte-Tecla


A pretty decent day, five bars in all making 683 for the year and leaving 317 to go.

The Good Old Days

I headed back to the Yorkville area and met with mixed success. I got there a bit too early and ran into a bunch of bars that don’t open until somewhat later in the day. I will be going back tomorrow to see if I can hit a few of them. Then I began to notice a number of bars that were in the process of being remodeled or just up for sale. These were mostly the smaller bars, the one that were once staples in most New York neighborhoods. They are not just to small to remain profitable given the escalating rents. Makes me wish I had embarked on this venture years ago when these were still around. They tend to be more colorful and, in my opinion, much more interesting places to drink in. Aces and Eights, on 1st Avenue between 86th and 87th Streets, is an example of a bar that is no more.



It will either be gone entirely or remodeled beyond recognition. At any rate, it is closed now.

676) Reif’s



Now this bar, at 302 East 92nd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, is the real deal, opening in 1942 and looking as though it hasn’t changed much since. There was an old wooden bar with a foot rest. The chairs looked fairly new, dark wood with black vinyl seats and somewhat fancy backs. The back bar is fairly simple, several large plain mirrors with tiered shelves above old wooden coolers and drawers and metal ice chests holding bottled beer and vodka. A couple of chalkboards had beers and beer specials written on them. Dusty rose walls above the mirrors. The brick wall opposite the bar had narrow mirrors above a narrow ledge with stools in front. Pictures of old baseball players and customers hung on the wall above the mirrors. There is a decent sized back room that had a nice pool table and a Black Buck Hunter game.

A couple of old regulars were in there talking about their health, the heat, and the cost of funerals. Somehow this led to a discussion of Ocean’s 11, Monty Python, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Elvis imitators (they knew one) and Frank Sinatra. One of those conversations you generally only get into over a drink or two. I enjoyed myself.

I had a bottle of Heineken.

677) Fiona’s



Fiona's, at 1664 1st Avenue between 86th and 87th Streets just thinks it is old. It is a nice enough place but another one that is relatively new and newly remodeled. It probably once was one of those old neighborhood bars but, despite the bartender thinking it is old, it has only been around for eight years. Now, in my mind, that is not an old bar. It does have a nice long wood bar with an ornate front and a brass rail. The bar chairs have patterned cloth seats. A very elaborate bar back in the same color wood as the bar, kind of a cherry wood color. It has columns, arches, cabinets with glass doors, wine racks, mirrors, and down below coolers and cabinets with wood doors and brass hinges and handles. Inverted dome shaped lights over the bar rimed with ornamental metal work.

Half a dozen televisions featured either sports or a spelling bee. There is a fireplace in the back and high-backed booths along part of the wall opposite the bar towards the back. Globe lights sat atop the columns at the end of each booth. The wall behind the bar, at least the part not covered by the woodwork, is brick and the rest of the place is a combination of wood paneling and mustard colored paint. Pictures of gentlemen in 1800’s formal attire and a few mirrors decorate the wall opposite the bar while more serious paintings of landscapes and picnics adorn the back wall that also has a fireplace.

I had a Guinness.

678) Cilantro



This was a neat looking Mexican restaurant at 1712 2nd Avenue that I was fully prepared to like, until it came time to get a drink. They had a nice selection of tequilas so I felt fairly confident in ordering a margarita, up, with a salted rim. Well, before I could blink I had a very large margarita glass filled with a sweet, yellowish-green liquid that had no discernable taste of tequila. This was a pity, because the place had a nice enough authentic look to it. The curved wood topped bar was edged with a metal strip held in place with more rivets than were necessary. The front of the bar was copper sheets. There was a rough wood footrest and wood bar chairs. The bar back is kind of cool, an adobe look to it painted with a pastel landscape. There is an arch in the middle with two frozen margarita machines, so maybe I should have been a bit suspicious, but these are fairly common in Mexican bars and restaurants. Tiered shelves on each side of the arch held the liquor. There were small metal and glass candleholders with lit candles sitting on the bar.

There were neat inverted cone shaded lights hanging over the bar and blue and orange spots lighting up the wall behind the bar. Up front by the windows is a sculpted smiling sun lit from below. The wall opposite the bar also looks like adobe and has the same type of pastel landscape painted on it. Some interesting larger lights that consisted of electric candle like bulbs in a glass and metal construction hang from the ceiling. Banquettes with wood backs and cloth cushions line the wall opposite the bar and there are tables and chairs in front of them. More table and chairs sit in the front and there is a back room with more seating.

There was a guy in a postal worker uniform sitting at one end of the bar asking the bartender to turn up the volume of the music because it was playing Lou Bega’s Mambo No. 5 (A little bit of…). He was pretty much in the bag and as he came back after having stepped outside for a cigarette he asked me, somewhat conspiratorially, whether I thought anyone would turn him in for drinking instead of doing whatever it was he was supposed to be doing. Delivering the mail, I suppose. I told him no, I thought his secret was safe.

I would have liked this place a lot more if I didn’t get so sticky from my drink that I had to go wash up after I finished it. It must have had a fair amount of some kind of alcohol in it though, because I did get a bit of a buzz. And it was a large drink. There was a place where a bunch of us used to go called The Iguana that used to lace their frozen margaritas with Everclear, a 190 proof pure grain alcohol, so maybe that is what they used here.

I slurped down my margarita and headed on home.

Not too bad a day, three for the day bringing me up to 678 for the year and leaving 332 to go. I have to step up the pace a bit though because I have things to do this weekend and a party to celebrate the wedding of the daughter of a friend of mine next weekend. That will take a few days away from my quest and I still need to make 749 before August 20th. The pressure is almost unbearable, I may have to have a drink.

An Interesting Website To Visit

I just discovered this website this morning. You might enjoy visiting it.

Partying With The People

Today was a great party that kicked off, for some of us, shortly before noon. Plenty of food and drink. As the day wore on I spotted a bottle of Old Overholt Straight Rye Whiskey. You do don’t see this too often so I picked up the bottle to take a closer look. Fred said that it was a key ingredient in the Delaware Club Cocktail. The Delaware Club is a hunting club that was started by, among others, Fred’s father. Anyway, I said it was too bad that this wasn’t a bar so I could count the drink. Aha, little did I know, there was a bar in the basement, and a good sized bar too.

675) Fred And Shirley’s Dollhouse Bar

Bar Man, Mike, And Hosts Shirley And Fred


The Same Crowd But With Mary Visible


Art, Kathy, Bar Man And Fred


The Mysterious Chinese Woman Makes An Appearance


Well, it might not have been the fanciest bar I have ever been to, but it was a lot better than some, and very, shall we say homey. The clientele was most friendly and the bartender was pretty good too, serving up his special Delaware Club Cocktails. A pretty decent sized L shaped bar with a metal edged yellow Formica top and brown wood front. Regular old, if somewhat mismatched, barstools too. The most notable decoration was the large, elaborately furnished dollhouse that sat at one end of the bar.



I had a Delaware Club Cocktail, Old Overholt Straight Rye Whiskey and Peppermint Schnapps. I actually had several of these and the Mysterious Chinese Woman had to roll me back to the hotel when the night was over(about six blocks away and all downhill). I must make a note to replenish their bar the next time I visit.

Not a bad weekend, a total of four bars making it 675 for the year and leaving 325 to go.

Cooling It In Callicoon

My friends in Callicoon were having a couple of shindigs to celebrate Shirley’s birthday. This is always a great time with a dinner at Eldred Preserve, a restaurant and bar and a lake where you can catch your own fish if you feel so inclined. Then the next day Fred and Shirley throws a great party that is catered by Mr. Willie’s (that was stop number 556) and the food is great. I brought cheesecakes from Juniors. When I go to Callicoon I usually stay at The Western Hotel.

672) The Western Hotel





This hotel was built in 1852 and still retains much of the same feeling of that long ago era. The current owner, a real character named Joe Naughton, has owned the place since 1969 and he and his wife Leona have spent a lot of time and energy selecting antique furniture and fixtures for the tap room, lobby, and dining room. The bar top itself is fairly new looking but I suspect that is just because it is so well taken care of. The front of the bar has a rough brick front and a brass rail The back bar is quite ornate with mirrors and cabinets with glass door at each end. There is kind of a plain red Formica top above coolers with wooden doors and silver latches and handles. A World War II era Marine issue shotgun with a bayonet hangs above the mirrors. The walls are dark red paneling and there is a new television above the jukebox on the wall opposite the bar. I don’t recall ever seeing the old one turned on though and this one was turned off too.

There is an old barber chair off to one side and an upright piano that was being played by a young girl who was attending a wake. Apparently it was just breaking up because there were a number of people at the bar saying there goodbyes. It was one of the cheeriest wakes I had ever seen. In fact I asked the bartender if there was a wedding party going on.

If you ever get to Callicoon be sure to stop in and say “Hi” to Joe. And if you want a place to stay, this is your only choice. Unless you want to stay at the Olympia next door.



I had a glass of Sarnac Pale Ale.

673) Sidetracks - No Mercy Inn





Just down the street a bit is this old small town bar that has been around forever. Although the name and the owner may change, not much else has. It has an old bar with a tile foot rest and chrome bar stools with black leather seats. Monkey’s seem to be everywhere. The owner, Sharon, said she doesn’t even particularly like monkeys but she bought a couple and then friends and customers continue to give her new ones. I particularly liked the large inflated monkey hanging from an airplane that hung over the bar.



The longer you look, the more monkeys you see. There are also some old fireman hats sitting on wooden shelves behind the bar. Lots of accumulated clutter, just like you would expect. Pretty much plywood paneled walls and a light tile ceiling. There are a couple small mirrors behind the bar with art deco style figures of women etched into them. Small metal edged shelves mounted on dividers covered with snapshots hold the liquor.

There is a good sized back room with a pool table, a foosball table, and an electronic dartboard. Lots of tables and chairs to sit at and have a drink when they have live music. Olive Drab was playing tonight.

I had a bottle of Budweiser.

674) Eldred Preserve



Tucked away in the woods is this good-sized restaurant and bar. It has several large dining areas and we had half of one to ourselves for our party. Very nice, with a DJ spinning tunes and great appetizers, shrimp, crab claws, stuffed mushrooms, and, my favorite, troutlings. Troutlings are the house specialty and are little trout about the size of your small finger, lightly battered and deep-fried. Delicious. The food was great too. Bar Man had a wonderful lobster and the prime ribs looked great too.

But, enough of that. People were already noshing at the appetizer table when I got there so I ducked out to the bar for a drink with Alice (she didn't drink though) before joining in the festivities.

Alice, The Bartender And Keeper Of The Squirrels


The bar is kind of a rectangular shape with an extension to the left. It is old and wooden and has a brass rail. Behind to bar was a bulletin board with a lot of fishing lures and there are also several large mounted fish. There is also a large sign that says “Squirrel Corners” and another one that looks like one of those signs with the prancing deer that you see along the road. This one has a squirrel instead with “Squirrel Xng” written on it. The place has a nice hunting lodge feel to it.

I had a quick Tanqueray and tonic and then joined the party.

Pictures Mostly Retaken

I managed to retake most of the pictures from Monday. The one exception was the picture of the yellow neon bar sign from inside Jackson Hole. For some reason I was not allowed to take an pictures inside the restaurant. I was told it was the policy of the management. When I explained that I had taken one in there the day before the woman I was talking to wanted to know who let me do it. I wasn't about to get anyone in trouble so I said I couldn't remember. I showed her pictures I had taken inside of other restaruants and told them this was the first time that I had not been allowed to do so. I asked what their policy would be if a bunch of people came in and wanted to take pictures of each other. They said that would be okay. I then asked her if they wanted to take pictures of each other in front of the bar sign, would that be okay. She kind of hemmed and hawed and said that might be alright. I asked if she would take a picture of me in front of the bar sign. That, she said, would not be okay. I asked if I came in with a friend, could they take a picture of me in front of the sign. Now she was becoming very unsure of herself and said she would rather not answer that question. Go figure. I asked if I could talk to the manager and she said that she was the acting manager but did not make management decisions. Rather then pursue the point any further I simply took a picture of the sign from outside. Not exactly the same but you get the idea. I just love managers who can't make management decisions and policies that seem to make no sense. Talking to a few other people in the neighborhood I found out that Jackson Hole is part of a chain of restaurants so I guess important decisions like allowing pictures to be taken are made at the corporate level.

Too bad the Mysterious Chinese Woman wasn't with me. Maybe I could have taken a picture of her in front of the sign and then just edited her out.

Uptown, Or Yorkville, Revisited

I headed back to my haunts of Monday to retake the pictures that I had lost when I inadvertently tried to do some editing before copying the image off of my video card. It proved to be an enjoyable day, except for my return visit to Jackson Hole, and I met some interesting people. I also found out that this neighborhood is known as Yorkville.

669) Panorama Café



Located on the corner of 85th and 2nd Avenue is this New Orleans style building with an interesting interior. The wood bar has a wavy top with light wood paneled front. The bar chairs are dark wood with a bluish green vinyl seats. A brass beer station sits on the bar but it is defunct. The handles have been removed and it sits forlorn, unloved and unused. The backbar has three mirrors with tiered shelves in front of the mirrors on each end and single shelf mounted on the mirror above those. These hold, as you might have guessed, the liquor. The middle mirror has a wrought iron shelf like a set of steps going up and coming down. The steps hold nine bottles of single malt scotch and a single bottle of Hennessey. At the summit sits a decorative bottle of Remy Martin X.O. Separating the mirrors and at each end are large patterned metal dividers shaped a bit like vain number twos peering at themselves in the mirrors. A metal wine rack sits to the left of the mirrors. Above the bar back is a panel with green, orange, and red leaf-like designs. There are interesting, and somewhat dangerous looking metal fixtures hanging above the bar. I think it was the pointed bottoms that made me nervous. There is a television at one end of the bar.

Interesting sculptures and mirrors decorate one corner with tables and chairs in front of high-backed red banquettes.



There are a couple of European looking street lights in the main dining area and large windows with light green frames that give the place a light and airy feeling. Interesting metal sculptures hang on the walls between the windows too.



The flooring is dark wood and the ceiling is wood paneled. The walls are red with redwood stained paneling going up about a third of the way. A staircase leads up to another dining area where there is a neat balcony. Sidewalk seating is also available. A smiling Aztec-like sun sculpture greets you as you enter.

I checked out the menu and saw that they had a “wild mushroom” omelet. This got me thinking because last night I had ravioli at Pete’s Waterfront Ale House and it too had “wild mushrooms.” I mean, just how wild can a mushroom be. Are these really mushrooms that someone has foraged in the woods somewhere? If so, what are the qualifications of the forager. If they really are just raised in a cave, can the still be called “wild”? Ah, the things that weigh heavily on the Bar Man’s mind. And while still working on my first drink of the day.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

670) Brady’s



Well, things took an interesting turn when I walked into this Irish pub on 2nd Avenue at the corner of 82nd Street. It took me awhile to get a good shot of the place because of street signs and cars. See, Bar Man does try to provide a quality product. Anyway, the bartender, Kevin, asked me if I got a good picture when I ordered my drink. I told him that I did and why I was taking them. He then recognized me from the picture in the New York Post and bought me my drink. Well, a perverse sense of honor force me to buy one myself and then someone else bought me one and then the bartender bought another round. Oof. Not going to be hitting a lot of bars after that.

Kevin, The Friendly And Generous Bartender


This is a fairly small place with brick walls on two sides and little windows in front. The wall opposite the bar has dark wood paneling going up about a third of the way and with a ledge on it for drinks. There is a pool table in the back that has uses other than simply playing a game of pool and a competition dart board. The bar itself is pretty standard with a black linoleum footrest. The wooden bar chairs have black cloth seats. The backbar is an old looking set of wooden shelves in front of mirrors and wooden cabinets. Lots of liquor and stacked martini glasses. Half a dozen televisions and a chalkboard announcing “Free Pool on Sundays” are also behind the bar. Lots of beer and tequila pennants hang about the place and mirrors advertising beer hang on the wall opposite the bar. Amber and yellow stained glass lights hang over the bar and a small rhinoceros head with a green shot glass on his horn hangs on the wall next to the bar.

A squalling child was having his diaper changed on the pool table at one point during my stay, giving this a somewhat homey feeling. Not sure if I would want to just stretch out for a long shot on the table right away though. I do believe it was the bartender’s wife and son so it wasn’t like just strangers come in off the street and do this. At least I hope not.

As you can probably guess from my first paragraph, the bartender was most friendly and we spent a fair amount of time chatting about all sorts of things. He introduced me to some of the other patrons and before I wobbled out it felt like I was a regular. He was obviously very proud of his bar, explaining that it has been around in its current form since 1941, the work that was done on it, the size of his refrigeration units in the basement, and other stuff that I am afraid I have forgotten. We also talked about bars in general and he gave me suggestions for other bars in the neighborhood that I should stop in. I had a genuinely good time and was reluctant to leave. This is certainly a place that I would revisit when time permits.

I had, er, more than one Tanqueray and tonic.

671) Mad River Bar and Grille



Well, Bar Man was not totally side-tracked by Brady’s because I could still see this place looming up on my way to the subway. It wasn’t actually on the way to the subway, but I could see it as I was walking there and it wasn’t that far out of the way. It is on 3rd Avenue between 81st and 82nd Street. I actually had to look into the depths of my soul, or at least glance quickly at the surface, before deciding that I could go in for just one. It was a good decision. The bar has a copper top with a wood foot rest. There is an assortment of bar chairs with torn maroon vinyl seats. A couple of brass beer stations sit on the bar but the selection of beers is a bit mundane. The backbar has some interesting pyramid shaped shelves, mirrors, and standard tiered shelves in front of mirrors holding the liquor. Looking somewhat out of place were small candles amongst the liquor bottles. There is another smaller bar in the back too.

Lot’s of pictures of fish on the walls and a pair of skis on the wall opposite the bar. Mostly brick walls with some wood and green painted plaster in the back. The wood ceiling up front is interesting and there is a pressed tin ceiling in the back. There are tables in the back with an old light fixture hanging overhead that has eight upturned parchment shaded lights. Similar lights were mounted behind the bar. There is a little fireplace in the back that looks like it probably works. I managed to talk the guy next to me, John, into writing a bit about the bar and he agreed to do so if I posted his picture and telephone number so women could call him. I will post his picture but you will have to email me for his telephone number.

John, Looking For Love In All The Write Places


He said he prefers Chinese women (his buddy was Chinese). I mentioned the Mysterious Chinese Woman and his interest level in my mission increased dramatically. Here is what he wrote"

"The bartender John is the best bartender in the city. Also the best wings in the city. For a bar, besides the wings, they have very good bar food. They take grat pains to have excellent food. Great atmosphere. In the end it is just a great bar to spend an afternoon, see a ballgame and have a burger, and realize that life is great."

I didn't try the food, but he got the rest of it down pretty well.

The bartender, whose name is also John, wanted his picture posted too but didn’t say anything about wanting women to call him.

John: "The Best Bartender In The City"


Again, another very friendly bar, both the bartender and the clientele. My resolve to have just one faded and I ended up having two. It is hard to break away when you are having a good time and this place was another one where it was easy to have one. I shall return.

I had a couple of Tanqueray and tonics.

Well, not a bad day. Three bars making 671 for the year and leaving 329 for the year. By the way, Mad River and Still are co-hosting a Booze Cruise tomorrow night. You can find details on Murph's Guide to New York Bars (just use my link). If you check my previous write-up on Still you will see that I really liked that place as well. I would bet this would be one fun boat ride. I would love to go myself but have a prior commitment.

Lunch with the Murph's Guide To NY Bars Guy

I met with Sean Murphy, the guy behind Murph's Guide to New York Bars for lunch today. We met at The Town Tavern where I have already had a beer and counted it towards my 1000. I didn't realize when I was there before that they have an upstairs area with a separate bar. I didn't drink up there though and wouldn't count it again even if I did. My quest shall remain at least somewhat pure. I didn't take a picture the last time so here is one now.



The pile of sand out front is what they removed after putting it down on the floor for some kind of a beach party they had. No nude beach volley ball though, or at least that is what I was told.

I didn't realize until after I talked to Sean that his website also lists a lot of bar related events. I had primarily used it just to look up the locations of bars. He also promotes a lot of events at bars so the home page is a good source of information on fun things to do. I might try to make the Beach Volleybash next Saturday. BBQ, Beach Volleyball and Music. What's not to like. Anyway, here is the website for the Murph's Guide To New York Bars home page.

Murph's Guide To New York Bars

The other one used to bring you right to the bar lookup section, but I am going to change it.

Bar Man in his new MURPHGUIDE.COM shirt.

Moving Up

I decided to take my act uptown a bit and explore the area around 86th Street. There are a lot of bars in this area and it is about time that I checked them out. It proved to be a fairly fun day and I will be going back for more in the near future.

Tomorrow I am meeting Sean Murphy, the creator of MURPHGUIDE.COM, an invaluable guide to bars in New York (you can find the link on this page).

664) Heidelberg



Between 85th and 86th Streets on 2nd at 1648 2nd Avenue is this classic German restaurant and beer. They have a good selection of draft German beers pulled from three white ceramic beer stations mounted on the old wooden bar with a brass rail. Dark wood bar chairs with black vinyl seats. Lots of glasses hang above the mirrors behind the bar. The cash register looks like a genuine antique. Two levels of shelves hold the liquor and there are red wood coolers with brown wood doors for the bottled beer. A larger set of shelves hold more liquor on one side of the coolers and shelves on the other side hold mugs ranging in size form pints to more than Bar Man could drink. No moose head (or elk head or caribou head, I have been getting a lot of email on just what kind of head was hanging on the wall at the Good World Bar & Grill) but there is a deer head. By the way, consensus of opinion is that it was a caribou head on the wall at Good World so I have updated my blog. Bar Man accepts constructive criticism (just not very well).

A Deer Head, I Do Believe


A trellis over the hanging glasses sports sun flowers and a model of a horse-drawn wagon loaded with wooden beer barrels. The wall opposite the bar has a partition with windows looking into the adjacent dining area. There are pictures of cocktails and one picture of a wine-bottle opener. There is a cozy little room in the back with a patterned banquette and tables with blue and white tablecloths. The ceiling in front is deep red and in the back it is more like a vine covered trellis. Beer steins ring the top of the walls in the back room. The room on the other side of the partitions has large pictures of landscapes and a shield and crossed swords hanging on the walls. There are little banquettes by the windows up front for sitting and having a drink while waiting for a table, or just to be cozy.

A few guys in here were drinking beers with shots of Jagermeister They weren’t kids either. We got to talking about Jagermeister and the guy, Sidney Frank, who made a fortune off of it and then made another fortune when he sold Grey Goose to Bacardi for about two billion dollars. The guy is quite a character and if you get a chance you should read up on him. He lives in New Rochelle, not far from where my brother-in-law lives. In a much larger house though.

I had a draft Spaten Munich lager.

665) Jackson Hole



It is a bit of a stretch to call this place at 1611 2nd Avenue between 83rd and 84th Streets a bar, and if it wasn’t for the reasonably decent selection of beer behind the bar/lunch counter and the beer station with four spigots mounted on top of it I may have just passed it by. But hey, there was also a bright yellow neon light right in front of me that said “BAR” so who was I to argue.

It Really Is A Bar


Otherwise the place was pure diner, from the black Formica topped counter to the booths lining the walls. They also had those things in the booths and on the “bar” where you could select tunes from the jukebox. Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” and Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” just added to the ambience. I really wanted to order a hamburger and fries (no malt though, except what was in my beer) but there is a Mexican place down the street so I am going to wait to see if I can score some free chips with a margarita.

There is a small outdoor seating area in front. Kind of cool in a retro way. Women’s beach volleyball was playing on the television so I got to watch tall, bikini clad women working up a sweat while I cooled down with a beer. Doesn’t get much better then that.

I had a draft Boston Ale.

666) Mustang Grill



Welcome to the Upper East Side, 1633 2nd Avenue right on the corner of 85th Street, to be exact. Home of the $8.50 margaritas served in small brandy snifters. Aw well, the place seemed to be catering to a crowd that preferred the ping glop they were pumping out of the machines behind the bar. Kind of a shame because it looks like they have about a hundred different kinds of tequilas here. I did get my chips and salsa though, and the margarita was actually quite good.

They have an interesting décor that would make this place worth a look-see. Pyramid shaped tin shaded lights that had punched out designs hung above the bar and these are draped with red jalapeno lights. A steer skull draped with Mardi Gras beads peered down at me from behind the bar. It sat above illuminated Lucite shelves in front of mirrors. Banquettes against the walls have vinyl backs with cowhide designs on the backs. Uber tacky, but somehow so right. Brick walls opposite the bar and mostly dusty rose, pale green, and yellowish orange paint everywhere else. Large mirrors, most ringed with more of those jalapeno lights, list the available tequilas (or at least some of them), margarita specials, and beers. There is a decent plasma television at each end of the bar and two more on the opposite wall. Not a bad place and the salsa was very good. The numerous “No Dancing” signs and the disco lights mounted on the ceiling leads me to believe that there is, indeed dancing.

I had a margarita, up, with a salted rim.

667) The Back Page



At 1472 3rd Avenue at 83rd Street is this sports bar with seven televisions that I can see from my barstool and two more large screen televisions in the back. Nice long wooden bar with a brass rail and wooden chairs. Nothing fancy and the only disturbing thin was the large Texas Longhorn’s banner above a Yankees emblem. It could have been worse, I initially thought the Longhorns banner was one for the Chicago Bulls.



Nothing too fancy about this place. Pretty much a functional, stop in, have some drinks, watch the games kind of place. Nothing wrong with that though. New York sports team pictures on the wall opposite the bar, but not over done. A large replica of the scoreboard showing the Yankees Leading Boston 5 to 4 at the bottom of the ninth with two outs dominates part of the wall opposite the bar.



This was the October 2nd one game playoff on October 2nd, 1978 that the Yankees won and in which Bucky Dent hit his famous homer.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

668) Carlow East



On the way back to the subway at 1254 Lexington Avenue between 84th and 85th Streets is what appears to be an old Irish pub that remodeled extensively hoping to attract a more upscale crowd but somehow failed. Maybe things change at night but at 3:00 P.M. it has a pretty grizzled crowd. If it wasn’t for my loud shirt and camera, Bar Man would have fit right in. There is an old wood bar that looks original and with a foot rest and bar chairs with green vinyl seats. A couple of brass beer stations with half a dozen spigots on each sit on top of the bar. Stained glass light shades with a dragon fly pattern hang above the bar. Little Chinese lanterns (did the Mysterious Chinese Lady get here before me and decorate) hang above the large mirrors behind the bar. A nice selection of liquors sit on glass shelves in front of two of the three mirrors and a tiered shelf in front of the center mirror. Metal ice chests behind the bar keep the bottled beer cold.

Three decent plasma televisions in the back and one up front at one end of the bar. I would have enjoyed my stay a bit more if the guy next to me didn’t have this phlegmy cough. Luckily he had to step outside for a cigarette a few times so I did have some peace. The bartender was a very pleasant fellow.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

Jimmy's NY Best Irish Pub (mis)Guide(d)

Ah, Jimmy, you let me down. And at the worst possible time. I was supposed to meet some people from out of town for a drink today. They had been following my blog and were visiting New York for a bit of a pub crawl of their own. I suggested Doc Watson's and, using Jimmy's Best New York Irish Pub Guide as my reference told them it was on 57th and 2nd Avenue. It is clearly marked on Jimmy's map. Unfortunately, it is actually on 77th and 2nd Avenue. What is worse, there aren't any bars in the vicinity of 57th and 2nd (unusual, I know). Even though Jimmy had the address right, for those of you not familiar with New York, street numbers tell you almost nothing about the actual location. Seems strange because in most cities the street numbers would correspond somewhat to the avenue. You know, something between 77th and 78th Streets would have an address like 7790, or something. Well, suffice it to say that is not how it works so I ended up walking the twenty blocks from 57th to 77th (with one quick stop on the way to quench my thirst) and got to Doc Watson's about an hour late. I don't know if the out-of-towners ever found it. Jimmy has been right every other time so I didn't even think about double checking. Bar Man has learned his lesson. And to those who were to have met me, I am truly sorry for the misinformation that I passed along to you.

661) Beach Cafe



This was my stop on the way up to Doc Watson's. Believe me, I needed a cold one because it was a long hike on a hot and humid day. I did make it all the way up to 70th Street before succumbing though. The Beach Cafe is on the Southeast corner of 2nd Avenue with the address of 1326 2nd Avenue. The decor is nothing like a beach cafe however. More like an upscale Irish pub, which it is. A woman at the bar with orange hair explained that it was an old Irish bar that has new owners and was remodeled to attract a more favorable clientele. This is happening more and more as I have noted in previous posts. Soon it will be difficult to find a real dive Irish bar, and what a shame that will be. I actually got into the conversation with the lady because she was sitting in front of the beer taps and I was trying to figure out what I wanted. She thought I was staring at her and when I told her I wasn't she seemed a bit disappointed and told me she had just had her hair done. Well, she was an elderly lady and we did end up in a fairly lengthy discussion about bars, her brother who used to call her at 6:00 A.M. when she lived in Paris and he was drunk in a bar in New York, all of the bars she knew (except for Doc Watson's, it turned out), and life in general. If I wasn't still trying to meet people I might have chatted longer.

At any rate, this place has a nice old wood bar and a fairly fancy set-up behind the bar. Dark shelves and mirrors and cut glass decorations on the woodwork. There is also a decent sized refrigerated wine rack. Good selection of liquor on tiered shelves. Wrap-around windows and a white tablecloth kind of place. A gool-framed mirror and pictures on the wall opposite the bar. The bar chairs turned but I couldn't get them to spin around. How disappointing.

I had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

662) Doc Watson's



Found it at last, at 1490 2nd Avenue. How obvious, why wouldn't a place with an address of 1490 2nd Avenue be almost seven blocks away from a place with an address of 1326 2nd Avenue? What is really even more interesting is when they change the name of an Avenue to make it more upscale. Part of what used to be 4th Avenue is now Park Avenue South and if you think 200 Park Avenue South is anywhere close to 200 Park Avenue, think again, although it is an extension of Park Avenue. But enough about addresses in New York.

As you might imagine, there is a lot of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia on the walls (Doc Watson being Sherlock Holmes sidekick and all) as well as lots of other stuff as well. Everything from a framed display of seaman's knots to an old street map of Manchester, England. It is, shall we say, a cluttered place. But cluttered in a comfortable way. A nice old bar and well used sidewalk seating. The back of the place looks out over, and down at, a little "garden" seating area that you get to by going downstairs and through French doors from a room with a pool table. And, as though to mock me for not knowing where Doc Watson's was I encountered this sign:



Sure, make me feel even worse. Sheesh.

Behind the bar was a set of really ornamental martini shaped glasses. They weren't really on display though, kind of down below the liquor. I doubt if they are ever used though. I was going to ask the bartender about them but she was really busy.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

663) Mo's Caribbean



Down a block at 1454 2nd Avenue, on the corner of 76th Street, is this somewhat hard to miss place with an outdoor seating area around to the side. If you think it is colorful on the outside, you need to go in. Wildly decorated in bright orange, yellow, red and green with surfboards and shark warning signs this place really does look like a beach cafe. In fact the wall opposite the bar has fake windows above the tables that really do give the impression that you are looking out at a lovely Caribbean beach.



It made me eager to get back to Mexico (but not to hit another 150 bars there). The semi-partition separating the bar from the tables had palm trees and overhead vines decorated with multi-colored Christmas lights. It really was quite a pleasant place. And behind the bar were three projection televisions that made you feel like you were having a drink at a drive-in. They should have had 1960's beach movies playing instead of sports, that would have been perfect.

They had some interesting drink specials too, including a 50 ounce margarita suitable for three or four people.



I bet this place really jumps at night. They also have Mexican food and I did have one of their bar special beef tacos for a buck. It was very good and if I didn't know I would have dinner waiting for me later I could easily have eaten several more than the one I had.

I had a margarita, not too bad either, and headed on home.

Well, one good thing about today (other than the bars I hit) was that I found a new area with many more bars to explore. Up a bit higher than my usual roaming range I am looking forward to going back again. I did hit three bars though bringing my total up to 663 for the year and leaving 337 to go. I expect next week to be a bit slow though, family things, luncheon engagements, and another trip to Callicoon. I shall try not to disappoint though.

City Island And The Bronx

Some friends took the Mysterious Chinese Woman and me out to City Island. I had never been there before and it was really an interesting place. A bit like being in a small fishing community (with a lot of restaurants) right in The Bronx. Hard to believe that you can get there from Brooklyn by taking a subway and a bus. It really is a bit like stepping back in time. Very nice and I may head out there again one day soon while the weather is still nice. Beautiful water views from a lot of the restaurants that have decks.

659) Tito Puente's



Yep, this restaurant was once owned by Tito Puente. The barstools are conga drums.



There are bright murals on the walls.



Lots of pictures of Tito and his friends on the walls as well. The food was really good too.

I had a Tanqueray and Tonic.

660) Step In



After dinner at Tito Puente's my friends took me back to see their new place that they are staying in while preparing for a move to Florida. I will miss them when they leave but they are building a four bedroom home so I plan on visiting, if they will have me. Anyway, at 1309 Metropolitan Avenue in The Bronx was this darkened lounge. I was on the way to the subway home and it was going to be a long ride so I decided to make a quick pit stop in here. About all I can tell you is that it was quite dark because I dumped down my drink in a hurry. Not that I felt rushed, I just wanted to catch my subway because it was getting late.

I had a Dewar's and Soda.

Just two for the day bringing my total to 660 and leaving 340 to go. Just 89 to go before number 750 at Duff's in Williamsburg on August 20th. Mark down that date.

Chinatown

Well, I know that I said I would be revisiting yesterday's bars and embellishing my descriptive narrative, but life does not always proceed as planned. The Mysterious Chinese Woman had a hankering for dim sum and invited me to join her. Well, what choice did I have? After feasting on such delicacies as duck's foot, spicy tripe, and curried squid she wiped her chin and disappeared in what looked to be a cloud of pink smoke, sticking me with the bill. I figured as long as I was in Chinatown anyway I would hit a few bars in the area.

655) Good World Bar & Grill



If you missed the sign, and it is easy to do, here is a closer look.



This isn't the easiest place to find, but well worth the effort. It is in the part of Chinatown not as popular, on the east side of the Bowery. Canal Street, the main drag through Chinatown, takes a bit of a hook under the Manhattan Bridge and if you just follow it for about six blocks you come to Orchard. Take a right and go to Number 3 and there you are. This is the perfect place if drinking under the baleful eye of a dead caribou is what you crave. I know, I know, originally I said this was a moose but I was wrong, as many people pointed out to me.

Anna, The Live Bartender, And The Dead Caribou


A black stone topped bar with unusually high, and I do mean high, black metal barstools with black cloth seats. I would hate to fall of one of these babies, but the bartender said it has happened. Light yellow and green painted plaster walls with significant chippage. An old dark pea-soup green painted tin ceiling with exposed pipes for the sprinklers and wiring conduits. Gives the place kind of a funky look. Old greenish white globe lights hang over the bar and the flooring is old wood. There is just a minimal setup behind the bar but they have a surprisingly large beer selection written in fading chalk on the green wall behind the bar. How about a Harvistouns Old Engine Oil from Scotland? Sounds yummy, doesn't it?

They also have a very extensive wine selection and interesting items on the menu such as a rabbit and fois gras terrine with blueberry pickled bok choy as an appetizer. The place is owned by Swedes so they have four kinds of aquavit available and you can buy it by the bottle for only ninety-five bucks. No lutefisk though. Thank goodness for little things. Anna said they would have it but it just smelled up the place to badly. I know for a fact that is true. My father loved lutefisk and I would flee the house on the few occasions my mother prepared it.

Little round tables with orange and yellow chrome and plastic chairs are strewn about the place. Low blank benches with black cushions line the wall opposite the bar and small square tables sit in front of it. There are floor to ceiling windows in the front and a neat little back yard with picnic tables for outdoor eating.

I had a draft Bolleke. This is an everyday beer in Antwerp, easy to drink, and not too bitter, the red-brown ale has almost a cinnamon spice hint to its flavor. Actually, a bolleke is a bell-shaped high-stemmed glass that is used in Antwerp to serve any highly-fermented beer but generally means the beer that I had, which is actually a De Koninck. And, yes, it was served in the appropriate glass.

656) Les Enfants Terribles



Not too far away at 37 Canal is this African/Morocan, Brazilian, French restaurant and bar with a kind of ugly and beat-up tan awning hanging out front. It has a small rectangular bar with a plastic top and a beat-up wooden front and a black foot rest. The barstools here of of the normal height and are black metal with black wooden seats. There are no fancy displays of liquor. In fact almost no display at all. Just a sink and a couple of ice-bins behind the bar and the liquor is in shelves out of sight below the bar. Eight bottles sit out next to a bucket holding half-a-dozen opened bottles of wine. Strange cylindrical lights that look like metal-clad illuminated hummingbird feeders hang above the bar. A little metal butterfly hung below one of the lights so that added to the affect.

The ambience did seem to capture a bit of the essenced of a colonial French bar somewhere well off the beaten path, enhanced by the interesting stuff sitting about.



There were little tables and a corner booth like table. There was sidewalk seating and door to window French-door like windows that were open wide to let in a cool breeze. Refreshingly cool after a brief shower.

I had a Pastis, similar to Pernod, on the rocks.

657) Winnie's



Back to the other side of the Bowery at 104 Bayard Street, between Baxter and Mulberry Streets. A great dive bar with a Chinese flavor to it. The bar top looks like simulated wood-grained Formica and there is a plywood front. Black and red tile foot rest and black metal bar chairs with red vinyl seats and backs. The booths lining the wall opposite the bar are covered with red vinyl as well. Stained glass lamps hang over the booths. The floor is red and black tiles.

Above the bar are red paper balls decorated with protruding gold Chinese characters. Behind these are illuminated stained glass panels. They have a decent liquor and wine selection behind the bar in front of mirrors decorated with pictures of regular customers. There are interesting curved rippled lights at each end of the shelves behind the bar and they give off a soft pink glow. There is a little Buddhist shrine with lights and unlit incense hanging on the wall opposite the bar.

They have a strange assortment of drinks, listed on a chalkboard behind the bar, for a dive. They include cocktails such as Crazy Devil and Farm Boy and shooters like Flamin' Dragon and Flatliner. Woo Woo, not for me. They have karaoke in the evening so I suspect the crowd changes dramatically from the old-timers that were nursing their drinks while I was in there.

I had a bottle of Tsing Tao.

658) Asia Roma



At 40 Mulberry in what used to be a part of Little Italy, is this fusion bar and restaurant. This place used to be named Antica Roma and was strictly Italian. Now it offers an Italian/Asian menu and there is a karaoke lounge in what used to be the Fireside Lounge. It is still a place worth visiting and it has the same old wood bar and, from the looks of it, the same old green vinyl covered chairs and stools. Old wood cabinets behind the bar frame mirrors. The mirrors at each end have glass shelves holding liquor and tiered shelves in front of the larger middle mirror hold more. A pig with flowers and two bobble-head geisha girls sit on top of the cabinets. Rippled globe lights hang over the bar. Yellowish tan wallpaper with a bamboo design on the walls.

There are interesting paintings of women in flapper era attire on the walls and a somewhat secluded back room. Track lighting over the tables against the wall opposite the bar. The tables sit in front of a green covered banquette.

The co-owner of the bar, Mei, was very pleasant and introduced me to the real brains of the operation, Angel.

Mei


Angel


I guess the fact that Angel plays such an important role in the operation it is not too surprising that most of the customers depicted in the pictures are, shall we say, dogs.





I had a Tanqueray and tonic and headed home.

A pleasant day and some interesting bars found, a few that I shall return to when time permits. Four bars for the day making 658 for the year and leaving 342 to go.

A G4 Day

Today was a fun day and interesting as well. I had camera crew from G4 follow me around. Two of them actually flew in from California, that would be Brendan and Brendan. I didn't have much of a chance to take notes so my writing is a bit scant. Too busy chatting with one of the Brendans. I plan on revisiting these places tomorrow (I will skip the drinking though) to take better notes and I will then add more details. I think that the segment they shot is going to run next Thursday on G4 (a cable station that was formerly TechTV) on Attack Of The Show!

Bar Man And The G4 Team


652) Murphy's



977 2nd Avenue

I had a draft Harp Lager.

653) Jameson's



975 2nd Avenue

I had a draft Tetley's English Ale.

654) Thady Con's



One Of The Brendans and Caitriona, The Bartender


Bar Man And Some Regulars


I had a draft Paulaner Munich Bier, very refreshing.

Three bars for the day making 654 for the year and leaving 346 to go.

Cocktail(s), Cruise, And Me

I decided to just head to midtown and then east to see what I could see. Another fertile area.

648) O’Flanagan’s



Over on 1st Avenue between 65th and 66th at 1215 1st Avenue is this Irish bar. It has a good sized dark wood bar, pretty well chipped up, with a paneled wood front and a ledge for your feet. Wood bar chairs, some with dark green vinyl seats but most with black vinyl. Cute little stained glass lights hang over the bar and small ornate stained glass lights hang from the ceiling up front. The tables in the back seem to be lit mostly by the candles that sit on top of them and two good-sized plasma televisions. I counted nine televisions in the bar side of this place, four behind the bar and another three on the front wall. The section of the wall between the French doors that look out onto 1st Avenue has a large, sepia-toned painting of Cassius Clay (he didn’t change his name until later) glowering at the fallen Sonny Liston. Not much else decorating the light yellow walls with paneling going up about waist high. There is a bit of a ledge at the top of the paneling.

There is a good sized dining room with more televisions on the other side of the wall opposite the bar. There is also a back room with a couple of pool tables and a bowling machine but it almost looked like they were just being stored there. Maybe the rearrange the room for private parties because there was a small, unstocked bar back there.

I had a pint of Guinness, breakfast or, in this case, lunch of champions.

649) Becky’s



Between 63rd and 64th Street at 1156 1st Avenue is this very friendly, and very cluttered little bar with walls as covered with stuff as the O’Flannagan’s were bare. The place is actually bigger than it looks initially because it is quite deep, just narrow. A wooden cigar store Indian guards the narrow entrance to the back where there are booths and an area for live music, including karaoke.



The bar is decent sized with a bar rail and light colored wood bar chairs. Eight televisions in front and more in the back The televised just about anything sports related including, while I was there, the left-handed world arm wrestling championships. Whew, doesn’t get much better than that. They have two dozen draft beers and an impressive selection of liquor. A jolly old Santa sits on top of one of the shelves of liquor.

Opposite the bar and up a step or two are interesting tables with pipe legs and a pipe “handle” on one end that made them look, to me at least, like TV trays. Paneled walls give the place a bit of a rec-room look, if you could spend a fortune on decorations. Great framed beer advertisements on the wall and a cool one for Opal cigars. The ceiling is covered with Irish and American flags, soccer posters, and beer and whiskey posters.

A very friendly bar and a very friendly bartender that gave me some suggestions for other bars to visit.

Maeve The Friendly And Accomodating Bartender


She also said I should plug the $5.50 lunch specials and the two-bit chicken wings on Monday’s. Hey, she let me stand behind the bar and have my picture taken with her so I am plugging.

I had a Magic Hat #9.

650) Baker Street Pub



Just down a couple of doors at 1152 1st Avenue on the corner of 63rd Street is this small bar. I was told that it was the original T.G.I. Fridays. If it was I am glad it has reverted back to form. This is also the bar where the opening scenes of Cocktail were filmed with, you guessed it, Tom Cruise. It has a great, dark wood bar and a bar rail. Wood chairs with black vinyl seats. Large stained glass lamps hang from the ornately patterned green tinged tin ceiling. Kind of an interesting décor with wood paneling going part way up the walls, then green tiles with mirrors then yellow paint above that. A partition opposite the bar has a similar design but with ornate metal work with knurled glass. The partition separates the bar from the tables along the wall. There is also a small raised dining area in the back. There are neat tubular shaped lights mounted on the walls.

Pictures of old Ireland decorate the walls. There are also a couple of televisions. Confusingly jumbled but well stocked tiered shelves of liquor in front of mirrors covered with pictures, currency, soccer posters and just stuff. Round drum-tops with Gaelic designs and Guinness ads line the tops of the walls. Narrow blackboards above the mirrors behind the bar announce upcoming soccer and rugby games, brunch specials, and current events. There are blackboards on the wall opposite the bar as well and a large model sits on a window sill. The bartender was very friendly.

Rachel, Another Very Friendly Bartender


It is hard to believe that the evil empire actually got its start here.

I had a pint of Guinness and a generous shot of Jameson’s Irish Whiskey.

651) Brassiere 360


Heading back to the subway I spotted this very nice restaurant and bar. It is at 200 3rd Avenue, right on the corner of 60th Street. It is quite large. I think it was formerly two separate places that were then joined. A curving marble staircase joins the two levels. Nice zinc bar and great globe lights hanging over it as well as throughout the place. Large overhead fans but they were turned off and unnecessary because it was more than adequately air-conditioned. White ceramic looking brick walls and wrap-around windows. I can peer out at the subway entrance so I know I can make it home even if I over indulge a bit. There are also some ceramic like replicas of champagne posters on the walls. There is a good liquor selection and two televisions behind the bar. Another very pleasant bartender and she also gave me some suggestions for bars to try.

Because this place had such a French feel to it I decided to have something a bit more exotic than usual. I ordered a Negroni and, although the bartender didn’t know how to make one she followed my instructions perfectly and it was delicious, and beautiful as well. I fact it was so delicious, and so beautiful, and the bartender was so friendly, that I ended up having three of them.

Michele, The Bartender That Led Me Astray


All and all a really great day with very friendly bartenders. That was four bars for the day bringing the year-to-date total to 651 and leaving 349 to go. Tomorrow I am supposed to be hooking up with a television crew from GTV so I will let you know how that goes.

Williamsburg Redux

I figured I would head back to Williamsburg again because I keep hearing about new places. I am still going to go back later in the day pretty soon because I saw two places that were just opening up as I was leaving today and I know of even more that don’t open until later.

642) Jr. & Son



The first open bar that I got to while wandering up Metropolitan Avenue was this bar that looks like it might have been open forever. Its address is 575 Metropolitan Avenue and is a small place. There were three elderly gentlemen intently watching horseracing on the OTB channel and loudly encouraging their horses while disparaging all the others in the field. That and discussing the regulars who used to show up but don’t anymore provided most of the entertainment. There is a long wood bar with a tile footrest and black bar chairs. Mirrors behind the bar with black silhouettes of champagne bottles, top hats, and martini glasses and dangling white Christmas lights gave this bit of a dive bar somewhat of a festive look. There was also a very large illuminated plastic Budweiser bottle at each end of the bar. Pictures of regulars on the wall opposite the bar and pictures of what looked to be neighborhood boxers on a side wall. Also several pictures of Frank Sinatra and various movie gangsters such as Bogart, Cagney, Raft, and Robinson. Overhead fans with white globe lights hung from the ceiling.

I has a small bottle of Budweiser and headed down the street.

643) Los Prinos



A few bars that I was looking for on Metroplitan Avenue were still not open so I took a bit of a detour to Grand Street. There, at 704 Grand Street was a narrow Spanish restaurant on a wide commercial street. It was so colorful it would have been hard to miss. A small eight-chair L shaped bar with foreign currencies and a single one dollar bill were varnished onto the top. A surprisingly large menu, and not a real cheap place either. They had six octopus dishes plus one octopus appetizer. Bar Man loves octopus and eats it quite often when in Mexico. They also had a small lobster tank that held a couple of good-sized lobsters.

There were just a plain set of shelves behind the bar with a small selection of liquor. A carved wood statue of an old man sits on the bar and a small wooden carrying case for some kind of birds. It was too small for a fighting cock, I think, but maybe it was just a model. Or maybe they just stuff the cock in there.

The décor in here is really interesting. Kind of 3D papier-mâché walls that convey the sense of being in a jungle up front and more like being in a small village in the mountains in the back. There is another room further back that has a large round table suitable for a family get-together or a gathering of friends. The ceiling is divided into three-foot square panels separated by wood frames. Each panel has a colorful, somewhat primitive style painting with subject matter ranging from conga drums to fighting cocks to a horse drawn carriage. Above the bar was an overhang that had carved leaves underneath but gave the bar area the look that it was inside a little cabin.

Mostly Spanish and Mexican artists on the jukebox. It was a very interesting and pleasant place. I couldn’t really engage in a conversation because nobody in there seemed to speak much English. That was why I couldn’t really find out what that little carrying case was for. This is another place that I would like to return to and try the food.

I had a bottle of Corona served in a little wine glass.

644) Blue Lady Lounge



At 769 Metropolitan Avenue is this bar that kind of looks like it is closed even when it is open. The lower half of the windows are covered with red curtains as is the door. There is a large light wood topped bar with a dark red front to it. The bar encloses the serving area. The shelves behind the bar look kind of like they are homemade. They have a decent selection of liquor though. There is also a toaster oven, an espresso machine, and a microwave back there. A sign said that you could get a free pizza or a hotdog with your drink. Nobody else seemed to be having one though so I too decided to pass.

Multi-colored Christmas lights are strong somewhat haphazardly from the silver-gray ceiling and there are also a lot of ceiling fans with lights. A decent jukebox and a plain wooden floor. Nothing pretentious about the place, just a good hanging out joint. Good prices, $2 shots and $1.50 cans of Pabst should keep those on a budget happy. There are a few PCs up front but you could hardly call this an internet café.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

645) The Pour House



There is a nice old wooden bar but nothing fancy. They also offered free hotdogs with your drinks if you want them. There is a pool table in the black that has a blue felt top and a Sopranos pinball machine in the corner. They also have a table version of a Ms. Pac-Man machine. There were a couple of neat little lamps behind the bar that reminded me of miniature versions of the one the Old Man won in the movie A Christmas Story.

Kelly Rae, The Bartender, And The Little Lamps


Red plastic star lights hung over the bar. Kind of mustard colored walls with wood paneling going about half-way up. Overhead fans with somewhat scary lights underneath hang from the slate blue ceiling. There is a lounge in the back that looks like the basement of a fraternity house, or like my place would look if it wasn’t for the Mysterious Chinese Woman. There was a nice eclectic mix on the jukebox ranging from Bobby Darin to The Pretenders. There are pictures of what I take to be regulars on the wall but they are done in an artistic, almost surrealistic style. A couple of bizarre looking sculptures in the front window give you pause when first entering but all in all it is just a friendly neighborhood place that draws somewhat of an arty crowd.

646) The Subway



This was one of the places that I specifically wanted to visit today and now it was open. It is on 527 Metropolitan Avenue and you can’t get more convenient to public transportation. Several people recommended this place to me and I am glad they did, although I would probably have found it anyway. It would be hard to miss because this is the subway stop I usually use. This place actually does manage to look a bit like a subway station with dark green plastered walls. The wood bar has a chipped varnish finish and there are chrome bar chairs with black vinyl seats and backs. As you might imagine the walls are plastered with subway signs. The wall opposite the bar has a painting of two subways, mysteriously above ground, snaking out of the city.



Glass shelves in front of mirrors behind the bar hold the liquor selection. They have six draft beers but this looks to be more of a Budweiser and shot kind of place. There is paneling going about a third of the way up the walls and underneath the picture of the subways is a ledge to set down your drinks. Overhead fans keep the air moving but they seemed to have a bit of a problem with their air-conditioner. It was being looked into though.

If you head to the bathrooms and just keep going through the narrow passageway you enter another narrow room with red brick walls and a large subway map on the window. There are some booths, a couple of couches, and a pool table with nice looking red lights hanging over it.

This place is definitely convenient to public transportation. The bartender said they draw a neighborhood crowd and lot’s of friendly people. She was friendly enough and even let me get behind the bar to get a better picture of the subways on the wall.

Crystal, The Accomodating Bartender


I had a draft Brooklyn Pilsner.

647) El Moderno



It was a bit too warm in The Subway and I felt like cooling down a little before hoping on the subway so I stopped next door to this Mexican restaurant with a bar. It was a halfway good idea. It was cool in there but the salsa that I got with my chips was hot enough to cause me to break a sweat. I ate it all up though. Maybe I should have had a hotdog earlier. There is a light wood bar with a footrest of the appropriate height and width. People sometimes ask me why I feel compelled to talk about brass rails and footrests. Believe me, if you spend as much time in bars as I do they can be very important. They had wooden bar chairs with interestingly patterned fabric seats that feature, for some reason, fruits, fruit syrups, jams, and marmalades. Nothing special behind the bar but they did have one whole shelf of tequilas, at least 20 different kinds. Not too shabby for just a corner Mexican restaurant.

The walls were white and there were aqua, pale green, and white drapes that closed off another area with a few tables but a fair amount of floor space. Windows look out on the busy Metropolitan Avenue and a pocket park across the street. They had a pretty standard Mexican restaurant menu but this was a good place to end the day and it was also right next to the subway.

I had a margarita, straight up with salt, and it was very good. Much better than the syrupy things you get in a lot of much more upscale bars.

A good day today, hitting six bars making 647 for the year and leaving 353 to go.

Wobbly in Williamsburg

Well, I headed back to Williamsburg and made another minor dent in the numerous bars over there. I need to go a bit later in the day next time though because many of them don’t open until then. Although I didn’t make much of a dent in the bars, they made a dent in me. Once again, Bar Man failed to show the proper restraint.

637) Teddy’s Bar And Grill



I wandered down Bedford but didn’t see any bars that were open other than the ones I had been to yesterday. I stopped back into Spike Hill and the bartender said I should check out Berry Avenue, just a block away. I did and the first place that I came across was Teddy’s on the corner of 8th Street. It is an old bar with a mix of Williamsburg’s old-timers and younger, newer arrivals. Good sized wooden bar with a foot rest that is too narrow to be useful. Black metal bar chairs with black vinyl seats and backs. Two brass beer stations with nine draft beers sit on the bar. A large, ornate wood back to the bar replete with large mirrors and, for some reason, a large clock mounted dead center. A decent liquor selection and racks from which hang stemware under wooden shelves on each side. Televisions at each end of the bar and signs invite you to watch Monday night baseball games and drink discounted Brooklyn Brewery beverages. Sounds like a mighty fine idea to me.

Large windows look out onto Berry Avenue and there is a stained glass band at the top with “Peter Doelger’s Extra Beer” spelled out in gray on a pale green background. I am not sure what it means though.



Translucent white lights of varying shapes hang over the bar from the silver tin ceiling. One shelf behind the bar holds a bunch of stuff including a bust of an Indian maiden decked out in Mardi Gras gear and a colorful Mexican style box holding a few plastic skull. A big sculpted bear head glowers out over the front half of the bar. A large blackboard colorfully displays the wine selections. Lots of tables and chairs line the walls and a few pictures on the back wall round out the décor. The clock was ticking, or at least running, so I moved along.

I had a draft Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

638) Oznot’s



A block away, still on Berry Avenue and on the corner of 9th Street was this somewhat innocent looking place. Looks can be deceiving. It is a neat little Moroccan restaurant with a small, elaborate mosaic covered bar up front. It kind of looks like there should be incense burning in here but, thankfully, there wasn’t.

Large windows and a widowed entryway look out on Berry and smaller windows look out on 9th Street. Colorful patterned tiles behind the bar with clear shelves holding a decent liquor selection. Too decent, it turns out. An array of tea boxes decorated with colorfully gowned Asian women add to the décor. Kind of Swedish modern bar chairs and smaller ones sit at the tables in this fairly small place. The floors are kind of a plain, grayish looking plywood and the wall opposite the bar is gray is well with a couple of mirrors with interesting looking figurine lights mounted on top of them.



The back wall is yellow with an oval mirror. The ceiling is yellow painted tin with a couple of arches, one brown up front and a wavy blue one in back. White globe lights hang over the bar and a few lights in differing styles hang elsewhere. A couple of interesting looking lights sit on the bar including one that looked a bit like a cross between a fan and an electric heater.

I had a bottle of Argang 2004 Stark Porter. This is from D. Carnegie & Co., a Swedish brewery. It is supposedly made from the original 1836 recipe and was very good indeed, dark, heavy, a bit of coffee and chocolate flavor. It wasn’t too strong, 5.5%, but it was big. One pint, 9 ounces. I believe. Enough to keep me there long enough to get into even more trouble. I spotted a nearly empty bottle of Metaxa, a Greek brandy that is one of my favorites. The same company also makes a good ouzo. I asked the bartender if that was all they had and she said she thought so. Well, I figured it couldn’t do me too much damage so I ordered a glass. Turns out they did have more so after I drained about half of what I was served she brought out the new bottle and topped it off. And then I had another one. The bartender, Katharine, turned out to be from Minneapolis, Bar Man’s home town.

Katharine, The Generous Bartender


Whew. It was a good combination, the beer and the brandy, but not the smartest thing to do in only your second bar of the day. The Neil Young playing on the sound system didn’t encourage me to leave either, he is one of my favorites.

639) Fada



This place was a couple of blocks away on Driggs Avenue (another good avenue for bars) and 8th Street, a French bistro with kind of a simulated tin ceramic top with a wood front but nowhere to but your feet. The walls were kind of a simulated tobacco-stained yellow, giving it that authentic look, with a bit of exposed brick. I felt like I should be smoking a cigarette. It was a nice enough place with barstools with green vinyl seats. A low partition topped with glass with etched floral designs opposite the bar separates it from the little tables against the walls.

Lily, The Charming Bartender


I couldn’t have a cigarette so I did the next best thing, I had a glass of Pernod with a bit of water.

640) Blu Lounge



Just diagonally across the street was this bar. I tried to pawn of the writing of the review to a woman sitting at the bar and was somewhat successful. What follows is what I can decipher from her notes:

The best thing about Blu is the feel (well, after the delicious flavored martinis that is). You feel like you are in a cool place. Does feel a bit like Whiskey A Go Go, love it, love it, love it.”

She wrote more but I cannot decipher it. I wonder how many flavors of martinis she had tried. We had a long rambling conversation so it was a fun stay.

My New Friends - Send Me Your Names


However my powers of observation, to say nothing of my concentration, was fading fast about this time. There is a big back room with a lounge-like look to it. Lot’s of 1950’s style pinups on the walls. There were candles on the bar and an industrial pipe sized bar rail.

Angela (Her Name I Remembered) The Bartender

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

641) The Abbey



Well, never being one to say enough, I headed to The Abbey at 536 Driggs Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets. Several people had mentioned this place so I felt compelled to drop in. I am glad I did. This is a deep, dark place with bright red lights hanging over the bar. There is a pool table and a pinball machine in the back. It does have a medieval feeling to it. Again, I passed off my writing duties to the heavily tattooed and a work in progress bartender Nicole, aka Miss Pie.

Miss Pie, Front


Miss Pie, Back


“Good Music, Good Pool, Good People. ‘It ain’t no church.’ The oldest bar in Williamsburg reflected by the old charm and ambience. Stained glass reflects the red lights as the core of regulars and Williamsburg tourists knock back a few and chat about whatever. Late night crowd and happy hours that keep you there well into your bedtime. Come by for one and you’ll stay for one too many."

Well, I can see how it would be easy to stay for one too many, but Bar Man was already at that point when he walked in. I had a Tanqueray and tonic and just wobbled out of Williamsburg and back on home to Brooklyn. Thank goodness the subway was close.

Greatest American

Bar Man is humbled:

Greatest American

Wandering in Williamsburg

I decided to head to Williamsburg today. It was nice and sunny and I wanted to take a peak at Duff’s, even though I knew it would be closed, at least until later than I planned on sticking around. I couldn’t really have a drink there anyway, got to save it for August 20th. Luckily I live in a neighborhood full of subways so I just hopped the G train.

632) Mugg’s Ale House



Right on the corner of Bedford and 10th Street is this well-known old bar that has been in Williamsburg since before Williamsburg became hip. A bit of a sparse, but nonetheless loud, crowd of regulars. Friendly enough group. They were showing a replay of the Coney Island Hotdog Eating Contest on one of the televisions so that became a topic of conversation. We were lamenting the retirement of some of the old-timers who just can’t compete with the new champion. Takeru Kobayashi had won it for the fifth year in a row with 49 hotdogs. Last year he set the record with 53 ½. The American record, by comparison, is a rather paltry 32. Of course that is held by Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas and is the woman’s world record. Ah, the things that hold one's attention in a bar on an early Sunday afternoon.

There is a nice old wooden bar with a black and white mosaic foot rest that matches the rest of the floor. Plain wood bar chairs. They have a lot of beer offerings with about 30 on tap. They had two pumps for cask conditioned ales but none were available. The bartender said they don’t sell well when the weather is warm. They also have a nice selection of single malt scotches and small batch bourbons as well sitting on tiered shelves behind the bar, above the beer glasses and in front of the mirrors. A couple of blackboards display some of the beer selections. There are a lot of coolers with glass doors behind the bar that hold their ample selection of bottled beers.

There are tables along the wall opposite the bar and separated from it by wood partitions topped by bright brass rails. Booths are in the back. The walls are mostly dark wood paneling with a band of light yellow cement just below the ornate tin ceiling that is painted tan. Little white Christmas lights ring the place at the top of the paneling and just below them hang a large assortment of beer mugs and steins. Assorted beer coasters also decorate the walls. There is a Soprano’s pinball machine in one corner and a great jukebox. Dr. John was playing most of the time I was there. All and all a fine place to hang out.

I had a draft Delirium Tremors, a Belgian style beer.

633) Spike Hill



Moving along down the avenue a bit to 184 Bedford I spotted a few more bars. The first one I came to was this one and there was an interesting coincidence. The bartender, who was extremely busy because the place was packed, also works at Duff’s sometimes.

Christina, The Bustling Bartender


We chatted about that place and even though she doesn’t work on Saturdays she said she would try to stop by Duff's on August 20th for my 750th. When I say she was busy I mean she was really busy. She barely had time to stop for a moment so I could take her picture. The food looked great and it appears that this must be the place to come for Sunday brunch.

There is a dark wood bar and bar stools. A brick wall behind the bar and some very ornate woodwork, somewhat reminiscent of a large fireplace mantle. The narrow shelves on each side of the mirror and the shelves in front of the mirror hold a large selection of single malt scotches, small batch bourbons, and a few Irish whiskies. Lot’s of liquor and a display of their bottled beer selection (quite extensive) sit on shelves on each side of the “mantle.” There are a couple sets of antlers on the wall but, because the heads were missing, I am not sure what kind of an animal they were from. Something kind of small though. Large white globe lights hang over the bar.

Opposite the bar is a ledge with stools in front for additional drinking room. The wall is covered with mirrors advertising beers. In the back were dark, semi-enclosed booths for a more private eating and drinking experience. Looks like it would be a real nice place to drop into for brunch sometime.

I had a draft Weihenstephan,, a German wheat beer.

634) Rosemary’s Greenpoint Tavern



Just next door is this interesting place. To say it is a bit eclectic would be a vast understatement. It is a narrow, dark place with a plain wooden bar and a black foot rest. The bar chairs are black metal with red vinyl seats and backs. The floor is a dark linoleum tile. The lower half of the walls are dark paneling and the top is painted red. Opposite the bar are little booths with black seats with red backs and gray Formica topped tables. The bartender was an amiable guy with a bit of a biker look to him. So far so good, a typical bar like many others.

But, the ceiling is covered with baskets of brightly colored flowers, butterflies, red, white, and blue shiny stars, and a couple of eagles. And when I say covered, I do mean covered. White Christmas lights are strong from the tops of the walls and red hats with stars hang from them. More garlands of flowers drape the mirrors behind the bar that is stacked with Styrofoam cups. Apparently one of the draws is that you can get large amounts of draft beer in them for reasonable prices. It was the bar’s fiftieth anniversary so I asked the bartender if the decorations were special for that. He said no, they were from the Fourth of July (except for the flowers, which are permanent). Apparently they change the decorations for different holidays. He said I should check back for Halloween.

I had a Dewar’s and soda.

635) Zebulon



Down towards Duff’s at 258 Wythe Street is this jazz club with a nice little bar. And it was open on a Sunday afternoon. Just a plain wooden bar with no foot rest or bar rail. Whilte globe lights are suspended over the bar. A tin ceiling and a dark wooden floor. When we got there sitar music was playing and that was followed by mournful guitar music. Soon to change though. There is a large oil painting of a crusader next to the bar in the front, badly in need of repair. The stage is in the back and music starts at 10:00 P.M. A bit late for the Bar Man to be boogying these days, especially so far from home. There are a lot of album covers on the walls and a lot of albums along with CDs by the DJ set-up.



I spotted a Frank Zappa album cover and started talking to one of the bartenders, Terezka, about it.

The Bartenders, Terezka and Maria


It turned out that Terezka, along with the owner, were great Frank Zappa fans and he had a number of his albums. Bar Man has about a dozen of them but he had several that I didn’t have and started playing some. Now that was great, sitting there drinking, listening too and talking about Frank Zappa.

I had a draft Bass ale.

636) Ceol



I took the subway back to my neighborhood where they were having a Bastille Day street fair. The Mysterious Chinese Lady and I were hoping to stop into Bar Tabac to get some mussels but as we were walking there this bright green place jumped out at me. It turns out that it is new and was formerly Smithwicks.

Samantha, The Bartender At The New Ceola


Aside from the new paint and some changes to the back dining room it is the same as it used to be so I won’t go into any details. This is the first time though that I have been able to count the same place as two different bars. Might not be the last though. It seems that in New York bars are either around forever or they change hands fairly quickly.

I had a Dewar’s and soda.

We couldn’t get into Bar Tabac though, it was too crowded. Wandered around the fair a bit and lost the Mysterious Chinese Lady in the crowd, or maybe she just went poof. One never knows about her.







A fun day in a neighborhood relatively new for me. It isn’t that far by subway though so I will be visiting Williamsburg again. Lot’s more bars over there.

I hit five bars for the day bringing my total for the year to 636 and leaving 364 to go.

A Peculierly Good Day

It started out being a pleasant enough day and I thought I would take a stroll down to Greenwich Village to visit a few old haunts, particularly the Peculier Pub. There was a bit of a street fair going but it wasn’t too crowded. Later in the day there were a few showers and that packed the bars up a bit. It was a fun day though and somewhat nostalgic as well.

628) Village Lantern



A venerable old institution at 167 Bleeker Street, between Sullivan Street and Thompson Street. It has good entertainment in the evening and the Italian food is reported to be very good. There is also a downstairs lounge that I didn’t get a look out. It has been around for a long time and looks it age. A really beat-up wooden bar with a brass rail. Dark wood and metal chairs with black vinyl cushions on some of them. Fairly plain wooden cabinetry behind the bar with glass shelves holding the glasses in the wooden spaces that flank three mirrors. There are tiered shelves in front of the mirrors holding the liquor selection and a glass shelf in front of them holds some of the bottles of their better stuff, including a bottle of Johnny Walker Gold Label. Televisions on each end of the bar are showing a Boston/Baltimore baseball game. The wall opposite the bar is brick and there are little niches in it that, I presume, hold candles latter in the evening. Tables and booths line the wall and there are gray leather banquettes in the back where some kind of renovation was going on. I had to wait a bit for my beer because some tourists with limited English skills were taking a long time trying to decide what kind of vodka they wanted to shots of. They kept going by color and then rejecting the selection when they found out what it was. Ah, red one. Watermelon, no, green one. They finally had shots of Smirnoff. Go figure.

I had a Hoegaarden with a slice of lemon. Quite refreshing.

629) Peculier Pub



Ah, memories of the old days. Friends of mine and I used to go to this place when it was located on West 4th Street where the Slaughtered Lamb is now located. Now it is at 145 Bleeker. Sometime ago the owner, Tommy, got an offer too good to refuse and relocated to this much larger space. You walk down a few steps and you are in a fairly dark cavernous space with wooden booths and a lot of bottle cap art (yes, bottle cap) and beer memorabilia on the walls.





They have a huge selection of beers, we are talking close to 500, and bartenders that know quite a bit about them. They used to have to take and pass a devilishly difficult test devised by Tommy if you wanted to stay employed. Don’t know the difference between a double and a triple bok, and when it is traditionally made, better study up a bit. Luckily you don’t have to know the answers to drink here. Strangely enough, with all the beers being offered, Tommy says he sells more Budweiser than everything else combined. Coors Light must run a close second though. This is because it is usually packed with NYU students who, one can only assume, don’t know any better because it isn’t any cheaper than the good stuff.

There is a great old bar with a black foot rest and some really neat porcelain beer stations sitting on it and all kinds of taps behind it.

Monique, The Friendly Bartender: Has Not Yet Taken The Test


Little blue shaded lights hang over the long end of the bar and little round Chinese style lights with blue stars hang over the short end. Ceramic cats, mirrors, and stained glass above the old wooden shelves holding the liquor behind the bar.

The owner keeps saying he is going to retire, but I have been hearing this for years. I guarantee you the place will not be the same if he does because he is the beer-master and I doubt if he could be replaced. Get here while you can because it won’t be here, at least as it is now, forever. Tommy gave me a shirt for old times sake and bought me my first (oops, more than one again) beer. We go back a long way. I was at his one-year anniversary party at his old place.

I had a Pere Jacques to start, a dubbel brewed by Goose Island Brewery in Illinois. Now, if you worked here you would have to know what a dubbel is. For starters, it is a Belgian abbey style beer. It was very good and was the owner’s recommendation. I followed this up with a Kelpie Seaweed Ale that, yes, is made with seaweed. It tastes better than it sounds, but you definitely get a taste of the sea. It is brewed in Scotland by Heather Ale LTD. Now the theory goes that in the 1800s alehouses on the coast of Scotland brewed there beer with malted barely that was grown on fields fertilized by seaweed. This gave the barley a specific flavor that is now being recreated by adding fresh seaweed to the mash tun. Not sure if I buy this. Most stuff doesn’t really taste like what you use to fertilize it. Anyone for a cow-pie porter?

630) Red Lion



Staying on Bleeker, I never get off it today, at 151 Bleeker, on the corner of Thompson Street, is another bar that has been around for awhile. Places are starting to pack up now because it is raining. The first thing I noticed was more bottle-cap art. Must be the work of a local artist. There is another beat up bar in here with a black foot rest and bar chairs with padded burgundy seats and backs. Interesting tan patterned glass shaded lights hang over the bar. Old mirrored wood work behind the bar with brass patterned decorations and lions heads on top. Lots of mirrors, glass shelves, and liquor. The small cocktail shakers sitting just behind the bar leads me to believe that they make decent cocktails here. A fair selection of draft beers are pulled from spigots mounted on two inverted U shaped stations. There is a stage up front and televisions on each end of the bar and one large screen television tucked away in the back. Lots of dark wood, high tables and chairs. Kind of Greenwich Village meets English pub. The weather was contributing to the English pub in Greenwich Village ambience. But, all and all, it was fairly pleasant. It looks like it might be clearing up a bit so maybe I will make it home relatively dry.

I had a Dewar’s and soda to take the chill off.

631) Back Fence



I figured I would pop in here for one last one and to wait out the last of the rain. This is on 155 Bleeker, on the corner of Thompson opposite the Red Lion. Strong smell of wintergreen when I walked in. Maybe the guy at the end of the bar had sore muscles and had applied some kind of liniment. He was busy trying to chat up the bartender by using that sure to score line, “If I was forty years younger.”

Jennifer, The Forty Years Too Young Bartender


Peanuts in shells on the old bar and peanut shells and sawdust on the floor. What’s not to like about this place. You actually get used to the wintergreen pretty quickly. I have smelled worse things in bars. The bar has a black mosaic foot rest and there is a strange looking brown plastic canopy hanging over the bar. There is a small stage in the back and lots of little tables with red and white checked tablecloths. Small paned windows on the two sides facing the streets. It was a decent little bar and a good place to end the day.

I had another Dewar’s and soda and the chill was off.

A fun day with just a spat of rain and I hit four bars bringing my total to 631 for the day leaving me with 369 to go. Still have to hustle a bit to hit 118 more by August 20th. No problem though, I shall prevail.

Done In By Druids

It was a miserable day and I contemplated just staying home. For some reason I got it into my mind that I wanted to visit The Ginger Man though. I guess it was because I was on the east end of 36th Street yesterday and this bar is also on 36th Street, just a bit further west. I put on my rain gear, stuck my cameral in a plastic bag, and headed out.

625) The Ginger Man



This bar can be found at 11 East 36th Street, between Madison and 5th Avenues. There is a long wooden bar with a foot rail and wooden bar chairs. The back of the bar has two large shiny copper panels separated by a cabinet with glass shelves. The shelves hold a good selection of single malt scotches, some brandy bottles, and a nice selection of small batch bourbons. Mounted on the copper panels are the beer taps, thirty on a side.



They have about 200 different kinds of beer here in total, and some fairly exotic selections. Above the taps are mounted a few yard and half-yard glasses but I was told people are discouraged from using them because they are hard to fill and hard to wash. The $150 dollar deposit you have to put down for the privilege of drinking a yard of beer should, indeed, discourage anyone from asking for one. They said this is what they cost them and maybe they are right. I tried to look them up on the internet and could only find them for sale from British companies. Some would ship to the U.S.A. because they couldn’t be insured against breakage. These glasses originated in Britain and were designed so that they could be handed up to stagecoach drivers so they didn’t have to climb down from their seat. Above the glasses is a narrow shelf displaying an impressive collection of beer glasses.

The bartender, Maria, was quite pleasant but semi-camera shy. Initially she didn’t want me to take her picture at all but after I chatted with her a bit she let me take one but only if I did it while she was working. She wouldn’t actually pose for one.

The Semi-Bashful Maria


Dark wood paneling and English pub style booths line the wall opposite the bar and there is a nice lounge in the back with couches and a beer bottle display on the wall. Framed beer and liquor posters are mounted on the front of the drop ceiling over the back area. I particularly liked the one for absinthe. Pernod made the original absinthe and you can see the similarity in the design of the bottle. It was the wormwood that done in absinthe.



I had a Druid Fluid cask conditioned ale from the Middle Ages Brewing Company that is located in Syracuse, New York.

626) McFinn’s



Right across the street at 8 East 36th Street was this relatively new place that had been an Italian restaurant. There is a nice old wooden bar with a black foot rail. Brown wooden chairs with black vinyl seats and backs. Behind the bar is a brick wall with tiered shelves holding the liquor selection. Nice cabinets and three small plasma televisions. The top of the cabinet has all kinds of copper vessels, a couple of signal lamps with green glass fronts, and one wooden grappa barrel. Black and white photos of old Ireland hang on the tan walls. Wraparound banquettes with tables in front for dining against the wall opposite the bar.

It had a very friendly staff that made me feel right at home.

The Not At All Bashfull Bartenders Brona and Ronin


After a bit one of the owners came in and he showed me around a bit, including a nice little upstairs dining area. There is a small bar up there that used to be the downstairs bar when it was still an Italian restaurant. Now it is a place to have a drink either before or after dinner and probably gets a bit of use when the area is used for private parties. There is a small dance floor too.

About half-way through my drink I started to feel really hammered and couldn’t figure out why, It was just my second drink for the day. I figured it out when I got home though. I looked up the Druid Fluid and found out that it has an alcohol content of 9.5%, and I had a 20 ounce pint. On top of that I kind of chugged the last half of it just before I left The Ginger Man.

I had a Dewar’s and Soda.

627) Woo Chon



I headed back toward Penn Station to catch my subway home and passed by this Korean restaurant at 10 West 36th Street that had a small bar up front. It was raining and chilly and I was damp so I decided to stop in to warm up a bit. It was only 3:00 P.M. but seemed much later because it was gray as only New York seems to get when it rains. On top of that I was still a bit tipsy from my Druid Fluid. This little pocket bar, just 5 chairs, hit the spot though. They served hot sake out of something like a coffee urn so I am sure it wasn’t top quality. But then hot sake usually isn’t. They also gave me three little dishes of kimchee so they helped to warm me up as well. A little corner shelf behind the bar holds the liquor and small blue saucer shaped lights hang over the bar. At my elbow was a bouquet of orange bulbed flowers in a vase with a Korean design. The flowers were fake though.

At the other end of the bar was a glass container of a clear liquid over ginseng roots and Bar Man couldn’t help himself and ordered a small bottle.



Big mistake. It cost twice as much as the larger bottle of sake and tasted like medicine. Oh well, live and learn.

Bar Man Preparing to "Enjoy" His Gingseng Liquor


I had a bottle of hot sake and small bottle of the ginseng liquor.

A fun day with three bars hit bringing my total for the year to 627 and leaving me with 373 to go.

Picture This, Or Not

For some reason I had less success than usual getting bartenders to pose for pictures. Actually, only the bartenders in two places didn’t want their picture taken. In one place the bartender was so wigged out that I don’t think she could have stood still long enough to have her picture taken. More on her later.

619) Hudson Place



A swanky looking place on 36th Street and 3rd Avenue. It has a tannish marble topped bar with a wood paneled front and foot rest. The foot rest was a bit too narrow to use comfortably though. Bad design. The bar chairs were black with black vinyl seats. There were several place settings on the bar with stemware and linen napkins. Plenty of places were left open for us drinkers though. Fresh peanuts in a bowl were set in front of me so I had a bit of lunch too (peanuts are one of the basic food groups). Candles were being lit and placed on the bar as I sipped and nibbled.

The back of the bar faces out onto 36th Street and two windows, the lower half with rippled glass, look out upon it. You can’t really see much though because orange awnings cover most of the clear top part, just a narrow strip gives you a view of the top of the occasional passing truck. Tiered shelves in front of the windows hold the liquor and there is a mirror between them separated by a flat wood column that has parchment shaded lamps mounted on them and two levels of shelves on top holding wine bottles. There is one of these on the other side of each window as well, for a total of four.

Opposite the bar and separating it from the dining area is a partition with a ledge for drinks and some stools. There is another more intimate looking dining room in the back that looks like a private library; bookshelves, floral patterned banquettes with tables in front, and framed black and white pictures of old New York hanging on the paneled wall.

The bartender was very pretty and very friendly. We chatted quite a bit because the place hadn’t filled up yet. She is from Taiwan and when I mentioned the Mysterious Chinese Woman and my quest she was quite interested. On of the barmen had seen a couple of articles about me in the paper but I still could not convince her to pose. She said she only worked part time and didn’t think she could really represent the restaurant. I think she was just shy.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

620) Earl’s



Up 3rd Avenue a block at 560 is this place decked out to look like a bar in a small town down south. Not that any small bar down south could ever have so much stuff on the walls. It is kind of a neat place though. The bar top is clear plastic covering beer bottle caps and coasters. The décor reminded me of Duke’s (I visited there earlier this year) and then I noticed that the coaster in front of me had “Earl Wuz Here ‘67’” and above that was scrawled “Duke Wuz Here Too.” It turns out that both places are owned by the same people. The front of the bar is plastered with baseball cards, cigar bands, and coasters. The overhang above the bar is covered with 45s (records, not guns). Old movie posters on plastered on the rest of the ceiling that is white painted patterned tin. The walls are covered with sports cards, ticket stubs, and small sports pennants.

Machines behind the bar churn out such drinks as Big Ass Hurricanes, Earl’s Spiked Lemonade, and the Duke-A-Rita. Three levels of shelves in front of a large mirror hold the liquor and also displays the bottled beer selection. Old bumper stickers for Presidential candidates are stuck to the mirror behind the drink machines. The Wallace for President sticker must be a classic. The lights hanging above the bar are in a variety of styles but are all kind of frosted white. The bar chairs are turquoise and sit on black poles so they spin; Whee. There is both a brass rail and footrests on the chairs.

Once again the bartenders declined the opportunity to have their pictures taken for some reason. Oh well, what can you do? I had a draft Allagash served in a jar with a handle. The beer is a Belgian style white and is made by the Allagash Brewery in New England. It was quite good. Allagash makes a wide variety of interesting beers and everyone that I have sampled has been pretty good.

621) Il Sogno



I decided to head over to 2nd Avenue and passed this Italian restaurant with a large outdoor eating area. It is located at 222 39th Street on the corner of a short street heading into the Midtown Tunnel. It is located on the main floor of the Eastgate Tower hotel. I figured I would just pop in for a glass of wine. It had a nice wooden bar with a bar rail and wooden bar chairs that had orange fabric seats. Behind the bar is interesting cabinetry that features a mirror with glass shelves in front holding some of their fancier liquors and a gold statue of a half man, half horse spear bearing warrior. Bar Man is a Sagittarius so he identified. He was also born in the Year of the Monkey, but we won’t form any associations about that. Next to those shelves is a set of cabinets with glass doors that hold even more exotic liquors. Very nice gun-metal gray and blue glass lights hang over the bar.

There were only two people in the place and they were intermittently joined by either the manager. There seemed to be a concerted effort by the two men to get the attractive Russian woman drunk. Nothing like downing shots of tequila to get the afternoon off to a good start. Based upon my personal experience drinking with Russians, both male and female, the woman will be the only one walking out on her own.

I had a glass of Chianti.

622) Bravest



This is a small bar at 700 2nd Avenue on the corner of 38th Street that obviously caters to a clientele made up mostly of firefighters. Most, if not all, of the decorations have do with firefighters. The one exception might be the little bulb-like Chinese lantern lights that ring the rectangular bar with the serving station in the middle. Two ornate copper beer stations, in bad need of polishing, offer up their beer selections. They do have a Bravest Amber Ale, but Bar Man is getting a bit suspicious of small bars that have draft beers named after them. There are all kinds of tributes to firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11 and in other fires. There are also patches on the walls from firefighters from around the world.

The bartender, Leah, was most friendly.

Leah, The Friendly And Charming Bartender


We talked a bit about bars in the neighborhood. It turns out that her family owns Bravest and she lives upstairs. It is nice to run into a family owned and operated bar once in awhile. You don’t see them that often anymore. On a bit of a sadder note, this place used to be Wanda’s Full Moon Saloon. Wanda’s husband was a firefighter who died on September 11th and she renamed the bar in his memory. Leah told me I should try Hook And Ladder down the street and that she knew the bartender on duty. Well, that didn’t turn out quite as I had hoped.

I had a Dewar’s and soda.

623) Hook And Ladder



This bar, that also caters to firefighters, is located down 2nd Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets. Things started out a bit bizarrely when I told the bartender that I had been sent by Leah from Bravest. At first she said she didn’t know her, then when I said it was the bar just up the street her memory got a bit better. Then, when I asked if I could take a picture she started going on about how she had been in public relations, that her pictures were all over the internet, that I just couldn’t come in and start taking pictures of her, whew. When I said that I wasn’t just taking pictures and had only asked her if I could she said I couldn’t just come in and demand that I take her pictures. One of the customers who seemed to know her calmed her down a bit and explained that I had only politely asked if I could take her picture. Then the bartender told me she had only had two hours of sleep and needed to freshen up a bit first. Well, she did duck into the bathroom a couple of times but came out looking pretty much the same as when she went in, just a bit more hyper each time. I think she was high on something other than life. Maybe she just has some really strong coffee. When she got into an argument with a customer about the price of drinks I decided to just dump down my own drink, cut my losses, and head on out the door.

I had a Dewar’s and soda.

624) Park Avenue Hotel



I popped in here on the way back to Grand Central Terminal where I catch my subway home. Bar Man needed the cool, dark, calmness of a classy hotel bar, and I got I found it here. The bartender had no problem with me taking her picture and was most helpful in pointing out some bars that I should include in my quest. Man, what a difference a bartender can make in terms of the comfort level of a bar. I shall now go home a happy man.

Viviana, The Right Bartender At The Right Time


This place was nice and cool on a warm and humid day. It has a small cracked glass top above lavender plastic that was lit from below. Plush padded armrests in the front and a square metal foot rail. Wood bar chairs with silvery gray fabric seats and backs. Light pinkish purple shaded lamps dangling clear beads hang on each side of the dark shelves holding the liquor selection. There was a plasma television showing ESPN news. Plush green banquettes line the wall opposite the bar. Interestingly patterned overhead lights made me think I was drinking under some kind of camouflage netting in a tropical jungle.

They Won't Find Me Under Here


I had a glass of Lois, a refreshing white Austrian wine made from Gruner Veltliner selected from various vineyards in the Kamp valley, it is light and scented. Fermented solely in stainless steel, it has a lovely perfume with good balance and raciness on the palate. It is produced by Loimer Langenlois. I copied that description from the internet, but it seems accurate enough.

Another good day, except for one glitch, hit six bars making 624 for the year and leaving 376 more to go.

A Bitter, But In A Good Way, Day

I had made up my mind to get to the Flatiron Lounge today and, as you will see, I was indeed successful. However, as you might expect, I took the long way around.

613) Blue Water Grill





This is a large seafood restaurant with a fairly small bar with a copper-clad top and a wood paneled front and a narrow bar rail. Dark wood bar chairs have plush red seats and backs with ornamental brass tack heads. A large and somewhat scary looking plant with enormous green leaves and tentacles coming out the top sat at one end of the bar. I kept inching away. Two large copper lighting fixtures hang above the bar. They look a bit like inverted twenty-legged spiders with little red shaded lamps on each foot. Similar, but much smaller fixtures hang on the walls. There are tiered glass shelves behind the bar that hold their decent liquor selection. The bar sits in the middle of the room but is only open on one side. Large dining areas upstairs and downstairs and the place was packed with a late lunch crowd. This is a very well known seafood restaurant that consistently gets great reviews. I have eaten here in the past and the reviews are, indeed, accurate.

It is located across from Union Square Park at 31 Union Square and the space is a converted bank that used to be the Metropolitan Jazz Club. They still have jazz downstairs. It is amazing how much this area has changed over the years. There are all kinds of great restaurants in the area and even one in the park itself (see my review of Luna Park). When you consider that Union Square Park was once so dangerous you wouldn’t even walk through it in the daytime, the turnaround is dramatic. There was a period of about two years when the park was totally fenced in and patrolled by mounted police. When Zeckendorf Towers opened in 1987 the whole neighborhood changed and, unless you were a drug dealer, hooker, or customer, it changed for the better.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

614) Union Square Café



Right around the corner at 21 East 16th Street is this well-known and excellent restaurant with a decent sized wooden bar with a foot rail. The bar chairs are wooden with dark green seats. Most of the people at the bar were eating lunch and drinking iced tea. How pathetic. On the bright side though it made Bar Man feel even more decadent than usual. Ah, how I miss the days of three martini lunches. The bartender admired my Fiji Bitters (the Sportsman’s Beer) hat and asked me what the beer tasted like. Alas, one of the Mysterious Chinese Woman’s sisters bought if for me but failed to bring me a beer. Well, I couldn’t get a beer all the way back from Fiji without drinking it either, so I forgive her.

Michael and Matty, The Friendly Bartenders


There were interesting flying saucer like lights hovering over the bar. The wooden cabinets behind the bar frame mirrors and have glass shelves for liquor, wine, and glasses. Tiered shelves in front of the mirrors hold more liquor and chalkboards announce their beer, wine, and daily specials. I am not sure if I would spend six dollars for potato chips, even if they are hot and garlicky. Heck, for that kind of money I can get a beer, much more nutritious and much better for you. A large fern, much more benign looking than the thing at the last place, sits on one end of the bar. One wall is pretty much covered with various awards from Zagats, the James Beard Society, and other institutions.

Michael, or was it Matty, promised to look me up and take me on a pub crawl one evening. I am looking forward to it.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

615) Wai?Café



Not far away at 583 6th Avenue (does anyone ever call it Avenue of the Americas anymore) is this combination of a café and a bar. The front is set up like a café with the bar in the back. The top of the bar is a mottled blue plastic lit from underneath. It is rimmed with a wide distressed copper looking plastic armrest that matches the front. It is kind of neat, wouldn’t mind having one of my own. No bar rail but the wooden bar stools have plenty of places to hook your heels. The floor is a more interesting than usual tan patterned tile. The walls are bright orange and display the very unusual, and quite bizarre work of Mark Z-Man. It would be worth stopping by here just to take a look. Most of it is for sale.

The back of the bar has shelves in a vaguely religious looking design and it displays the wine and beer selection. No liquor license. There is also a display of miniature corkscrews or, perhaps, corkscrews for very small bottles of wine. Had a most interesting discussion with the bartender about Tom Cruise, Scientology, science fiction, and life in general. I would have liked to stick around but had places to go.

I had a bottle of Sapporo, a decent Japanese beer.

616) Trailer Park





Everybody loves this place at 271 West 23rd between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue, and whats not to love, plastic pink flamingos, Elvis on black velvet pictures, National Enquirer covers, a bowling alley bowling ball return that serves as a table, an actual trailer against one wall and very good margaritas made by the friendly bartender, Amy.

Amy, The Friendly Margarita Maker


We had a very nice talk and she recommended some bars for me in the Williamsburg area. One, Moe’s, has been called to my attention before so maybe I will head that way this week-end. I also need to check out Duff's where I will be celebrating number 750. A couple came in a bit later and we all sat around chatting like old friends.

There is just too much stuff in here to even begin to describe so I will pop in a few pictures and you will get the idea.









I had a delicious margarita and then, because I was having such a good time, a second one. This is another place that I regret I will not be able to get back to until after my quest is complete. Well, maybe I will sneak back again.

617) El Quijote



I headed towards the Flatiron Lounge and passed by this Spanish restaurant across the street from Trailer Par at 226 West 23rd between 7th and 8th Avenues and that I used to go to quite frequently when I lived in the area many years ago. The food and drinks were always great and I was pleased to see that it hasn’t changed, at least as far as the décor and the drinks, I didn't have anything to eat. This is one of the classiest Spanish restaurants in the city and is the real deal, not a new place trying to look old.

The Door To The Men's Room


The bar is old and wooden, has cigarette burns (gosh, seems like so long ago that you could actually smoke a cigarette at a bar) and the varnish was a bit sticky due to the humidity. Glasses being iced in a metal box on top of the bar (always a good sign) and flowers in a vase. There was a black foot rest. The bar chairs have red vinyl tops in various states of disrepair. There is a large antique cash register behind the bar and more Spanish knick knacks than you may ever see again. Ornate stained glass lamps hang over the bar and equally ornate chandeliers hang elsewhere. Orangish pink tinted carriage lights hang behind the bar. There is a mural on the back wall and Don Quixote themed wall paper on the wall opposite the bar. Go here for the food and drinks and plan to spend some time. It is a bit like visiting a Spanish museum

I had another excellently made margarita.

618) Flatiron Lounge



Well, I finally got to where I was headed and it was well worth it. It is located at 37 West 19th Street, right next door to Sala where I went yesterday. It is between 5th and 6th Avenues. There is a lot of dark wood and wrought iron along with banquettes for lounging. The bar is art deco style and is supposed to have come from the Manhattan Ballroom. You walk through a yellow lit tunnel lined with barstools to get to the bar proper, kind of a futuristic Blade Runner approach to a classic old bar.

The Tunnel


The overhead lights are a bit futuristic looking too and the bar stools have black cushions. The red leather banquettes are along the sparkly blue and silver opposite the bar. Classic cabinetry behind the bar that is lit up in yellowish lights. If you love classic cocktails, this is the place to go. Have I ever mentioned bitters? This place has at least four kinds.

The Bitters Selection


Another place where I will return, just for the flights of cocktails that they serve.

John Blue, The Friendly And Uberly Competent Bartender


I had a wonderful time, had a flight of cocktails that included a Ward Eight, an Apple Manhattan, and a Mint Jules (a variation on a mint julep).

My Flight Was Woderful And It Arrived On Time


They were all delicious. Then, because Bar Man has no sense, I topped it off with a sidecar.

My Final Drink For The Day


Oof. Toddle off home I did after this. But it was another good and very fun day with 6 bars hit bringing my total for the year to 618 and leaving me 382 to go.

Back On Track

Back in the city after a bucolic extended weekend in the burbs. I had a great time out there but was worried I was losing my finely honed drinking skills. I figured I better just jump right back on that horse, even if it ended up just being a rocking horse.

607) Mesa Grill



I didn’t really have any specific bars in mind but figured I would just wander around a neighborhood to see what popped up. I headed west on 15th Street after popping out of the subway at Union Square. I didn’t have to go far, just to 102 5th Avenue, before I spotted Mesa Grill. Now this place is quite famous because its owner and chef is the famous and, somewhat infamous, Bobby Flay. He is famous because of his cooking show and somewhat infamous for jumping on a cutting board during an Iron Chef competition. But hey, he worked his way up from being a dish washer in a restaurant so he is okay in my book.

The bar itself is fairly large and has a green slate top with a dark wood front and a brass rail. The bar chairs are dark wood and fairly well worn, I suspect they get a lot of use. Behind the bar are dark cabinets and/or coolers with dark metal doors. On top of that is a tiered shelf that looks like gray slate. Above that are two more shelves of the same material supported by narrow and bright multi-colored narrow triangles. The top shelf holds a somewhat limited selection of bottled beers but there is nothing limited about the liquor selection. That is extensive and top notch. Lots of good tequilas. Even their well tequila is Herradura, not too shabby. The shelving is backed by an arched mirror flanked by pairs of columns. Between each pair of columns are glass shelves holding stemware. On the top of the arched mirror is an oval framed picture of the moon that looks like it could have been taken from a satellite. Punched out narrow pyramid shaped tin shaded lights hang over the bar. Large, industrial strength fans hang from the ceiling and keep the air moving. The walls are pale yellow and pale green and there are large windows looking out over 5th Avenue. The banquettes and cushioned seats up front have an interesting pattern of cowboys riding broncos. Kind of reminded me of a pair of pajamas I had when I was just a little Bar Boy. A row of red columns with alternating bright yellow and green ornate tops march down the center of the place. There are two levels of dining areas and it is a very cheerful looking place.

It wasn’t very busy, first day after a long weekend at lunch time, so I had a chance to talk to the very knowledgeable and similarly minded, at least regarding cocktails, bartender.

Michelle, The Friendly and Knowledgeable Bartender


To Mesa Grill’s credit, they don’t have a martini menu holding to the belief that a martini is a martini and everything else is just some kind of drink served in a martini glass. We also discussed the need for bitters in a Manhattan and how freshly squeezed lime juice is an absolute necessity for a properly made margarita. She said she was from San Francisco and you wouldn’t think about trying to use a mix in a margarita in that city. She said when she came to New York she was surprised at how many bars just use a mix instead. Wow, my kind of bartender. She also made me samples of a couple of the bar's specialty margaritas (shades of La Palapa Rockola) so I tried a frozen cactus pear margarita, very good, sweet and very pink, and a peach margarita on the rocks, not nearly as sweet but very peachy. Might be really good in the frozen version. I had an excellent time and if you can get there when Michelle is on duty try to talk to her about cocktails, it should prove to be very educational and entertaining as well.

I had an excellent margarita, up with a salted rim.

608) BLT Fish





Not too far away at 21 West 17th is this seafood restaurant and bar. The bar itself is L shaped and has a laminated wood grained top and front of black slats. Dark wood captain’s chairs with their own silver foot rests provide comfortable seating. The floor is old looking wood planking. Interesting old looking square glass lamps hang over the bar. Fairly plain metal coolers are behind the bar with what looks to be a fairly small liquor selection sitting on top of a couple of them and wine bottles sitting on a couple more. Two buckets display the bottled beer selection. A large, train station like display shows the wine, beer, cocktail, and raw bar selections instead of arrival and departure times. On each side of that display are shelves holding a fairly large collection of wines, in numbers if not in variety.

Stephanie Pouring My Whale's Tale


As you might expect this is a very nautically themed place with a couple of large swordfish mounted on the walls and all kinds of black and white photos of fishermen with their catches mounted on the brick wall opposite the bar. This is the place to go if you feel like having a Mermaid Martini (Bar Man shudders at the very concept), a Shark Bite, Squid Ink, or a Yellow Submarine.

I had a draft Whale’s Tale beer that I was told is brewed in Nantucket.

609) Cajun



This was a neat place indeed. It is right next to the A, C, E, and ever more popular L line subway at the corner of 16th Street and 8th Avenue. The L line connects Manhattan and the increasingly popular Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Albert Collins, aka “the Ice Man, aka “Master of the Telecaster” was on the sound system and the place really did have a New Orleans flavor to it. This was a great find. I can grab a subway a couple of blocks from where I live and pop up at a reasonable facsimile of a Bourbon Street bar. Only the large windows looking out on 8th Avenue get in the way of the illusion. You got to love this city.

There is a nice wooden bar with a black foot rest and old wooden bar chairs. Lots, and I mean lots, of little red shaded lamps over the bar supported by an ivy covered black pipe. The back of the bar reminded me of a 1950’s style jukebox with pale green lights on each end and an ornate stained glass arch that is lit from behind. All kinds of Mardi Gras style masks hang on the wall behind the bar along with an interesting composition that includes a shrunken head, a small silver saxophone, and a New Orleans style street lamp. Opposite the bar and separated from it by a wood partition are little tables and chairs and a wooden bench. Bead festooned lights hang over them and there are wrought iron trellises draped with little white lights and flowers give the area a garden look. A mirror with shutters on the wall kind of makes it look like you could look out on a back alley somewhere.



There is a nice dining area in the back and the camera shy bartender told me they have a very nice Sunday brunch with live jazz.

It turned out that the music I was listening too was from Jazz 88, a radio station that was playing music from the Montreal Jazz Festival. Dr. John was playing when I left after having a Tanqueray and tonic. I was going to have the Cajun Black Gold draft beer but was told that it was just Michelob with a different name. I give credit to the bartender for honesty.

610) Chelsea Grill





I headed down 8th Avenue a bit to 135 8th Avenue and popped into this place with a black linoleum leather textured topped bar with a light wood armrest and footrest. The brick wall behind the bar had a mirror mounted on it that was draped with a fall-like looking wreath of gold leaves and red flowers. Large chests of ice hold a very ample supply of beer. Tiered shelves hold a large supply of liquor. The wall opposite the bar is covered with pictures of old New York. A Silver Streak bowling machine right behind me did indeed convey a credible feeling of having a drink in a bowling alley. My hat is off to Silver Streak for their great, and loud, sound effects. There is a good sized dining area in the back and a nice looking and large dining area behind that. Track lighting illuminates the place and there are little round tables with chairs in the bar area. A skeleton with a large hollow head to hold tips sits next to the cash register behind the bar. The two television at the ends of the bar were showing lacrosse, something a bit different.

Edita The Friendly Bartender Who Prefers Bottled Beer To Draft


I had a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale.

611) Rocking Horse



At 182 8th Avenue between 19th and 20th Streets is this extremely popular Mexican bar and restaurant. It has a pale green plastic topped bar with a dark stone-like tile front. The bar stool has big black seats to accommodate even those suffering from steatopygia and footrests for your feet. Lots of parchment-like tube shaped lights hang over the bar. I kind of felt like I was in some kind of an incubator and large moths or something would emerge from them. Modern looking light wood shelves divided into cubes hold the liquor and wine. Slate colored tile floors and mostly vibrant orange walls. One half wall semi-separates the dining area from the bar area and it is a brilliant mosaic of blues and greens. It has a narrow rectangular opening and a plant with small green leaves sits in a dark vase and is lit from above.

Interesting abstract pictures hang on the wall opposite the bar and lining the wall are metal topped tables with red plywood and gray metal chairs. The pictures are lit by small track spot lights. There is a dining area in the back

Slow moving overhead fans can’t quite compete with the windows that open onto 8th Avenue on this humid day. There were a lot of people sitting at the tables on the sidewalk and nobody out there seemed to mind the heat.

I had a Maker’s Mark Manhattan. Very well made by the Duane, the friendly bartender.

Duane The Friendly And Competent Bartender


Bar Man Toddling Off


612) Sala



I was heading kind of home and also wanted to stop at the Flatiron Lounge that was recommended to me by Michelle at the Mesa Grill. She told me the place specializes in classic cocktails and the owners are somewhat fanatical about them Unfortunately it was closed for the day but right next door on 19th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue was this very nice tapa bar. The marble topped bar was covered with small candles. A large wooden arch behind the bar surrounds the mirrored wall. Tiered shelves hold the liquor and there are a few bottles of wine and some glasses as well. Below that are coolers with ominous looking black doors and silver locks. These are flanked by wooden wine racks. The walls are kind of a strategically chipped red plaster over brick. A very ornate silver tin ceiling. Really neat beaded lamps hang over the bar and elsewhere. Lots of candles on small round tables. The food smelled great and the mint being crushed for the drinks was somehow rejuvenating. This is another place I will have to make a point of visiting again. I even got a small bowl of olives to eat with my drinks.

I ordered a Caipirinha and got an almost full one but the bar ran out of cachaca, a key ingredient. Cachaca is a liquor made out of distilled unrefined sugar cane juice. It is not, as many people think, a type of rum. Rum is distilled from molasses. In Brazil there are over 4000 brands of cachaca (they really like it). Anyway, I got my drink for free and then felt guilty so I ordered a Mojita, which is made from rum.

Lesley Making and Shaking My Caipirinha


A very good day, hitting six bars and having a lot of interesting conversations. I even have a few more bars in the area to go back and visit tomorrow, the Flatiron Lounge chief among them. Anyway, that makes 612 bars for the year and leaves me with but 388 to go

No Pictures In Princeton

I made a tactical error today. We were going to go to Princeton for lunch but my sister-in-law said the restaurant was in a shopping mall so I didn’t think there would be a bar there. Big mistake. The restaurant is very classy and it has a very nice bar. I was going to download some pictures from the internet but they have changed the bar somewhat since the ones I found were taken, or I got the wrong Big Fish. I will just have to make do with a narrative description and hope I get back one day to take pictures of my own.

606) Big Fish

This is located in the MarketFair shopping mall on Route 1 near Princeton, New Jersey. The bar is pretty good sized and is shaped like the prow of a boat with the bartender inside. It has a light wood top and sides with a dark metal bar rail. The chairs at the end of the bar look a bit like conga drums while the rest are light wood that matches the bar. The floor is wood as well and the same color. A very large fish looms over you atop the blue enclosed serving area at the blunt end of the bar. Wrought iron supports on top of the bar are bent over and joined at the top. It kind of reminded me of the hull of a boat so maybe the effect is supposed to be that of a capsized boat and I am sitting underwater. But then the fish that is looming over me would have to be swimming upside down. The bartender didn’t seem to know what the intended affect what so I remain confused. Narrow shelves are attached to the structure and these hold the bottled beer selection and fish themed sculptures, vases, and a beer stein. Half a dozen small televisions are suspended from the ceiling over the bar but are positioned in such a way that, at least from where I was sitting, you couldn’t get a clear view of any of them. No matter, there are three larger televisions on the wall at the prow end of the bar and these you can see very well.

Black booths with very high backs line the wall on one side of the bar under a large colorful mural with a mean looking blue fish as its main feature. This was a very nice bar and restaurant. Not at all what you would expect to find in a shopping mall.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

Just one bar for the day bringing my total to 606 and leaving 394 to go. Got to start hustling a bit to make number 750 on Saturday, August 20th. That bar will be Duff's at North 3rd Street and Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. The bar is just one block from the East River and you can see the Manhattan skyline from there. It also has a deck out back and the owner, Jimmy Duff, said maybe he could arrange for a barbecue. Usually he doesn't open until 6:00 P.M. but he said he may arrange to open a bit early for this event. I will provide more information as the date approaches.

Crowbar Inn

No bars today so I thought I would take the opportunity to model a tee-shirt that was sent to me by Andy Wakeford. He heard about me as a result of an interview that I did on KFGO-Fargo. His parents once owned the Crowbar Inn, which was located in the small town of Osnabrock, ND. He said it was the typical, rural North Dakota Bar. The Crowbar Inn, unfortunately, is no more. It was opened in September of 1985 and after changing hands several times in the mid-1990s it was gutted by a fire in 1999. Mr. Wakeford was kind enough to send me a tee-shirt that he managed to dig up.



Pretty cool looking tee-shirt. Too bad the bar is gone. Thanks so much Andy, I really appreciate it.

Some Hope In New Hope

I headed out to New Jersey for the July 4th Holiday and the celebration of a couple of birthdays, my brother-in-law’s (the one who helped me start my quest) and my sister-in-law’s who was hosting the week-end. My role was to be the grill-master for two days. And I was, smoking chickens, ducks, sausages, and clams. Quite a bit of fun. I got there Friday afternoon and after doing a bit of shopping we headed to New Hope, Pennsylvania for dinner. While the Mysterious Chinese Woman and my sister-in-law went shopping beforehand, I popped into a couple of places.

603) Triumph Brewery



This is another working brewery in New Hope, right by the railroad tracks, that sells their beer on the premises. And quite good beer it is too. There is a large black wrap-around bar with the serving stations in the middle. There are several sets of modern looking beer taps sitting atop. The foot rest looks a bit like model railroad tracks with that third rail in the middle. The bar chairs are kind of a Swedish modern design, light wood, with blue fabric seats, some of which show signs of beer spillage. Behind the bar the wall is knotty pine and there are glass shelves holding glasses and a dark wood cabinet and shelf holding the wine and liquor selection. A chalkboard behind the bar lists the available beers and another larger one on a side wall lists both the available and the soon-to-be available beers along with the alcohol content, the tank it is being or was brewed in, the date it was or will be ready, and the original gravity. The menus give a brief overview of the brewing process and is worth looking over.

Heather, the Friendly Bartender
Graciously serving me beer and samples till the rain stopped.


The bar and dining area are built into a large brick warehouse-like structure and the brewing facilities, along with one of the dining areas, are upstairs. Silver brewing tanks, catwalks, and the high ceiling add to the bar in a brewery atmosphere. Flowers and pictures on the walls in the dining areas make them more intimate and less brewery-like.

I had the Bengal Gold IPA and then, because it was raining when I finished, had the Gothic Ale that was a hand-pull ale. They were both very good. I also got to taste both the Honey Wheat and the Heffeweizen. They were both very good but the Heffeweizen was especially good and quite different, almost a banana-like aroma and taste to it. I decided I would come back and get a growler to go after dinner.

604) Mother’s



Mother’s is on 34 North Main Street and it has a small area for the bar but a much larger attached dinning area. The bar has a light wood top with a granite-like plastic front. Almost the same type of chairs that they had at Triumph. There is a white ceramic brick wall behind the bar with a dark wooden shelf holding the liquor. Wooden racks for glasses hang overhead and metal-shaded industrial like lights illuminate the bar. Festive July 4th banners are strung from the overhang above the bar that serves as the floor to the upstairs dining area. The ceiling is beamed. There are some small tables by the windows opposite the bar. There is a television at one end of the bar and a pool tournament was being televised. The bartender, Vince, was quite interested because he said he was a pool player himself. I was telling him about a couple of times I was in Europe and the major snooker tournament was being aired almost continually. So we chatted about pool and snooker a bit, although I am a terrible pool player.

Vince, the Pool Playing Bartender


An elderly couple came in and the guy ordered a Corona so we got to talking about Mexico and then what New Hope was like in the old days. Now it is quite an expensive enclave of boutiques and restaurants and very expensive houses. He remembered when Mother’s was just a coffee shop where you could buy pastries and about the only other place was an ice-cream shop. My, how things do change.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

605) Marsha Brown



I headed down the street to Marsh Brown at 15 South Main Street to meet my dinner companions and, of course, to have a drink at the bar. This place is, quite simply, spectacular. It is in an old Methodist church and the bar is located in what once was the narthex. A narthex is the vestibule, usually at the west end of a church. The bar here is quite classy and is there is a wraparound mural that can be glimpsed through an archway behind where the bartender, does her work. The bar is very elegant and because I couldn’t stay long, having to have go upstairs to the lovely dining area for dinner, I will let the pictures do the talking.

The Anticipation


The Satisfaction


Christie, the Friendly Bartender


Cornered by The Mysterious Chinese Woman


I had a Bombay martini, up with a twist. Very well made by the lovely and friendly bartender. The food here is also great, although a bit pricey. I have eaten here several times and have never had a bad meal. I usually order steak but the Mysterious Chinese Woman and her sister usually go for fish dishes, all of which are delicious. Their crabcakes are mostly crab, and that isn’t as common as you might suppose.

I stopped back at the Triumph Brewery to pick up my growler of the Heffeweizen but, even though it was fresh that day, the line appeared to be clogged so I couldn't get any. I settled for the Bengal Gold IPA that was quite good, but Bar Man was a bit disappointed.

Well that wasn't bad, two more bars than I thought I would hit making 605 for the year and leaving 395 to go.