A Quick Day By The Garden

Today was a quicker day than I had planned. I was going to head to a few bars on the East side but the subway was being held in the station due to a sick passenger in the train ahead of us at the next station. At least that was what was announced. After sitting in the train for about 10 minutes I heard the west side train pulling into the station so I bolted for that one and took it up to Madison Square Garden and hit a couple of bars right outside.

766) Tupelo



Tupelo is right across the street from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. It has a dark green marble-topped bar with a light and dark wood paneled front and a grey slate footrest. A silver T shaped beer station with 6 spigots sits on top. There is a large colorful picture of Earnest Hemmingway’s head on the wall behind the bar (the picture is on the wall, it isn’t a picture of his head on the wall). On the wall to the right of the bar is a slightly smaller picture of Babe Ruth done in the same style and at an angle to that is a larger picture of Bobby Jones with the caption “How To Break 90).

The bar back has three combination wooden shelves and wine racks separated by glass shelving holding the liquor. Below the bottom glass shelves are tiered shelves holding more bottles. Below are metal coolers with glasses sitting on top of them. On a shelf above each of the three wine racks are iron framed glass candle holders each flanked by a couple bottles of wine. There is a framed poster advertising Strega (one of Bar Man’s favorite after dinner drinks) and one for Bull-Dog Cigars that are, apparently, “Hard To Beat” on the wall between the candle holders. On another wall is a large portrait of John Wayne from the movie “The Searchers.” A television is mounted high in the corner to the right of the bar with the U.S. Open showing.

More wine bottles along with what I hope are plastic ferns and vines are on ledges mounted high on the walls. The rest of the fairly large space is broken into dining areas and looks to be quite fancy. The bar was all set up with white linen napkins, China, and silver when I walked in but most of it got pushed to the side when the drinking crowd showed up.

I had a draft Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

767) Nick Stef’s



Right across the street from Tupelo and in the same building as Penn Station is this elegant, modernistic steakhouse. The green awning to the far right is an entrance to Madison Square Garden.



The dining area is well separated from the bar. You can just glimpse some of the diners and hear them, but it is a kind of a cheerful background babble, soothing rather than intrusive. The bar is a large, very irregularly shaped affair with a gray and white mottled marble top, a dark wood front, and a gray footrest. Rectangular tannish orange glass shaded lights hang over the bar. There were three televisions that I could see from my vantage point and all were tuned to CNN’s coverage of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. There have been reports of a three foot shark swimming in the streets of New Orleans which makes me wonder what happened to the aquarium. I don’t recall hearing anything about it. The had to shoot an escaped sea lion from another park in different town though.

There isn’t anything too fancy behind the bar here, glass shelves for liquor and two beer stations with three spigots each. Metal coolers and shelves below that and under the sides of the bar. Functional, but not too pleasing to the eye. The ceilings are very interesting though, angled light wood. The walls are pale yellow with a fairly eclectic assortment of framed black and white photos mounted here and there. This used to be a Charlie O’s but Nick is making much better use of the space.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

Like I said, just a quick trip and a couple of bars making 767 for the year and leaving 233 to go.

Hopping Back To Hop Devil

765) Hop Devil – The Belgian Room





Next door to the "other" Hop Devil and connected to it through a hallway is this separate bar that sells only Belgian and Belgian style beers. It has a separate entrance from the street and there is a store between the two sides so, in my book at least, it counts as a different bar.



It is smaller on this side and has the dark ambience of one of the old “brown” bars in Amsterdam. I was talking to the Steve, the manager, and he said that was the kind of feel they were aiming for. The dark wood bar is fairly small with plain wood barstools and just a narrow foot rest. The back bar is a combination of a curved set of shelves holding the various styles of glasses that one uses to serve the various beers. There are some carved statues of what I guess are Belgian elves on the upper shelves. This little section is the only really well-lit area in the bar and it is where Erin plies her trade.

Erin Posing, Not Plying


Actually, Erin was my bartender yesterday too, but she didn’t want me to take her picture then. I must be losing my touch; it took me two days to talk her into it. She is very nice though and fun to talk to when she isn't too busy. The owner was here too and he, along with the manager, were both very pleasant and conversational. We had quite a conversation about bars and beers.

Also behind the bar is a large cooler with glass doors where the bottled beers are kept.

Bare orange light bulbs hang from the ceiling by electrical cords and there are a few orange lights with somewhat of a nautical look to them hanging on the walls. There are a couple of round wood tables with chairs and booths along the wall opposite the bar. The other bright spot here is the flashy internet jukebox in a corner behind the booths. There is also a Big Buck Hunter machine in the back that looked a bit out of place.

The ambience was definitely old European and once my trek of a thousand bars is over I can see myself spending some serious time here. Belgian beers are a bit pricey, some over $25 a bottle, although we are talking a good sized bottle. I kind of view it like drinking a nice wine though, especially if you drink it with a nice bowl of mussels.

I had a bottle of Bink Bloesem and the Mysterious Chinese Woman had a glass of Peche Lambic. The Pech Lambic is a low alcohol, 2.5% , peach flavored beer, a bit too sweet for my tastes unless you had a glass after dinner as kind of a dessert. Mine was a bit more robust with a bit of a pear back flavor to it, but nothing overpowering. Steve then gave me a draft St. Bernardus ABT 12 to try and it was very good indeed. It is a quadruple and that means it is stronger and generally has more flavor than the other styles. And flavorful it was. It is very dark and has a nice creamy head. You wouldn’t want to just pound these down but a great beer. That is another thing about Belgian beers. Even though they are expensive they are also strong and so flavorful that you tend to drink them slowly. For the price of two or three rather, in my opinion, bland domestic beers you could get one really good Belgian beer that would last just as long (and have as much alcohol too).

Finished up my beers and headed down the street to Jules, a French bistro I had visited before. Had a nice bottle of wine, a good dinner, and listened to some great live jazz. It was kind of like I made a quick trip to Europe tonight.

Just one bar today bringing my total to 765 and leaving 235 to go.

Finishing Off St. Marks Place

Well, perhaps I didn’t quite finish it off, but the only bars left that I haven’t visited weren’t open yesterday. Maybe it was too early. Can’t be more than a couple of them anyway and I will pick them off one evening in the not too distant future.

762) St. Dymphnas



Quite a ways east at 118 St. Marks Place, almost to Avenue A where it ends at Thomkins Square Park, is this Irish pub named after the patron saint of mental illness. There is a social club in Dublin with the same name and it is specifically for people who have experienced “mental health difficulties.” Seems like an appropriate enough name for a bar. There is an old wood bar with a brass rail in this fairly small space. The walls are primarily a light green as is the ceiling. The wall behind the bar is more of a desert rose. There was a nice vase of flowers on one end of the bar and a television that was turned off. A beer station with 9 spigots sits on the bar and it has a decent variety. The lighting overhead is track and there are old gaslight fixtures on the walls that now have light bulbs in them. The windows in front have wood panes and the flooring is wooden planks. Tables and chairs make up the dining area. While I was there someone ordered the Irish breakfast and it looked very good indeed. There is a nice little outdoor seating area in the back.

I spent most of my time chatting with the bartender, mostly about real estate. He lives in a neighborhood not too far from me in Brooklyn. I was surprised to hear that housing prices are even higher in Dublin than in New York. And we are talking New York City here where a million dollars buys you a fixer-up in a suspect neighborhood. Ah me, where will it all end.

My solution was to have a draft Kirin and move along.

763) Hop Devil Grill



This is a relatively new place across the street from St. Dymphnas that was built into an old space so some of the original fixtures are still in place. The bar is new and has a heavy well-polished light wood top and kind of a matching plywood front. The foot rest is rough wood with metal trim. They have a great selection of bottled and draft beers. The draft beers are pulled from 24 spigots mounted behind the bar above a patterned metal splash guard above a long drainage trough.



All of the draft beers looked good and they had a few I had never seen before. Above the spigots is kind of a cubby-hole set of shelves with old beer cans, statues, glasses and stuff tucked in them. On each side of the spigots are tiered shelves of liquor. A small blackboard in the center of the shelves lists their bar food and a large rectangular blackboard above the bar lists the beer selections by country. Maybe I should have had the Layla Dirty Blond Lager from Israel.

There are a lot of framed beer ads from days gone by mounted on the walls that are kind of a mottled tan above dark wood paneling. The back area is up three steps and has a bunch of round tables and chairs. Opposite the bar is a small partition with a fairly wide ledge and a few bar stools in front of it. Above the partition is another blackboard that explains just what a hop devil is.



At each end of the explanation the daily specials are listed. On the other side of the partition up against the wall are booths with burgundy seats. The wall next to the large floor to almost ceiling windows and the entryway is hammered tin. Kind of an interesting look. The entryway and red outer door have large oval windows. The ceiling is kind of a paneled mottled tan plastic and there are ceiling fans with lights hanging from it. The floor is interesting multi-colored chip linoleum.

Around the back and kind of next door they have another separate bar that only opens later in the evening. The only serve Belgian style beers at that bar and the bartender said the owners objective was to have the largest selection of Belgian style bars in the United States. I hope he succeeds. I will come back here later in the day sometime and I will count it as a separate bar. From the street side it is actually separated from the other side by a small store and it has its own street side entrance. In fact I think I will go back tomorrow.

I had a draft Belhaven Twisted Thistle Ale, quite good I must say.

764) Sushi Lounge



This is just a small place at the end of St. Marks Place on the same side of the street as St. Dymphnas. There is just a small bar with only four chairs, but a bar is a bar. The bar has a dark wood top and a padded red leather front. The bar chairs are wood with a somewhat elegant design and pale green seats. There is a fairly plain, and small, set of shelves behind the bar with glasses and a couple of martini shakers for the sake cocktails they offer. On the top shelf is a plastic pair of clinking beer mugs. There are metal coolers behind the bar. On the left side of the bar are four large and two small sake bottles and s display of eight decorative sake glasses. Above that is a small bamboo mat with white flowers. Above the other end of the bar is a mobile of small Asian fans.

The walls are the same shade of pale green as the seats of the bar chairs and the trim around the windows and doors is a brilliant yellow. Mostly track lighting on the ceiling with three large white Japanese style lanterns in the front and a couple more in the back room. The decorations in the front consist mostly of pictures of different kinds of sushi. In the back the walls are covered with black and white photos of New York.

There is, of course, a large sushi bar on the wall to the left of the bar and signs advertising half off on Kirin Ichiban Draft and Sake Martinis. Happy hour runs from 10:00 P.M. until closing.

I had a chilled Otokoyama sake and followed that up with a chilled Kurosawa sake.

Not a bad day, a sunny stroll down an interesting street and three bars hit bringing my total to 764 for the year leaving 236 to go.

A Day At Yankee Stadium, And Nearby Bars

One of the readers of my blog, Allen, was coming down to the Yankees game today with a busload of fans. They rent a bus to make a day of it and before the game stop to visit the gravesites of Babe Ruth, Lou Gherig, and Billy Martin. They are buried in side by side cemeteries north of Manhattan in the towns of Valhalla and Hawthorne. Kind of a nice gesture. We won’t make any jokes about how Billy Martin died sliding into home. Anyway, I was going to hook up with these guys and gals before the game but the bus had a bit of an accident and needed to be towed out of a ditch. As a result I didn’t get a chance to hook up until I got to the game itself.

757) Yankee Tavern



Located on the corner at 72 161st Street is the place where I was supposed to meet everyone. Luckily Allen had the foresight to mail me the ticket so I was pretty well set. Well, I am here and so is a bar so of course I had a drink. I can’t quite pound them down like the rest of the fans in here, I am not in their league. Pretty much beers and shots being consumed at a rapid enough pace to insure a good buzz that will last through the game and thus avoid having to pay for beers inside the stadium.

The bar has a blue vinyl top and front with light wood trim. The footrest is small blue tiles and matches the blue of the blue and white tiled floor. There are four beer stations pumping out the beer and the bartenders were being kept quite busy. Mirrors and shelves behind the bar. The shelves hold liquor and there are even some racks with glasses but, aside from the shots, everything is served in plastic.

No surprise that the walls are plastered with Yankee memorabilia. There are three good-sized televisions behind the bar tuned to the consolation game of the Little League World Series. Vista, California is currently beating Ciba, Japan. The other smaller television is tuned to an old Ali fight. The wall opposite the bar has a ledge for drinks and is being put to good use by the standing room only crowd. There are large overhead fans that alternate with large flying-saucer like lights. There is also a large back dining area but I didn’t make it there. The crowd is starting to thin out a bit as it gets closer to game time but I think I can squeeze in, if I can squeeze into, one more bar.

I had a draft Bass Ale.

758) Billy’s Sports Bar



Well, I didn’t have to worry about squeezing in here; it was pretty empty even though it is just a few Yankees souvenir stores down the street towards the stadium. This place was almost empty. It might be partly due to the fact that the game is about to start or perhaps because they charge ten bucks for a small gin and tonic served in a plastic glass. They only had Bombay gin too, either Sapphire or regular.

The bar has a nice planked wood top and paneled front, but no stools or footrest of any kind. There were three nice televisions behind the bar where you could, perhaps, watch the game, but you would have to stand for the whole thing. Not my idea of fun, but then I am getting old. The whole place is quite new looking and although there are a few pictures of Yankees players it isn’t really jammed with Yankees memorabilia. The walls are brick and the wall opposite the bar is lined with tables and chairs and, I suppose, you could sit there and watch the game but you are quite a ways away from the televisions behind the bar. There is a fairly large back room and there are more, smaller televisions around the place but none with real good sight lines from anywhere you might sit. Kind of a strange layout for a sports bar and a bit out of place compared to all the others around here.

The game has now started and thinking I have missed most of the crowd I headed out after drinking a Bombay gin and tonic.

Interlude
Well, it turns out I didn’t really miss the crowd, more like a ran into an angry mob.



Apparently the scanners that they use on your tickets weren’t working so they weren’t letting anyone into the stadium even though the game had already started. As you might imagine, this did not really set well with a crowd, at least some of whom, were pretty well liquored up. Luckily the problem was corrected in about ten minutes so things didn’t progress beyond the shouting stage. Of course I ended up behind someone with two kids that wanted to hold one of them on his lap so didn’t have a ticket for him. This does not work. He had to debate the issue for several minutes before security was called and he was convinced he needed to leave the line and buy another ticket.

I did finally get to my seat but Allen wasn’t there yet. Several of his crowd were though and they recognized me so we chatted a bit and Allen arrived soon after. Being a man after my own heart he also decided that arriving late and not hooking up with me was no reason not to stop for a drink or two.



We did have a couple of beers at the game, one of which was served up by the effervescent Tany.

Bar Man, Effervescent Tany, and Allen


759) Stan’s Sports Bar & Restaurant



After the game Allen and I headed right across the street from the stadium and wedged our way into this packed place. Now this is a sports bar. The top of the bar is covered with old faded color pictures of Yankees greats protected by glass and the every inch of the paneled walls are covered with pictures of Yankees and memorabilia. The place was too crowded to see much but the bar is a very large rectangle with the liquor, beer, and bartenders in the middle. Everybody in here was whooping it up because the Yankees had just slaughtered the Royals and Giambi had one hell of a day. He had been in a bit of a slump but broke out of it with two homeruns and drove in seven runs. He got his 1000th RBI and 1500th career hit in the game so if you were a Giambi fan it was a great day.

Stan’s achieved a bit of notoriety some time ago when someone, after drinking there, managed to find himself on the subway tracks and lost both of his legs to an oncoming train. Needless to say there was a major lawsuit involving both the city and Stan’s. I am not sure how it turned out though.

Bar Man, Allen, And New Friends


Things just weren’t working out quite as planned with Allen and me. After failing to hook up before the game he got a call on his cell phone while we were in here with the news that one of his crew had fallen on the way out of the stadium and required emergency medical attention. He had to leave and help take care of the situation because he was the leader of the pack. I hope we have a chance to hook up again, it was a blast hanging with him.

Ah well, I had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and drank it out of the bottle like everyone else in here was doing.

760) Stadium Billy’s Sports Bar



This place is also right across from the stadium and, as it turns out, is connected in the back though a passageway to the other Billy’s Sports Bar. This has a totally different feel to it and is certainly the original with the other one being added later. The one thing that they do have in common though is no seats at the bar. My bet is that this place, at least, gets so crowded that they would just take up much needed room. Kind of just a no frills wooden bar with a few tables and chairs strewn about. Before the game there was a very large guy sitting just inside scalping tickets and the place was pretty emptied out (the game had started). Afterwards it was jammed. There are a few Yankees pictures and stuff on the wall but this is more of a dive bar than a sports bar, in my opinion. Still, not a bad place to wedge yourself into for an after the game libation.

I had a bottle of Budweiser.

761) Ball Park Sports Bar & Grill



Well here you have it all, a bar, a souvenir shop, and a bowling alley all across the street from Yankees Stadium and all in one building. Quite a decent bowling alley too, a fair number of lanes on one side and a little four lane set-up across from them. It was doing a nice business too. The bar was separated from the bowling alley by the souvenir shop that had a large sidewalk presence and seemed to be the place to buy stuff after the game.

Nothing on tap but bottles seem to be the way to go. Kind of recreation room look to the bar with chrome-plated bar stools. Nothing fancy here and not even too much sports related, unless you hit the souvenir shop. Actually, this bar would have been more appropriately located in the bowling area.

I had one last bottle of Budweiser before the long ride home. In a better world I would just be able to hop the 4 train and end up just a few blocks from home. But, this is New York. The 4 train was not running all the way into Brooklyn so I had to transfer to the D train and then switch again to the A train. I had to take a similarly convoluted path to get to the game as well. Ah well, all is well that ends well.

A very nice day indeed, great game, great people, and five bars hit. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel though, they were all on a single block and nothing goes better with a ballgame then dumping down a few beers (and one expensive gin and tonic). Total for the year is now 761 and 239 to go. I am going to have to force myself to slow down to avoid hitting number 777 before September 12th.

Drop Dead Saturday

I decided to take a swing through the East Village this afternoon. Got to love this place, always something happening. I ran into the Drop Dead Festival.



There was a parade around Thomkins Square Park and all sorts of booths inside the park along with a stage and live entertainment. I took a quick walk through the park but, of course, I had other things on my mind.

754) Uovo



Just a wine and beer bar so far but with plans to add liquor sometime in October when their license is approved. It is located on the corner of Avenue B and 11th Street. The half dozen beers that they carried were all a bit off the beaten track, except for the Sam Adams Lager. Only a half dozen wooden stools at the bar that had a black textured vinyl top and a wood front. Mirrors behind the bar with metal shelves in front held the glasses, a few wine bottles, and carafes, some with very narrow necks. A recessed blackboard in a corner to the left of the bar listed the beers and food specials. Deep fried pickles and sweetbread poppers caught my eye. Maybe another time. There is a narrow shelf above the bar that holds jars of what looked to be homemade pickled vegetables. Jars of fruit and baskets of lemon and a major juicer leads me to believe that they will make excellent margaritas when they get their liquor license.

I talked to James, the bartender, quite a bit about bars, and drinks and such.

James, The Bartender That Thinks Like Bar Man


He was telling me about a real funky bar in San Francisco and I was telling him about some of the more unusual ones that I have come across, Trailer Park and Doc Holliday’s being a couple of them. We, of course, got around to talking about drinks and how they should be made. He is also a firm believer in the use of fresh juices in drinks. Although they only have wine and beer now he described some of the champagne cocktails they made and they sounded great. I will have to drop by again one day.

There are floor to ceiling windows on one wall and half of another. Exposed brick on most of the other two sides, the part in front of the bar itself. Lime and white walls from the bar back. A large picture of a brown egg on a white plate dominates the brick wall without a window. There are a number of tables and chairs with tables in the center of the fairly small dining area and benches with green upholstery with tables and chairs in front of them completes the picture. There are also tables and chairs under large green awnings for some sidewalk dining.

I had a Hitachino Nest Sweet Stout and then, because I was busy chatting with James, had a G Schneider & Sohn Adventinus Wheat Doppelbock that was quite good with strong clove overtones.

755) Mercadito



Just a couple of doors down is this really, at first glance, tiny restaurant that appears to be one third kitchen. I found out that there is a larger dining are tucked in the back and to the side out of sight of the bar. The place was bustling for an early Saturday afternoon. The bar is a small L shaped affair with the leg towards the door having a rough wood top and a log-cabin like front. The other leg has more of a smooth grey concrete top and front. Rough wood plank shelves in front of mirrors hold a most impressive collection of tequilas. I stopped counting when I got to fifty.

The bar chairs are wood with kind of a pastel wash in yellow, pink, orange, and cream. The very low backs almost makes them look like kiddy seats. The walls are primarily tan textured adobe-like cement and the ceiling is kind of a lattice-work over the bar, shake siding in front, and bamboo in back. Cement benches line one wall with tables and chairs in front and tables and chairs line the opposite wall. The part up front is one of the narrowest restaurants that I have ever seen. The kitchen area is surrounded by low wall with a diamond shaped mosaic pattern. You can see the heads of the six Mexican cooks busily at work so there were probably a lot of people in the back dining area too.

I don’t know what the food is like although from the number of people eating there I can only imagine that it would be good. The margarita was dynamite, just the way that I like them. They added a touch of fresh orange juice and that is how I make them myself.

I had the aforementioned margarita and just barely managed to restrain myself from having another.

756) Nopal Del Este



Ah, the reason you all read this blog, the arcane information that can, on rare occasion, be gleaned from these pages. Nopal Del Este is one of the common names of Opuntia Humifusa, a member of the cactus family that is also known as Devil’s Tongue.

Opuntia Humifusa


In this case though it is the name of a restaurant and bar at 210 Avenue C. This place is as large as the last one appeared to be small, and made to look even larger by the judicious use of mirrors. The top of the bar is black marble and the foot rest matches. The front of the bar is tan cement blocks. There was a basket of cacti sitting on the bar but, alas, I cannot tell you if they were Opuntia Humifusa. One can only hope. Thirteen bar chairs with black vinyl seats ring the bar. Small ornate stained glass lights hang over the bar from the tan wash ceiling. An arch over mirrors behind the bar with pink illuminated tiered shelves hold the liquor. Two frozen drink machines churn merrily in the middle. There is also a metal chest full of beer and ice behind the bar.

The walls are orange with wood trim and there are large windows on the wall opposite the bar. The tables with orange and white tablecloths are semi separated from the bar by pulled back gauzy orange curtains. The same type of lights that hang over the bar hang over the rest of the place as well. A large mosaic of an Aztec or Mayan temple occupies most of the brick wall back towards the kitchen. There are a few brass Mexican style masks hanging on the walls but nothing overdone. There were a couple of large speakers towards the back and Jaisa, the bartender, said they have live music some evenings.

I got a basket of chips and salsa and they were both very good. Jasia said they make their own chips. She also graciously got me extra napkins when she noticed me dripping salsa on my notes.

Jasia, The Friendly And Gracioius Bartender


I had a margarita, up, with a salted rim. Although it was a bit sweeter than I like them, Jasia said they used fresh lime juice with a touch of margarita mix. It wasn’t bad and I have come to find out that most people, at least in New York, seem to prefer them this way. Maybe because they haven’t had that much of an opportunity to taste any other kind.

A very nice day with three bars visited bringing my total to 756 and leaving 244 to go. I fought my way through the notorious sewer alligators (luckily this one was preoccupied) and took the subway home.

Back In The Saddle Again

My nephew Charlie left yesterday after several days of intense sight seeing that took in Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Central Park, Times Square, Greenwich Village, Battery Park, the Staten Island Ferry, cheesecake at Junior’s, the Museum of Natural History, the Aquarium, the Subway Museum, hotdogs on the street, visits to some of my favorite restaurants (Pete’s Waterfront, Tabac, Armando’s, La Palapa Rockola), and I am sure much more that I cannot remember. We had a great time, but I needed to get back on track. However, I thought I would just ease into it and hit a few places close to home.

752) Gravy



I spotted this place a few days ago on the corner of Smith Street and Pacific Avenue. It is owned by the same people that own Pacifico, an interesting Mexican eatery on Pacific and has a similar funky feel to it. It just opened a few weeks ago but I suspect it might do very well. It is configured a bit like a rustic diner. The bar has a tan Formica top and a white ceramic brick front. The blue linoleum foot rest matches the round vinyl seats on the chrome fountain-like stools. A single silver beer station has only four spigots but three pretty unique beers (the Bud Light is not so unusual). They have Munchner Kindl Hefe Weizen, Whitebread Pale Ale, and Radeberger Royal Pilsner. I shall have to make a couple more visits to sample them all.

The shelves behind the bar were just old wooden soda and fruit crates sitting on metal coolers and shelves for glasses and beer. The glass my beer was served in came out of a cooler and was nicely frosted. My beer was served up by the cheerful bartender Raymond who introduced me to his co-worker April.

Raymond And April


Little lamps with fabric shelves mounted behind the bar give off a soft orange glow. There is a small, unobtrusive television tucked into one corner behind the bar.

The floor is green mosaic tile. The walls are wood paneling and half the ceiling covered with narrow wood strips with industrial-like fluorescent lights. The other side of the ceiling is a slightly curved pea-soup green with round, somewhat dome-like, lights. A narrow strip of matching green separates the two sides of the ceiling and has recessed spot-lighting.

Plush burgundy booths with pale green tables line the wall opposite the bar. That wall is mostly windows and adds to the diner-like feel to the place. Four tables with chairs to the left of the bar complete the dining area although there is an adjacent kitchen and dining counter next door that you can enter either from the street or through a side door from Gravy.

Tucked into one corner is a small fireplace with, yes, a mounted deer head.



Pictures of New York, a couple of prints of an English fox hunt, and a framed montage of old ads grace the walls. There is also a nice outdoor area for drinking and dining that looks like it would be a fun place to spend a summer evening.



I had a draft Whitebread Pale Ale, one of my favorites, and one you do not see on draft all that often.

753) Quercy



Now this place on the corner of Court Street and Baltic Street (why it is Baltic Street and not Baltic Avenue I do not know) has been around for awhile and I don’t know why I haven’t stopped in before. Maybe because the bar is quite small, only four stools. The top and sides are kind of a simulated wood-grained plastic top and front. The four stools are black iron rods with round black vinyl seats. Large panels of mirrors behind the bar with a shelf for a small selection of liquor. Glass shelves flank the mirrors and these hold glasses, an old coffee-grinder, and a large statue of the Virgin Mary. Two large vases holding plants sit on the already somewhat crowded bar.

The floor is large blue and white squares of tile and the ceiling is a white patterned metal with a white cooling and heating duct running down the center. The walls are rose with exposed brick on each side of the bar. Small tables and chairs with a couple of red padded banquettes along the walls give the place a nice cozy, in a rustic French countryside kind of way, feeling. The menu sports a nice selection of wines that are thought were very reasonably priced. The food menu looked pretty good too, but then I was getting kind of hungry.

There are little lamps mounted on the walls and a large framed mirror on the back wall that is adjacent to the doorway to the kitchen. One large painting of a rustic landscape hangs on the wall to the right of the bar. What looks like a wood-paned window is on the other side of the kitchen door. A rustic wood shelf and cabinet with knick knacks complete the ambience and there was French jazz playing in the background. It looked like a nice romantic spot that I can take the Mysterious Chinese Woman to the next time I have to atone for something.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

Easing back into the game I hit a comfortable two bars today bringing the total to date to 753 and leaving 247 to go.

Apprenticeship Program

My nephew Charlie is visiting this week so Bar Man hasn’t been making his appointed rounds while showing him the sights of New York. This was planned downtime so today was a bit of a bonus. After visiting the Museum of Natural History we decided to take a walk through Central Park. Somehow or another, either despite the Mysterious Chinese Woman having a compass, or perhaps because of it, we managed to get lost. Luckily we found a body of water and men (and women) who had gone down to the sea (well, a little lake) in boats. We followed the waterline and, lo and behold, up sprung The Boat House.

751) The Boat House


Quite an attractive bar and restaurant sitting right on the lake and adjacent to where you can rent boats.


There is both an indoor and an outdoor bar but we didn’t see the outdoor one until after we had a drink indoors. The bar itself is a fairly square dark wooden affair with the bartenders station in the middle. A small selection of liquor sits in the center on tiered shelves and looks a bit precariously perched. I think it might be mainly for show with the liquor actually used stored underneath the bar. The view is certainly pleasant enough and would be even nicer if you sat at a table outside.



Despite the pleas and tears of the Mysterious Chinese Woman, I explained that, as an Apprentice Bar Man, Charlie had to drink his Coca Cola at the bar.

Charlie, My Apprentice Program's First Participant


It is always hard on the women to see the children made to suffer for a greater good.

Mysterious Chinese Woman Attempting To Intervene


Charlie soon saw some of the benefits of becoming a Bar Man, however.

Nylee, The Dispenser Of Libations


There is a nice fireplace against one wall and ample indoor and outdoor dining areas. The outdoor bar looks like the better bet for a drink on a lovely day such as it was, but it was not to be. Perhaps next time we get lost.

Just one drink for the day but it was, as I said, a bonus. This makes 751 for the year and leaves a mere 249 to go. My next milestone will be bar number 777 on September 12th at F R Woody’s Pub up in Ranier, Minnesota, so I can kind of coast a bit until then. Woody is also the proprietor of Woody’s Fairly Reliable Guide Service.

750 At Duff's Part Two

More pictures of the Bar 750 pictures drifted in today so I thought I would share some of them with you.

At some point a religious theme was interjected into the equation.

Bob Wearing His Religious Garb


And Miki As Well


Larry Chose A Different Headgear


Moving From Margaritas To Shots At One Point


More Shots


And things got livlier as the night wore on. These are a few of the pictures that I can actually post on a "family" blog.

Bringing Your Personal Bartender To A Real Personal Level


And The Fun Never Stops


Well, there you go. As I mentioned before, a great time was had by all. Thanks again Jimmy, we had a blast.

750 At Duff's

Well, we did it, number 750 at Duff's and it was a blast. We got cranking at about 4:00 P.M. on the outside deck with beers.

Early Arrivals Bernie, Bar Man, Peter, Terry, Linda and Jan


Then the party supplies arrived via hearse.



The action then moved inside a bit where Bar Man got pointers on making an excellent margarita from Miki, our bartender.



Then "The Man" himself, Jimmy Duff, showed up to crank up the action a notch or two.



My brother-in-law Jim, the guy who started me off on this long trek way back on New Years day arrived too.

Jim, Bar Man, and Bernie


And Larry, the guy who cranked out the Associated Press article at the number 500 celebration showed up too, but only to party.



Mr. Duff also ordered special D.T.B.M. (Dan The Bar Man) caps and generously gave me one of his coveted Duff's Alcohol Abuse Center shirts.





Well, needless to say, a great time was had by all and I am sure the partying continued well after Bar Man toddled off home after way too many margaritas.

Only one for the day, but what did you expect? I am taking some time off now because my nephew will be visiting for a bit and he is a bit too young to join the Junior Bar Man auxilliary. Next week I shall be back at it again though, so see you then.

Tailgating Your Tail Off

Ah, a day off to rest up before bar number 750. So what better way to do that than to get to Giants Stadium at about 2:00 P.M. so you will have ample time to tailgate before the Jets play the Vikings at 8:00 P.M. A six hour stint is just about right, and you don't have to worry about finding a parking spot, or even paying for parking, for that matter.



Needless to say we waste no time preparing to prepare.

Bernie, Bar Man, and Bob Preparing To Prepare Camp


Of course, I don't want to imply that there wasn't anyone else in the parking lot, we did draw quite a crowd.



He was just delivering the dumpster for our empties. The Porta-Potty man showed up a bit later. We have all the comforts of home.

Once we got the tent set up we did get a couple of visits from the Parking Patrol who told us we were only entitiled to one parking spot per car. You can see how crowded it was and how we were depriving others of a place to park.



Actually they were pretty decent about it, simply telling us that their boss sent them over. They didn't actually make us move though, so we just settled ourselves in for the long haul.



Being from Minnesota I wore a Vikings hat and a Jets shirt, but I put my money on the Jets. Sorry Bob (Minnesota Bob, not Jets Bob), you owe me a tener. The Jets won 28 to 21 in a sloppy game, as most pre-season games tend to be.

We had sangria (my new specialty, the rum gives it a kick) and beer, sausages and muffulettas (a sandwich I first tasted in New Orleans, and one to die for). Not quite up to our usual fare (chili, egg and bacon sandwiches, roast turkeys, baked zitti, sweet potatos with rum soaked raisins (another of my specialties) and much more), but a damn good pre-season warm-up and, kind of like stretching before exercising, a good preparation for Bar Number 750.

Final Fling, At Least Until 750 On Saturday

Only needed three more bars to set the stage for Saturday’s Celebration and I decided I would knock them off today, take a rest tomorrow, then go the Jets game on Friday and tailgate my tail off. Even though it isn’t a bar, I might post a few pictures so you can see what Bar Man does on his off days. Mostly drink and party. By the way, all of these bars are on a short two block stretch of 14th Street between 1st and Avenue B so I didn’t include the specific addresses. Finding them is half the fun.

747) Nowhere



Well, not exactly nowhere, not anymore at least. This was a bit of a desolate stretch back in the day and there still isn’t a lot of action here. Nowhere has only been around for two years and it is a “Gay Friendly” bar but not exclusively gay. Now that the gay scene has become somewhat of the in scene most gay bars are pretty mixed these days. One thing that they do tend to have in common though is that they are dark, very very dark. So dark that I couldn’t even see to write so my notes are a bit sketchy.



The place has a bit of a rustic look to it, rough brick walls and a bar back that is made out of rough hewn wood. The bar was dark wood and there were two beer stations with eight spigots that served up a credible selection of beers. I was only going to get a glass of beer but the bartender said he could only sell me two half-pints instead of a pint. I guess that would be so I could split a pint with someone. I opted for a pint.

There were two fireplaces in here and they looked like they might be operational in the winter. A single orange globe light was mounted above each of them. A lounge area in the back with a red drape over the entryway looked like it could afford more, shall we say, intimate seating. Lots of small about the place and the walls and there were also ledges with stools for additional seating and places to put your drinks. A silver disco ball hung over a small DJ stand. A string of small orange lights was strong along the wall opposite the bar. There was a small enclave with a Terminator pinball machine and a Ms. Pac Man machine. There was also a pool table with red felt. What is wrong with the traditional green?

The bartender was a friendly, well tattooed fellow who served up a dish of pretzels. He gave the Mysterious Chinese Lady, who accompanied me, a glass of water because he said it just wasn’t right to sit at a bar and not drink something.

I had a pint of Sam Adams Summer Ale.

748) Otto’s Shrunken Head Tiki Bar



This was my primary objective for the night. A dive Tiki bar, and I wasn’t disappointed in the least. I finally found a bar that matched my shirt;

from the red, yellow, and blue illuminated blowfish (plastic though) over the tan Formica topped bar with a bamboo front to the colorful wallpaper featuring 50’s era bathing beauties and flowers. The barstools were black iron rods with fake leopard-skin seats. Of course there is also the requisite shrunken head hanging over the bar along with a lot of Tiki masks. Behind the bar is just a large mirror covered with drink specials and what-not. Lots of Tiki stuff and, of course, a wide assortment of funny glasses to serve the wide assortment of drinks with funny names. Two guys were sitting at one end of the bar when I arrived and the bartender was making a drink to their specifications that seemed to call for an inordinate amount of 151 proof rum. They were pretty bombed when I arrived and during my stay one guy had at least four more different drinks and was attempting to steal each of the glasses. Whether the bartender let him get away with it or was going to retrieve them before he left I don’t know. He certainly wasn’t fooling anyone though.

Monica, The Not Fooled For A Minute Bartender


Hell, she was so pretty I had to take two pictures, and this time I got Otto's Shrunken Head in the shot too.



The walls that weren’t covered with wallpaper was covered with kind of a woven bamboo or, in the front, murals of tropical scenery. The wall opposite the bar was lined with deep red banquettes, each of which had a small round table and a single chair in front of it. There was a “Believe It Or Not” pinball machine, a photo booth, and somewhat incongruously, a Big Buck Hunter machine. Thought they would at least have one where you could shoot zombies. In the back was an area with a stage and a drum kit so I guess later in the night there would be live music. The stuff being played wasn't bad though and it all had kind of a dark, zombie like theme to it.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman had a Singapore Sling that seemed to give her more of a sugar rush than anything and I had the requisite Zombie.

Mysterious Chinese Woman Enjoying Her Singapore Sling


We ambled out of here and had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Capucine’s, where I had a couple of Bombay martinis and two after dinner Stregas with a double espresso.

749) Beauty Bar


Well, being buzzed and on a caffeine and sugar high never stopped Bar Man from completing his appointed rounds so after dinner I back-tracked a bit to this former beauty parlor for my last stop of the night.



I was a bit too sloshed to take notes and between downing another couple of beers and chatting up the bartender, Lara, and getting suggestions for places to visit in the future the Mysterious Chinese Woman took over the task of taking notes.

Lara


There is a blue ceiling with white bubbles painted on it. Blue and orange globe lights were at one end of the bar and two crystal chandeliers hang over the bar. One was off and the other had only half of the lights on. The walls are orange with sparkles embedded in them. A couple of pictures of women with elaborate hairdos hang on the wall, maybe Patti Paige and a young Jane Fonda (not really sure though). Antique hair dryers line the wall opposite the bar and they now have lights in them. Chairs sit under them and, of course, people have to sit on them with their heads in the lights. Kind of strange seeing a guy with a drink in his hand sitting under a hair dryer. Well, maybe not all that strange. The floor is black and white checks and there are vases of flowers on the wooden topped bar that had a Formica front. On the shelf above the liquor are a wide variety of beauty products are on display. The liquor sits in front of a large mirror.

I had a couple of draft Bass Ales and then we headed off to the subway home.

A fine evening and mission accomplished. Three bars hit, a great dinner, on track for number 750 on Saturday. Life is good.

The Theetah, Dahlin'

Well, I didn’t really go to the Theatre, I just spent some time in the Theatre District and stopped at one quintessential before and after the theatre hang-out and one new place in Schubert Alley, and it doesn’t get much more theatre than that.

745) Sardi’s





Has anyone not heard of this place? It is located at 234 West 44th Street and has been around for over eighty years. There is a larger bar in the restaurant itself but I went to the more intimate Little Bar.



Why Bar Man wanted an intimate bar at 3:00 P.M. in the afternoon is unsure, but it seemed like a nice place to pop into. The Little Bar is, no surprise, little. It is in an anteroom to the larger restaurant and quite separate. Just five wood chairs with oxblood leather seats and back around the dark wooden bar that had a black foot rest. There is a large mirror behind the bar with glass shelves holding glasses. Two tiers of shelves hold the most popular liquor and two cabinets below hold their most popular liquors and two cabinets below hold the backup supply. In the center, below, are two metal coolers.

Four martini glasses filled with ice were chilling on the bar and Bar Man was sorely tempted. I think if I am in the area and really want a martini this might be the place to get it. They also had decent snacks on the bar, peanuts, pretzels, and a crock of soft cheese with crackers.

Narrow ledges with chairs in front circle the room and there is one round table with a black and white marble top and four chairs sitting in the middle of the room. That pretty much takes up all of the available space. The windows have dark Venetian blinds giving the place a kind of private library feel (at least the kind of private library I would like). All available wall space is pretty much covered with caricatures of actors and miniature playbills.



There was a television sitting on a highboy to the left of the bar but it was off.

There was a gentleman at the bar having a cocktail and we got to talking about sports. He is a Giants fan and I am a Jets fan. The conversation had more to do with old outdoor stadiums (we both like them) and newer indoor stadiums (neither of us like them) and the old days. The older you get the more of those days you have to talk about. Why I remember when…, oh, never mind.

I had a bottle of Guinness, one of the regular bottles, not one of the foaming kind.

746) Balzono’s Bar & Cucina



The somewhat, shall we say phallic sign drew me into this place right across from the Booth Theatre.



It is obviously new and very elegant. The bar has a light tan marble topped bar with a light wood front and a dark marble foot rest. Both the small overhang of the bar and the foot rest had little lights under them. The ones under the foot rest reflected off the greenish marble tiles that ringed the bar and an area with a tiled floor with a somewhat woven pattern. The rest of the flooring was wood. There were little artificial plants that looked like some kind of herb (not the smoking kind) in clay pots sitting on the bar. Much larger, more ominous looking plants sat in black pots on each end of the bar. The bar chairs were luxurious, light wood but very soft with creamy leather seats and backs. There were also little bowls of olives on the bar for snacking.

The bar back had clean lines with six tall mirrors separated by marbled mirrored columns that had orange glass panels with metal designs and that were lit from within. Glass shelves in front of the mirrors held glasses, bottles of wine, and a small collection of grappa in elegant bottles. Underneath the glass shelves were tiers of shelves holding more liquor. Below that were cabinets and shelves.



Elaborate lights hang from the high ceiling. They were large rectangular box that were textured tan glass and the were inside clear, but somewhat mottled, boxes that were about half the height. The lights were of two basic sizes, short and squat and taller and narrower. There were a lot of plants in here and large French doors and windows look out over the outside seating area and provide a glimpse of the people passing by. The whole place has a light airy look to it and the buzz is that the food is excellent.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic and called it a day.

A short day, but a nice day. Just hit two for 746 for the year and only 3 more before number 750. I will hit those tomorrow and take Thursday and Friday off (Jets game on Friday). I now have 254 to go for the year.

Cooler In The Kitchen

I headed back to Hell’s Kitchen and it was a lot cooler than the last time, thank goodness for that. Only downside was a wee bit of drizzle the merely served as an excuse to stop in one additional place on the way home.

741) McQuaid’s Pub



Located on the corner of 44th Street and 11th Avenue is this surprisingly pleasant place despite, the suspect looking exterior and, shall we say, interesting location. The bar has a nice inlaid wood top and a paneled front with a silver foot rail. The top is definitely new but the lower part looks old. The black metal chairs with green vinyl seats and backs also look like they have seen better days. The upper shelves and cabinets behind the bar look new as well, as does most everything in here. There are four cabinets with glass paned doors with orange diamonds of stained glass. One door of one cabinet was plastered with union patches. The shelves below as well as the cabinets themselves hold liquor and there is one of those little islands for dispensing shots of booze. Two small flat-screen televisions sit on two shelves above the bottles. The setup below, metal coolers and a couple of wooden cabinets with stained glass doors looks much older and is probably what is left of the original furnishings.

The overhang above the bar has recessed spot lights and a brass rack from which glasses hung. The walls have new looking paneling about a third of the way up and the walls are deep rose above that. Stained glass shaded lamps hang from the patterned, tarnished silver colored ceilings. Little lamps with fringed shades hang on the walls over the tables against the wall opposite the bar. There is a partition with a brass rail on top that separates the dining area from the bar and there are tables along the far side of that as well.

The front wall and the wall opposite the bar have windows with small wood panes. There are pictures and photos of landscapes on the walls and two framed Irish emblems, one was a gold harp, on green backgrounds. The back wall also has a larger television and on the other side of the entryway to the kitchen and the restroom were two clocks, one shaped like s ship’s wheel. There are enough Irish themed knick knacks in the cabinets behind the bar to give you a feel for what this place might have been like before the renovations.

I had a bottle of Budweiser.

742) Landmark Tavern



At 626 11th Avenue, at the corner of 46th Street is this old, really old, tavern. I was told that it is the fourth oldest drinking establishment, about 130 years old, in New York and has been in continual operation since it first opened, at least up until just recently when it was closed prior to being purchased by the owner of Druids. It is one of the classic old bars in New York where some care has obviously been given to maintaining its appearance. The top of the bar has been refurnished many times but it is certainly old with an ornately carved front and a brass rail. The bar chairs do look new, however; wood with soft black leather-like vinyl seats. A silver T shaped beer station sits on top of the bar and it has eight spigots.

Irene, Manning The Spigots


The bar back is a combination of ornately carved wood and large glass mirrors. Small globe lights are mounted on the narrow columns separating the mirrors. Tiered shelves hold the liquor and glasses sit or are stacked on white linen. A cabinet with sliding cut glass doors sits below along with coolers and cabinets with wood doors and brass hinges and handles.

There are windows on two sides so not a lot of room for much of anything on the walls except a couple of narrow mirrors and a few more small globe lights. A low partition immediately opposite the bar separates it from two rows of tables for dining. There is also a larger dining area in the back. Immediately behind the bar chairs is a row of rippled glass shaded lights hanging from the brown patterned tin ceiling.

The restrooms, that were most likely added later in the game (did they even have indoor plumbing 130 years ago?), are built into what kind of looks like a cobbled together room with stained glass on the top and, for some reason, a marble column with a gold top in the men’s room. I am not sure what was in the woman’s room.

I had a draft Blue Moon, a Belgian style wheat beer.

743) The Bull McCabe



This is not the same as Bull McCabe’s which is located on 8th Street, no relationship at all except, perhaps, in the courts where there was some attempt by The Bull McCabe to prevent the other place from naming itself Bull McCabe’s. Got that straight? Then don’t go down to the bathroom in The Bull McCabe because on the way down the steps you will see a mirror with Bull McCabe’s on it (the beer distributor probably delivered it to the wrong place).

It is located at 714 11th Avenue, between 50th and 51st Streets. An old wood topped bar with a brick front and a brass rail. Plain wooden chairs. The wall behind the bar is kind of a pale yellow distressed brick. There are two small wooden cabinets with small drawers below them behind the bar. Tiered shelves hold the liquor and below those are wooden cabinets and a black metal ice chest. The place has kind of a rustic early Americana look to it that I found a bit peculiar. Only peculiar because “The Bull” McCabe was a character in a play by John B. Keane, ‘The Field,’ that was based upon a true story about a conflict over land which occurred in Kerry, Ireland. The play was made into a movie that was released in 1991 and Richard Harris played “The Bull” McCabe. But I digress.

A large mural on part of the wall opposite the bar depicts a scene of what I took to be pioneers and Native Americans against a backdrop of mountains and a small town. Now I will probably find out that this is a scene from either the play or the movie, but it looked like a Western frontier town to me. Sitting at the bar and looking into the small back room dining area made me kind of think I was in a saloon. The back room’s walls are orange above wood-backed benches with tables and chairs in front of them. Paned mirror give you the impression there is a window in the back. Small lamps are mounted on the walls. It kind of made me think I could get a bath, a shave, and a woman for two bucks. I have obviously been watching too much ‘Deadwood.’

It had started to drizzle and, believe it or not, once I got damp I got a bit chilly so I had a well constructed Makers Mark Manhattan.

744) Costa del Sol



At 369 West 40th Street on the corner of 9th Avenue is this Spanish Tapas bar. It was a long walk to the Subway from The Bull McCabe (believe me, 11th Avenue is a long walk from just about anywhere) and I was still a wee bit damp and Bar Man had to take a whiz. Plus I thought having a glass of wine here would be good conditioning for my trip to Spain that is coming up in October. There is a red-topped bar over a light wood paneled front with a foot rest with a black and white chip design. There are somewhat ornate black metal bar chairs with brown vinyl seats.

The bar back is light wood with five arches over mirrors. Small shelves in front of three of them hold liquor including a bottle of the elusive Johnny Walker Blue Label. They also had a bottle of the even more difficult to find (but not as expensive) Green Label. The other two mirrors had tiered shelves holding a good selection of liquor and even more is stored underneath, and they have some very interesting stuff. There is more to this place than initially meets the eye. There is an upright piano at one end of the bar and a pair of blue boxing gloves, along with crockery, hanging above the bar.



Nobody could explain the significance of the boxing gloves. Most of the staff were enjoying their afternoon meal and watching a cooking show on the television.

I had a glass of Pinot Grigio and headed on home.

A good day with four bars hit making 744 for the year and leaving 256 to go. Only five more before the big 750 on Saturday at Duff's. I am going to spend some time double checking my numbers. I would hate to think I made a mistake and am one off.

Buzzed In The Bronx

A reader of my blog, who I had met briefly once before at Siberia, invited me up to his neighborhood in The Bronx to visit a few bars and have dinner. I did and had a great time. I am going to head up there again one day in the not too distant future because there certainly are plenty of bars. We might have even hit a couple more today if it hadn’t been so hot and humid. One we missed was up 100 steps so we decided to postpone that one for a cooler day. Large Irish community here so there is a heavy concentration of Irish bars.



736) J.C. Mac’s



You just take the #1 Subway to 238th Street, the second to the last stop in The Bronx, and head East about half a block to this neighborhood Irish bar, the likes of which you see less and less in Manhattan but seem plentiful enough in this neighborhood. If you need an address it is 222 West 238th Street. This is a serious dart bar and they have a trophy case full of trophies to prove the point. There is also a pool table in the back. They were serving free food but I wasn’t too hungry so I didn’t check it out. It was here that I met Damian, my guide for the day. He introduced me to Pat, the bartender, who was a bit of a character and a lot of fun.

Damian, Pat, and Bar Man


It turned out that Pat was a Vikings fan (Bar Man is originally from Minnesota) and showed me his tattoo to prove it.



He said that when he was just a baby someone gave him toy Vikings that he had in his crib with him and he has been a Vikings fan ever since. Kind of hard for me to imagine this guy ever being in diapers and in a crib though. He also reads my blog and had bought a bottle of Tanqueray just for the occasion. However, I was really thirsty after the song subway ride so passed on that for the time being.

Pretty much a typical Irish bar setup, old wooden bar, bar chairs, and lots of bottles behind the bar along all kinds of stuff posted about bar activities. You need to check it out. There are also a few televisions with sports and horseracing showing. The place was doing a decent business and everyone in there was most friendly. Damian is a regular and Pat is a friend of his. A fellow, whose name I forgot, came in with his dog, whose name I remember (Shadow) and said hello. Apparently he was the first one in this crowd to have discovered my website. Damian’s wife popped in with their little son, Eamon, to say hello. A good time was being had by all but we had work to do and places to go.

I had a Magner’s Irish Cider.

737) Goal Posts



Didn’t have to move too far to get to this place, just down a couple of doors from J.C. Mac’s. Pretty much the same setup but their trophy case contained mostly softball and football trophies. They also had a pool table in the back and dartboards. A deer head hung on the wall (I should have taken a picture). The bar was the standard old beat-up wooden affair and there were non-working beer spigots, only bottled beers were available. They had a half dozen televisions showing sports. Aside from the Coors Light banners hanging form the overhang above the bar the primary decoration were the montages of customers hanging on the walls. They also had a bunch of boxes of wine behind the bar but I passed on that.

I had a bottle of Heineken.

738) The Punch Bowl



Just down at the end of the block and very convenient to public transportation



was this good-sized, I know this is going to be hard to believe, Irish bar. This place also has an old wood bar, foot rest, and black bar chairs. There was a little nook opposite the bar that had small butcher-block tables and a bull-fight poster on the wall. There was a pool table in the back with green lights hanging over it. They also had, of course, dart boards. Pretty much the same décor as Goal Posts but their banners were for Corona Extra. Kind of half-globe white lights hung from the overhang. They did have a very nice, ornate, dark brown ceiling though and fans, each with three tulip shaped lights hung from it.

The bartender, Kevin, was most accommodating and poured a great Guinness.

Kevin, The Accomodating And Skilled Bartender


He generously allowed Damian and me to come behind the bar to have our picture taken.

Kevin, Bar Man, And Damian


It was my turn to pop for the round and I inadvertently walked out without paying. Luckily we didn’t go far. We actually headed back to J.C. Mac’s to hook up with Pat to go out for dinner and, of course, to crack the bottle of Tanqueray. I ran back to The Punch Bowl and apologized for not paying but the bartender said the drinks were on him. I did, however, leave a generous tip and felt somewhat embarrassed about my gaffe.

I had a well poured Guinness.

739) Jake’s Steakhouse



After having a couple of Tanqueray and tonics back at J.C. Mac’s we all piled into a cab for the short ride to Jake’s Steakhouse. Right by the last subway stop on the #1 Subway. is this classy multi-floored steakhouse. There was a real nice bar setup and the place was fairly packed. Cowboy pictures on the walls and booths on the main floor. There were a couple of flat-screen televisions and the lights hanging from the ceiling were somewhat reminiscent of lanterns with yellowish orange glass panels. The upstairs dining areas are very nice and large windows look over Van Cortlandt Park. Now this is a very large park, 1146 Acres, complete with a golf course. Another friend, Carmel, joined us for dinner and the food was great. I had a flank-steak in a pepper sauce and it was delicious, thicker than some porterhouse steaks that I have had. Scallops seemed to be popular with several of the others and they looked good as well.

We had a great time that started with a Bombay martini at the bar made in individual shakers (Damian had one as well) by Chris, the affable bartender.

Chris, The Bartender, A Real Shaker


740) Dorney & Malone's Tavern

The Gang, Pat, Damian, Carmel, and The Mysterious Chinese Woman


A sports themed bar with posters and pennants from every New York team hanging on the wall someplace. The bar was dark wood and there were chalk-boards behind it listing the beers. Plenty of liquor behind the bar and a few beers on draft. But, at this time of night, it was no time for beer. This was the last stop before hitting the subway home and because we were all laughing and talking and having a jolly old time I didn’t get a chance to take a lot of notes. Suffice it to say that the bartender, Michele, poured a decent drink and was a most pleasant person.

Michele, She Of The Decent Drink


The place was doing a nice business and after quaffing a few drinks Bar Man and The Mysterious Chinese woman toddled of into the night.

I had a couple of Tanqueray and tonics.

I had a most enjoyable day and met some very nice people. The Bronx is a bit out of Bar Man's normal range, a good hour away by subway from where I live, but the trip was well worth it. I will be back and I want to say thanks so much to everyone who made this a most pleasant visit. I am looking forward to seeing Pat at Friday's Jets/Vikings game (you know where to find us).

Bar Number Seven Five Oh!!

Just another reminder that next Saturday, August 20th, starting at about 4:00 P.M. the fun starts at Duff's in Williamsburg. Easy to reach by subway, plenty of free parking, and good times for all.

Seventh Heaven

I took a short stroll on 7th Street this evening for a bit of nostalgia. One bar in particular was the scene of many long, very long lunches back when Bar Man had a real job. Drinking four, six, and even more beers at a time, cascading the beer from one mug to another, was one of our favorite pastimes. And ordering sixty beers at a time wasn’t at all uncommon.

733) McSorley’s



Ah, what can you say about this place that hasn’t been said before. The place is over 150 years old and a lot of the stuff in here dates from the day the doors opened. You can only get two kinds of beer in here, McSorley’s light and McSorley’s dark, and don’t even thing about buying them one at a time, it just isn’t done. Even ordering just two at a time is a bit suspect. The bartenders and waiters all wear gray smocks and have a faux brusque attitude that quickly fades if you can engage them in a conversation. That isn’t too easy to do however because this place is usually jammed and everyone is busy, schlepping twenty beers at a time, ten mugs in each hand, to the well warn and carved up tables and then scooping up the empties and carting them off. And nothing goes better with the beers than soda crackers, cheese, and raw onions. They have pretty decent hamburgers as well and their hash with red cabbage is a favorite of mine.

The current proprietor, Matty Maher, is only the sixth owner of this place and he started here as a dishwasher before buying it. I used to drink with Matty at Molly Malone (now Molly’s) when I used to live right around the corner from the place. He is a great guy and his daughter now tends bar at McSorley’s (the first female bartender ever). Actually, until 1970 they didn’t even allow women customers and they only had a single bathroom much after that. They finally had to add a second one because too many altercations broke out when some bloke with a lady-friend using the facilities tried to keep guys from entering. Doesn’t work too well when everyone has been pounding down beers all night.

Back when I was but a wee Bar Boy in Minneapolis I remember reading about this old bar in New York in a Readers Digest. Many years later when I walked into McSorley’s I instantly recognized the place. It was the dust covered turkey wishbones hanging over the bar that did it. The article said they spray them with hairspray to keep the dust from falling off. The wishbones have a story behind them too, as does everything in here. Before local lads went off to fight in World War I (called The Great War at the time) they would stop in here for a turkey dinner and hang the wishbone above the bar. Those that returned retrieved them. The ones that are left are all mementos to those who lost their life.

Despite rumors to the contrary, no American President ever drank here but Abraham Lincoln once did before he became president. Peter Cooper was a supporter of Lincoln and let him use the hall in his school to give a speech. Cooper Union still sits only a block away and many of the students make McSorley’s their second home.

I could write pages trying to describe the décor here but suffice it to say there is not an inch of wall space that isn’t covered with something, from old campaign buttons, newspaper articles, pictures, just about anything you can think of. I am sure you could write a dissertation for your Doctorate in History using just this place as your reference material.

I got pulled down here today by a reader of my blog, Terry, and then met a friend of his, George.

George and Terry and Me


I downed a few beers and then parted company with them as I headed down the street.

I had four McSorley’s Dark Ales

734) Standings



This place used to be Brewski’s and they had about 500 beers available. The beers were stored in the basement and someone handed them up through a hatch in the floor. I always envisioned a dwarf down there with an enormous right arm developed from continually handing up beers. Alas, they have now rented out the basement for other purposes and the beer menu, although still extensive, was a bit more limited.

Brewski’s, and now Standings (as of six weeks ago, and still the same owners), was built to look old and to, I guess, compete with McSorley’s. Everything in the place, except for the televisions, a recent addition, is, in fact, old, but it was all bought somewhere else and then installed here. Even the flooring came from someplace else. The bar is a nicely carved old bar with a brass rail. The chairs are wooden with black vinyl seats. Because they do not serve anything but beer and inexpensive wine here there really isn’t much behind the bar. There are four brass beer stations on the bar with three spigots each that pour a great selection of beers. They still have a fairly extensive bottled beer menu.

An enormous collection of beer cans ring the walls above the tracks for a model railroad. The train must have been in for maintenance though.

Standings has become a sports bar, hence its name. A large chalkboard does, indeed, have the latest MLB standings posted. They have four televisions but the Mets game had just ended so two of them were showing the races at Saratoga and two were showing ESPN. This place isn’t real big but there are small tables and chairs that ring the walls and the ones by the windows are separated by low partitions affording a modicum of privacy.

The bartender, Rachel, lives in Williamsburg where I am celebrating bar number 750 at Duff’s.

Helpful Rachel


She was familiar with the place and said she would try to drop by but she works later that evening. She also gave me a list of a lot of other bars in Williamsburg that I should visit. Bar Man is always grateful for this kind of information.

Terry’s friend George had run off so he tracked me down and we headed next door.

I had a draft Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale from the Sea Dog Brewery. It was quite good, not sweet and with just enough blueberry flavor to make it different.

735) Burp Castle



This place, too, has undergone a bit of a change. The bartender and waiters no longer where monk habits. They do have a couple hanging on a hook so if a customer wants to wear one I guess they will let them. As you might imagine, they specialize in Belgian Abbey style beers and ales. Again, no hard liquor so the behind the bar setup is non-existent, just a large picture. And their pictures are most interesting, one large one on each wall other than the front wall which has windows.

Bar Man, Bartender, And Fellow Travelers


A Party I Would Like To Attend


It is dark in here and meant to look a bit like a monastery with pew like seating and dark orange lights. A dark wood bar and bar stools. The bar is covered with beer stations that pour a large selection of beers and they also have a lot in bottles as well. When you order a beer the bartender calls it into a little walkie talkie and then it mysteriously appears. Probably that dwarf dug a tunnel over here.

Anyway, Terry and I kind of settled in here and I made this the last bar for the night so I tried a few different beers.

Terry and Bar Man Settling In


The bartender, Christian, was a most pleasant fellow and also provided me with an extensive list of bars to add to my intinerary.

Christian, Another Helpful Bartender


I had a Delirium Nocturnum, a St. Feuillien Triple, and a Franziskaner Hefe Weiss Hell. (their light version) The Delirium Nocturnum is a 9% beer that comes in a 20 ounce bottle and the Freuillien Triple is 8.5%. The Hefe Weiss Hell was a reasonable 5%. Anyway, Barman was a happy man when he toddled off to the subway.

I hit a nice three bars today and had a most enjoyable time moving up to 735 for the year and leaving 265 more to go.

Assault On Astor

I decided to head back to Astor Place and hit a couple of bars that I had walked by yesterday. I got off to a late start and these were all close to the subway stop so it was an easy jaunt.

730) Virage



Kind of a cluttered bar, empty coffee cups and glasses with the remnants of drinks and fruit slices sat on top. There was someone at the end of the bar taking pictures of the coffee cups when I arrived and then she took pictures of the empty glasses too. It turns out she was doing a photo-shoot of some kind because as soon as she left the bar was quickly cleaned up.

The location is convenient, 118 2nd Avenue at the corner of 7th Street. The bar is fairly small and shaped like a truncated V. It is wood and does have a brass rail. The bar chairs are wooden with red vinyl seats and backs. Behind the bar is a large mirror with glass shelves mounted on it on black wrought braces. Not an overly large collection of liquor, but maybe there is more out of sight someplace. To the left of the mirror is a nook with a shelf above a refrigeration unit and a tiered shelf holding a few more bottles of liquor. Above that is a shelf mounted on the wall that held glasses and there was a wine storage area above that. A brass beer station with six spigots sat on the bar and next to that was a coffee machine and an espresso machine. The lights above the bar looked like little pale orange fezzes with narrow darker orange and brown stripes at the top and bottom.

The walls are mostly brick with floor to ceiling windows on two sides. Interesting, somewhat gothic looking, pictures hang on the walls. They featured letters of the alphabet with a corresponding picture, V for Villain, R for Robber, and my favorite, I for Idiot are a couple of examples. Two large mirrors with their wine offerings hang on the side wall. Green benches along one wall and benches, black and white rattan-like chairs, and small square tables throughout the rest of the place. There is a small chandelier and a couple of orange and pink lights hanging from the ceiling over the dining area. The floor is black and white square mosaic. There is outdoor seating on the sidewalk under large awnings and they are open 24 hours a day The buzz on the Mediterranean style food is good.

I had a draft Brooklyn Lager.

731) Via Della Pace





Right across at 48 East 7th Street is this cozy little Italian restaurant with a small green marble-topped bar with a wood paneled front. Just plain brown bar chairs. A large jug of sangria sat on the bar and I got a taste of it. Actually, the bartender gave me an entire glass of it. It was good too. She said the guy who makes it is from Mexico so he makes it Mexican style, not Italian style. She confided to me that that basically means he laces it with vodka. Sitting behind the bar is a kind of country looking set of wooden shelves holding the liquor and glasses. Wooden shelves against a brick wall held wine bottles, decanters, and flat-bottomed flagons. Old wood floors contributed to the little place in the Italian countryside feel. Little green and purple shaded lights hang above the bar.

There were green cushioned benches up against the windows and kind of swollen orange tube shaped lives hang above them. A narrow panel of a greenish landscape ran around the place just below the ceiling.

I got into a very pleasant conversation with the bartender, Maggie, who was from Poland and a customer who was drinking a bottle of wine and was headed to Seattle where he was going to be a bass player in their orchestra. Bar Man used to play bass in high school but has a tin ear. We talked about the wine and he raved about how good it was so Maggie poured me a glass of that to taste as well. Then she topped of the glass of wine that I ordered.

Maggie, The Very Friendly And Very Generous Bartender


I had a wonderful time and would recommend it to anyone.

The wine that I ordered was Moscato D’Asti Patrizi and it was very good. A bit sparkly and quite sweet. The sample that I was given was a Gavi of some sort but I forgot to write down the name. It was quite good but I would need to try it again before having the sweeter stuff.

732) Continental



Right across the street from the Astor Place subway station at 25 3rd Avenue is this mini-version of CBGB, and it draws just about the same crowd and musicians. Just about everyone from Blondie to Iggy Pop has played there and the top of the walls are lined with signed black and white pictures, taken on the premises, of the various artists. There are booths along the wall opposite the bar and a stage in the back with a large, standing room only area. You can buy professional quality earplugs at the bar for a buck so one can only imagine how loud it gets in here. The walls, and everything else in here, is painted black. The hallway and bathroom doors had their own look, as did the bathrooms themselves.



The crowd is largely young, hip, tattooed and pierced. I couldn’t have looked more out of place if I was carrying an accordion. But I didn’t look as out of place as the middle-aged guy in a suit and tie that wondered in and ordered a beer and a shot of Jameson’s. If not his appearance, just ordering a single shot made him stand out. Jagermeister was three shots for five dollars and just about everything else was five shots for ten dollars. In the short time that I was there I saw one guy order and quickly down six shots of Jagermeister and another guy order and down five shots of Jack Daniels. This is no place for amateurs. It was only a bit after 5:00 P.M. but I guarantee you this crowd didn’t just come from work. The bartender was quite attractive in a Morticia kind of way. She didn’t want her picture taken though, the flash probably would have turned her to dust. But hey, I liked the place.

I had a bottle of Bass Ale

A nice little three bar day bringing the total for the year to 732 and leaving 268 more for the year and only 17 until number 750 at Duffs.

More Fun At Duffs

First Rate Day On First

After a fairly, shall we say, intense day yesterday I decided to take it somewhat easier today.

726) Lunasa



This place, at 126 1st Avenue, between 7th Street and St. Marks Place, is named for an ancient Celtic harvest festival in honor of the Irish god Lugh, patron of the arts. It is also the name of an Irish musical group of some note. This is a very nice looking place and appears to be fairly new. A shiny wood bar with a wood paneled front and a brass rail. Wooden bar chairs have either a brown or a black vinyl seat. Inverted L shaped brass spigots serve up a dozen draft beers including one of Bar Man’s favorites, Speckled Hen. Thought I would just start with a bottle of something today though.

The wall behind the bar is old brick with wood framed oval mirrors and a large blackboard listing their beers and wines. The section of wall with the blackboard is painted light grey. Five square wood columns with copper colored translucent panels lit from within separate the tiered shelves holding the liquor. A single row of bottles sit under the blackboard. Copper cone shaped shades cover the lights directly above the bar and recessed spot lights are over the mirrors behind the bar and in the pale green ceiling elsewhere. A large metal heating and cooling duct runs the length of the place suspended from the ceiling.

The wall opposite the bar is paneled about a third of the way up and dark green paint above. There are a couple of tables towards the door and a narrow ledge runs along the rest of the wall with stools in front. There are a few tables with benches and small stools up front by the windows. A couple more tables are in a narrow room leading to a very pleasant garden area.



Large heaters out there probably means that they can keep it open most of the year.

I had a bottle of Red Stripe beer.

727) Simone



Not far away at 134 1st Avenue, right on the corner of St. Marks is this place that looks like it could have been designed by Liberace, if Liberace was Asian. The top of the bar was the only normal looking thing in the place, that and a brass rail. The top of the bar was black plastic that looked like marble with silver flakes embedded in it. The front was paneled with a somewhat hallucinogenic scene of barren trees. The bar stools had leopard print seats ringed with the round heads of brass tacks. Directly in front of me were two gold-framed arched mirrors with large Christmas balls, two maroon and one gold.



To the left and to the right of them were black lacquer shelves holding the liquor and glasses.

The ceiling is bright red painted patterned tin and narrow crystal chandeliers hang from it directly over the bar. Three larger crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling back a bit from the bar. The wallpaper is mostly deep red with Asian style pictures of flowers, pagodas, and weeping willows. Beaded curtains hang in the windows that wrap around this corner location.



Small fringed lights pretty much ring the ceiling but there are star shaped lights up front.

More mirrors are on the available wall space along with interesting lamps, pictures, and wall hangings.





A wrap-around banquette in the corner has black seats and zebra striped backs.



At least one bench in the other part of the room has a black and white cowhide look to it. It is amazing how much stuff they have managed to pack in here. The food smelled good too, so you could pop in for a bite to eat and and take in the scenery. They also have a little pastry counter up front, something a bit unusual for a place that bills itself as a martini bar.

I had a draft Grolsch.

728) Cheap Shots



Just down a few doors was this Yang to Simone’s Ying. A good old dive bar that threw me for a loop when I walked in. There was a large flat screen television above the bar and it looked like the Vikings were playing the Steelers with Minnesota leading seven zip in the top of the fourth quarter. I thought it was a pre-season game but couldn’t understand why Madden was providing the color commentary. Then I realized someone was playing Madden NFL. The graphics are quite realistic. They guy playing the game wasn’t too happy though because he was playing Pittsburgh against the machine. There were two real televisions, but they were playing the SciFi channel.

There is an air hockey table towards the back and all the way back was a room with walls that were basically chalk boards. There was a dartboard back there and a Big Buck Hunter game.

This is a nice old bar and cheap shots they did serve, two bucks each and seven dollars got you a pitcher of beer. You get to drink free on your birthday too. This would be a good place to watch a real football game but this one wasn’t too bad. No commercials and it was fun watching the guy playing. The Vikings were still up seven zip at the two minute warning but they had just missed a fifty yard field goal attempt so the Steelers had a chance.

I had a draft Guinness Stout.

729) Rancho El Girasol



As I was heading uptown to catch the subway I passed by this Mexican restaurant between 13th and 14th Streets. The name means Sunflower Ranch and, coincidently there is a Rancho El Girasol in Puerto Vallarta where Bar Man hit 150 bars earlier in the year (in Puerto Vallarta, not on the ranch). Although it is a Mexican restaurant there is a nice little bar in the back. The wall behind the bar was brick and had a set of shelves for the liquor, mostly tequila. This is an authentic Mexican restaurant too, the owners and all the help are Mexican and it looks pretty much like something you would see if you visited Mexico. Plenty of pictures of Zapata on the walls as well as some Aztec warriors and seductive maidens about to be sacrificed, rescued, or seduced. A large steer skull complete with long horns is mounted on the wall next to a sombrero and a non-Sears poncho.

The wall opposite the bar is primarily brick with one stretch of orange wall that has a niche containing a colorful wall hanging, some Mexican artifacts and a statue of the Virgin Mary. It was flanked by two pictures of You Know Who.



There was a poster on the back wall that I first thought was a political poster for Mexican President Vincent Fox but turned out to be for Vicente Fernandez, They do kind of look alike.

Vincent or Vicente


I had an excellent margarita made with fresh lime juice. The food smelled good too so I ordered the shrimp filled jalapeno appetizers and they were excellent. Large jalapenos, lightly battered and stuffed with chopped shrimp and served on a bed of lettuce.

A pleasantly moderate day with four bars hit making a total of 729 for the year and with only 271 more staring me in the face.

Ending Up In Sing Sing

I decided to concentrate on St. Marks Place (8th Street) that is kind of between Greenwich Village and the East Village. St. Marks Place is named for St Mark's-in-the-Bowery, a church two blocks north of the street that started out as the Stuyvesant family's private chapel. And, yes, I did indeed end up in Sing Sing. Bar Man has a bit of advice as a result; If you have your picture taken with an attractive young woman named Michelle, do not come home half in the bag singing the Beatles tune of the same name. This is not conducive to a night of romance unless, of course, you are actually romancing someone named Michelle.

720) DoJo



The first place that I came to after getting off the subway at Astor Place (check out the beavers on the subway station’s walls) was this restaurant and bar at 24 St. Mark’s Place, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. It is more of a restaurant but there is a small bar separated from the dining area by a wood and glass partition. It only has six beat-up bar chairs, some of which had red vinyl seats covered with very frayed and torn green with red and gold patterned strips cloth. The bar didn’t seem to get a lot of attention from the staff. It wasn’t really the fault of anyone except, perhaps, management. Everyone was busy working the tables and the serving counter for the people ordering food, and the place was quite busy. The bar really was too small for a full time bartender. Once I got the attention of someone the service was quite pleasant and she remembered that I was there so she did come back a couple of times to see if I wanted anything else. Can’t really complain.

The bar was kind a kind of beat up wooden thing but it did have a brass rail. A large gold Kirin Ichiban good fortune cat that looked suspiciously like a repainted Hello Kitty sat at one end of the bar next to a vase of pink flowers whose expiration date had obviously passed. There is just pretty much a plain set of shelving behind the bar with a green and white marble top over the section where the cash register sat. Kind of neat lights hung over the bar, Glass domes that were white on the inside and royal blue on the outside. Indirect red lighting above the bar back added a kind of cozy, Tokyo at night glow to the place. There is outdoor seating on the sidewalk.

I had a draft Pilsner Urquell.

721) Bull McCabe's



Not far away, just across the street actually at 29 St. Marks Place, is this real bar that was icy cold inside. Good air conditioner. The bar is long with a brass rail and wood bar stools. The bar-top was kind of laminated wood though, not a real manly bar, but it did have a nicely paneled front to it. The wall behind the bar is old brick with five framed mirrors hanging on it. A Brooklyn Brewery blackboard had the beer specials listed on it, none of which were from Brooklyn Brewery. I will have to tell Garrett, their brewmaster, the next time I see him. Tiered shelves in front of the mirrors hold the bottles and glasses and shelves underneath hold more. There is also a large ice chest holding bottled beers (and cider). There is also one of those dispensers for chilled Jagermeister but I was somehow able to restrain myself. This was one of the last good decisions Bar Man made today.

Cone shaped lights above the bar cast little circles of light about every four feet or so. Three tube shaped brass beer stations with three spigots each sat on the bar. A pool table in the back was getting some decent action. The wall opposite the bar was paneled with knotty pine and had mirrors that looked like window panes hanging on it. There was also a large Guinness mirror and some Irish themed pictures as well. Set a bit away was what looked like a service bar but the bartender said it was just another place for people to hang out when the main bar got too crowded. Black benches and round tables with chairs sat in the corner next to the door by the front windows. There were four televisions and a Big Buck Hunter machine.

A large outdoor seating area was in the back with lots of tables and chairs and old beer posters hanging on the walls and fence. Jus make sure you don’t sit on the landing strip, it is vertical.



I had a Magner’s Irish Cider.

722) Zen





Right next door to Bull’s was a sushi bar but the trained eye of Bar Man spotted a real bar in there. Kind of a nice dark wooden bar too, with a foot rest. Seven wooden bar chairs with tan textured and patterned vinyl seats. Pyramid shaped rippled turquoise shaded lights hang over the bar. A large, but not yet fat, Buddha sat on one end of the bar. There is a large mirror behind the bar and two rows of sake bottles sitting in front of it. Shelves on each side of the mirror held a small selection of liquor. Below are shelves for glasses and pitchers. I didn’t see any spigots for beer but a sign over the actual sushi bar in the back did advertise draft Kirin Ichiban beer. There was a non-disfigured Hello Kitty sitting on an upright piano towards the back on the way to the beer.

The walls were pale green above wood paneling and wood backed benches. It was a fairly narrow place so just one row of tables up against the benches and along the wall. I didn’t venture back to the sushi bar area but there were a couple of tables back there as well.

Although they had a lot of sake on display, when I asked for a chilled one the waitress said they didn’t have any, only warm or at room temperature. That didn’t make a great deal of sense to me and I spotted a refrigerator under the bar and asked her to double check. Sure enough, there was a bottle in there and, I guess because she was a bit embarrassed, she poured me a large water glass full.

I had a large water glass full of chilled Harushika Extra Dry Sake.

723) Jules



Moving along St. Marks Place a bit to #65 is this French bistro that does, indeed, capture the ambience of the real thing. They don’t serve hard liquor here of I would have had a Pernod. A pleasant enough place to pop into though and it would really seem like the real thing at night when they have live jazz. There is a tee-shaped beer station on the bar with six spigots and a decent selection of beers (no spigots were wasted on generic domestic brands).

The wall behind the bar is cream-colored painted brick. To the left of the bar on the wall is a large blackboard advertising Jules Champagne Cocktails. To the left of that is a mirror with a quote from Jacques Brel but it was in French so I couldn’t read it. Probably lyrics from one of his songs though. Directly behind the bar were a couple of mirrors with glass shelves mounted on them that held wine bottles and glasses. These were above an old set of wooden shelves and drawers. The shelves held more wine bottles and glasses.

There is a narrow dining area in the back and a larger one opposite the bar. All white table cloths and linen. Very classy. While I was there an order of white lilies arrived and the bartender was busy arranging them in vases.

Nina, Bartender and Floral Arranger


The wall opposite the bar has two large mirrors and French posters, the largest one for a 1955 movie, Port du Desire.



A smaller poster advertised cigarettes. The rest of them I have no idea what they were for.

Sitting here, sipping my wine, made me wish I was in Paris in the 20’s, spending my days and nights in the cafes writing scathing political treatises while smoking and drinking absinthe, perpetually angry because my genius goes unrecognized. Come to think of it, I could do most of that here, I would just have to drink the non-hallucinogenic absinthe (they have largely eliminated the wormwood).

I had a glass of chilled red Sancerre. It was quite refreshing and I had never had a red Sancerre before. I will bring the Mysterious Chinese Woman here for a night of jazz and to atone for the Michelle faux paux and then I will get the name of the wine so I can buy some for myself.

724) Klong



Well, my intentions were good. I actually thought I was headed home, but for some reason the taste of sake lingered on my tongue and I wanted more. It is always the last place (or second to the last place) that does Bar Man in. You lose a bit of focus, the trembling hand steadies, you become invulnerable.

St. Marks Place seems to be going a bit Asian so I passed right by this classy Thai restaurant and bar on the way to the subway. And boy, did they have the sake. It is located at 7 St. Marks Place and the entry way is marked with a sculpted noodle, or something. The theme is repeated in the interior décor as well. There was seductive music and a wavy, light green stone topped bar with cream colored laminated front panels. The bar stools look like chrome bicycle seats, but were much more comfortable (unless you happen to be Lance Armstrong). Another slim Buddha, I think, welcomes you as you enter.



The bartender, Bobby, turned out to be from Boston where Bar Man lived for a couple of years and currently lives in Chinatown, where Bar Man spends a bit of time, some of it above ground, so we had things to chat about.

Bobby, The Bartender


I found out that klong means canal in Thai, for example. Kind of coiled overhead lights and a floor that looks like what you might find in an old garage. The seating in the dining area is kind of minimalist with small butcher block tables and fifties style white scoop seats.

They served their chilled sake in reasonably sized glasses set in a small wooden box. I has a chilled Kaori Sake and it was so good I had another. I should stop by during happy hour which runs from 11:00 P.M until 2:00 A.M when they close.

725) Sing Sing



Well, I told you I ended up in Sing Sing. This is a Japanese and Korean karaoke bar with 15 or 16 private booths.



A bit kinky, if you ask me. Kind of reminds you of a porno place. My notes for this place consists of two lines “Smooth greenish marble-topped bar” and “Too drunk to write.” Luckily I was able to take a picture of the interior so that will have to do.



Then I asked Michelle to write down something about the place. She wrote that the place has been open about 2 months and the price per hour to rent a booth (it ranges from a low of $3 per hour from 1:00 P.M to 7:00 P.M during the week to a high of $8 per hour after 7:00 P.M. on Friday and Saturday nights. Her final comment was Michelle loves to sing sing!

Michelle, Who Loves To Sing Sing!


I figured it was time to leave and after having but a single chilled sake did, in fact, head home.

A much more productive day than I had originally planned with six bars for the day and leaving 275 to go. Tomorrow I will be taking it a bit easier. I find that three bars in a day is a piece of cake and four is not bad. Once you go over that, however, strange things begin to happen. I might even start to sing sing!

An East Village Stroll

This was my first serious visit to the East Village. A lot of the bars in this neighborhood don’t usually open until later in the day except for on the weekends. And man, are there ever a lot of bars. I passed more bars than I stopped into and by the time I left in the late afternoon even more were beginning to open. I will certainly be back again. Otto’s Shrunken Head Tiki Bar is high on my list of places to visit in the future (it was closed when I passed by early in the day).

714) Blarney Cove



On 14th Street between Avenues A and B at the edge of the infamous alphabet city is this equally infamous dive bar. It is one of those typical boxcar, or shotgun-shack, configuration, not very long and not very wide. It is on a desolate stretch of 14th Street and you could almost pass it by if you weren’t careful. Once inside though you may decide to make it your regular hangout (assuming you are a heavy drinking male between the ages of, well, any age really). The bar is dark wood and there is a little separate overflow bar further back. The bar chairs were black metal with black vinyl cushions and backs. There is a kind of a light stone wall behind the bar with three large mirrors and rows of narrow shelves holding liquor bottles and glasses. The wall opposite the bar was paneled on the lower half and had green and tan striped wallpaper above. A few mirrors with beer advertising and some stained glass lamps were mounted on it.

The décor here consists primarily of an Irish flag and bags of snacks. There are a couple of televisions, OTB horse racing on one and, at the request of one of my companions, the Yankees game on the other.

Ah yes, my companions. I met a couple of guys, Josh and Harry (Josh is on the left and Harry is, by default, on the right in the picture above) who had just come from Nevada Smiths where they watched the Arsenal/Chelsea soccer game. Apparently that place opened early so they had already had a few beers before we hooked up. I had first met Josh at The Gate where I celebrated my 500th bar.

Because it seemed like the thing to do here, I had a bottle of Budweiser and headed out with Josh and Harry to explore more of the East Village.

Budweiser though, not Guinness


715) 7B or Vazac’s Horseshoe Bar



At 108 Avenue A on the corner of 7th Street is another old, classic dive bar. This neighborhood still has a lot of them but the neighborhood, it is a-changin’ - so get here while you can. A few short years ago there was nothing but druggies, dealers, and hookers here. Now it is becoming very gentrified and changing quickly. It might be worth a trip to New York just to visit this neighborhood before it is gone forever.

The place gets part of its name from the fact that the bar is, indeed, horseshoe shaped. Now there are old beat-up bars and, rarely, a bar so old you have to be careful not to pick up a sliver. This is one of the latter. The center island is just as beat-up as the bar itself with old wooden cabinets with pillars and wood and glass shelves. Lots of liquor on those shelves. Blackboards with drink and beer specials hang on the walls. Old overhead fans with either pink globe lights or pink domed shaped lights hang from the ceiling. Really old wooden shelves and paneling on the walls. Some of these shelves have the faded remnants of old specials that once were available. When you see an advertisement for either a shrimp or lobster cocktail for 35 cents you know it is old. I wish I could still get the pig knuckles and sauerkraut though. This is a pre-prohibition bar, so the advertisements are authentic, not reproductions. The shelves against the wall display old liquor boxes rather than bottles. This bar has been in a number of movies including Crocodile Dundee and The Color Of Money are a couple of them.

Oh No!! Another Tom Cruise connection, but now I seem to be linked more with <Paris Hilton> You have to scroll down a bit and I don't know why, certainly Bar Man should be on top of Paris Hilton.

There are wrap-around windows with small panes. The panes on the edges are red or green except where one has been broken and replaced. There are a couple of televisions and a pinball machine. Small tables in front of black cushioned benches line the walls. They had a really nice selection of beers.

I had a draft Tetley’s.

716) Doc Holliday’s



Not far away at 141 Avenue A on the corner of 9th Street is this bar that wouldn’t be out of place in some small town in Texas. You actually enter through swinging doors. There are places that try to look like a country-western bar and then there are country-western bars. This place is a close to the real deal that you can ever hope to find in Manhattan. The only real difference is that the cowboy boots in here don’t have real cow manure adhering to them. And cowboy boots there are aplenty, most of them nailed to the brown stained green plywood ceiling,. though. This place looks as old as the hills, from the beat-up wooden bar with a silver rail to the old wooden shelves and cabinets behind the bar. The shelves are packed with more stuff than you can easily imagine; steer skulls, ukuleles, old dolls, you name it. I believe the bejeweled rat is named Ferdinand.

Ferdinand


There is a pool table with red felt covering and a juke box playing great tunes. Actually Harry picked most of them out and he tended to favor Johnny Cash with a bit of ZZ Top thrown in. The wall opposite the bar is brick and covered with classic western pictures including a poster from the Western version of The Magnificent Seven and a portrait of John Wayne. Also, somewhat inexplicably, a large poster of Elvis, and not from his movie Charro either. Remember that movie? Elvis played a bearded and branded Jess Wade falsely accused of stealing a Mexican cannon. But, once again, I digress.

A partition separates the bar from old wooden booths. A real old and dirty Texas flag is draped from the ceiling. Sitting on the bar was one of the oldest brass beer stations that I have ever seen with seven spigots. A horn of some kind sits on the Bud Light tap. I didn’t see any televisions but there were a couple of deer heads on the wall.

The bartender, Stacy, showed me around the place and was particularly proud of the mural logo on the outside wall.

Stacy, The Bartender and Tour Guide


The Mural


The Logo


She was convinced that I had been into this place before and had given here a card, but I told her I couldn’t believe I wouldn’t have remembered. When I got home I checked my database and found that, indeed, I had not been there before. Perhaps she saw me someplace else, but we couldn’t figure out where it might have been. She gave me a list of other places to go that are owned by the same people that own this place. I am going to be sure to try them. If they are halfway as fun as this place I can’t go wrong. She suggested we visit Sophie’s next because it was close.

I had a draft Newcastle Brown Ale.

717) Sophie’s



Have I mentioned that this is a great neighborhood for old, neighborhood bars? Between Avenues A and B at 507 5th Street, is another place with a bar so old you have to be careful of slivers. There is a brass rail and mismatched black bar chairs and a single stool. Two old brass beer stations sit on the bar with three spigots each. An interesting bar back with cabinets at each end that had stained glass doors. Above the cabinets were peaks like what you would see on a gabled house and connecting them was what looked like a rooftop. A team of horses pulling a beer barrel on wheels sits on the roof. Kind of variation of reindeer and Santa’s sleigh. Under the “roof” were mirrors and shelves of liquor. A pool table and a Monopoly pinball machine along with a Target Terror machine were in the back.

The wall behind the bar is brick and opposite the wall there is paneling below a red wall. Original artwork of a somewhat weird and dark nature graces the walls. A motley collection of tables and chairs are strewn about the place.

We had decided the best bet for finding the next place was simply to ask the bartender where we were drinking. John suggested we head down the street to Ace.

John, The Helpful Bartender

I had a Guiness

718) Ace



Just down the street at 531 5th Street was this much larger than average bar that was just opening when we arrived. It is divided into three sections with the bar in the middle. There is a nice old wooden bar with a brass rail and bar chairs. Interesting lights hang over the bar, they look kind of like electric room heaters (maybe they were). Four brass tubular beer stations with three spigots each sat on the bar. It was too dark behind the bar to see much except for mirrors and bottles.

There were three booths against the wall opposite the bar with red lights under rippled glass shades mounted on the wall above the tables. There were two pinball machines (Sopranos and Simpsons) up front and a large hologram of a werewolf mounted on the wall. A couple of round chairs with tables are up front along with a bench in a nook next to the entry-way. There is a large display of classic lunch boxes behind glass on the wall next to the nook. My favorite featured Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Double Bar Ranch. When I was but a Bar Boy I had a little alarm clock with a cowboy on horseback that rocked back and forth to the ticking (wipes away a nostalgic tear). There was also an Evel Knieval lunch box and I remember being in Louisville Kentucky when he failed in his jump across the Snake River. The only mention in the newspaper was a box score in the sports section that said “Snake River 1 – Evel Knieval 0. There were also a whole slew of neon beer signs on the wall opposite the lunch boxes.

In the large back section of the bar were two well spaced pool tables covered in red felt and two dartboards with well space lanes. No problems with people bumping into each other. There was ample seating here as well. Against the back wall were booths with pleated red vinyl seats. Two large canvas sideshow banners, one for Rubber Girl and one for and Indian Fakir, hung above the pool tables. There was also interesting artwork on the green brick, red brick, and stone walls. A large Skelly (red flying horse) sign hung on one wall.

We got lucky because they had free pool and free bagels with cream cheese when we got there. The bagels hit the spot and Josh and Harry shot a few games of pool while I took notes. We asked the bartender where we should go next and she suggested Zum Schneider, a small beer garden. She was friendly enough but camera shy so I didn’t get a picture.

I had a draft Boddington’s.

719) Zum Schneider





Well, Harry headed home but Josh said the bagel gave him a second wind so we trucked on to 107 7th Street on the corner of Avenue C. This is a small indoor beer garden with a lot of outside seating. The bar is interesting enough with a Plexiglas top over light wood. There were a couple of recessed illuminated panels with some kind of plastic leaves in them. They have an extremely large selection of German beers, both in bottles and on tap (a dozen spigots that could see). Some trees decorated with lights inside and a few tables. There is a small stage and they have events here all the time that look to be a lot of fun. There next big bash is going to be their 5th Anniversary Party on September 3rd and 4th. From what I have seen of their previous parties, I am going to be there.



You can check out their website by clicking a dancer below:

The heck with trying to put a few more bars on my resume, I deserve a break and I am taking it here.

Well, the second wind from the bagel didn’t last long so after we finished our beers, I had a draft Algauer, and Josh and Bar Man hopped a cab and headed home (separate homes so don’t get any funny ideas).

A great day and I hit six bars for a total of 719 for the year and leaving 281 for the year. Know I understand why working out with a buddy is better than working out alone. You are pushed further than you normally would push yourself. Thanks Josh and Harry, looking forward to seeing you at Duff’s on August 20th.

Map To Duff's and More

This isn't the best map to show where Duff's is located, but you can get an idea of where it is. It is close to the river and very easy to find from any of the subway lines that go to Williamsburg, either the L or the G.

It is on the corner of North 3rd and Kent and you won't be able to miss it. Just look for the two people on the roof who are having a drink.

If you are driving, there should be no problem finding a place to park.



Remember, August 20th at 4:00 P.M.

Here is a review of Duff's that appeared in the Village Voice awhile ago:

"Jimmy Duff is a wanted man. Needed, actually. In our city's glut of tired dives that proffer crusted-over beer glasses and call it character, Jimmy Duff's bar is the genuine article. The former co-owner of Hell's Kitchen beloved watering hole Bellevue returns this month with his wholly owned Williamsburg establishment, a smaller version of his own apartment "with just a little bit more alcohol."

What elevates Duff's beyond mere Williamsburg rocker hang is the New Jersey native's inimitable sense of humor and unmistakable style; all Duff-designed establishments serve as homage to his loves and years of flea-market scavenging. Vintage porn playing cards are cast into tables; Jesus kitsch rests on the jukebox; and posters of Alien illustrator H.R. Giger's finer works take center stage. There's also the omnipresent image of Dancing Dominick, a 79-year-old Bellevue regular who passed away three years ago and danced like "your grandfather on crack." Dancing Dom's even in the jukebox, a photo of his face superimposed on the CD covers of Stevie Wonder, White Stripes, and the Misfits.

But we expect no less from a man who drives around in his own custom-designed hearse. Though Duff's sold his "Reserved for Bin Laden" hearse, he's back in action with a pimped-out, disco-diva '78 Cadillac that he'd like you to know took first prize in the modified car category at 2003's Mermaid Parade. Sigh."

And here is a teaser picture of the place. More pictures will follow in the days to come:

A Funtime At Duff's

Training Day

Kind of a quick and dirty day. I wasn’t sure I would be able to hit any bars today because I was heading out to Long Island for a backyard barbecue in honor of a friend of mine’s daughter’s recent marriage. I guess backyard barbecue is a bit of an understatement, there was a D.J., open bar, major smoker and grill action (ribs, chicken, cheeseburgers, hotdogs, fish), giant hero sandwiches, backed ziti, a porta-potty, what more could you want. And Bernie’s special juice (made with passion-fruit nectar this time around in honor of his daughter’s wedded bliss).

The Blissfully Wedded Yvette & Keith


At any rate, I had to take a train out to Long Island but was lucky enough to find:

712) Houlihan’s



The last time I was at the Atlantic Avenue Terminal this place wasn’t here. I got to the train station about 40 minutes early and actually thought I might have to go to a Chuck E. Cheese to see if they had a beer, although I was pretty sure they didn’t really have a bar. When I got off the subway and saw this place I was happy indeed.

As far as a chain type of bar, this one wasn’t bad at all. A nice rectangular stone bar with a large-screen television mounted in the middle playing music videos with the sound turned on. You would be surprised how many bars have televisions playing music videos with the volume turned down and the jukebox playing. Very disconcerting.

The dining area was nice enough looking with booths and old advertising posters hanging on the wall. It actually looked pretty classy. I didn’t have much time here and the Mysterious Chinese Woman had made off with my notecards and pen so I wasn’t able to do much here except quaff a brew and head to my train.

I had a Guinness Stout and told the bartender what a wonderful community service Houlihan’s was providing by opening this place. She said they do get a lot of commuter business. I would think so. It is the only bar close to the train station.

713) Dublin Pub



I was kind of hoping that there would be a bar by the train station in West Islip where I was headed, and I wasn’t disappointed. Right across the street from the train station was this small town dive bar.



Whew, it has been a long time since I walked into a place that was smoke filled, it was kind of like stepping back in time. Well, at least stepping back to before smoking was banned in bars in New York.

There was a beat-up wood topped bar with a wood-grained Formica front and a linoleum covered foot rest. The overhang above the bar was covered with strings of white Christmas lights, but I can’t say it made the place really cheerful. The bar back was kind of strange, looked a bit like a stone wall with rectangular and round openings where various knick knacks were tucked (the porcelain Madonna was a nice touch. The two inches of pink Taylor wine in the bottom of a gallon jug discouraged me from asking to see a wine list. There were two pool tables and, aside from the nice lights hanging over them, the only other decoration seemed to be a bunch of Budweiser pennants. Looked like the gathering place for the locals though.

I had a bottle of Budweiser and headed to the barbecue.

Two bars today, but two more than I had counted on. That makes 713 for the year and leaves 287 more to go. I have to hoof it to hit my 750 by August 20th. I hadn't counted on the Jets preseason so that will take two days out of my endeavor. Even though the games don't start until the evening, my friend Bernie (father of the bride) likes to tailgate. Really likes to tailgate. I am sure he will be picking me up in the very early afternoon to head out and set up. Too bad there aren't any bars (or at least none that I can get into) at the stadium.

Can't Stand The Heat? Stay Out Of Hell's Kitchen

I decided to head back to Hell’s Kitchen again and it was somehow appropriate given how hot it was. By the time I headed home the thermometer at the gas station across the street from my last stop said 103.



Now, that is hot.

708) Mr. Biggs



Can you say “televisions”? I counted at least 36 of them in this relatively small place. There were 14 of them above the bar back and another 18 flanking a large screen for a projection TV. A few more were scattered about just for good measure. I felt like the alien played by David Bowie in the movie The Man Who Fell To Earth. There is a nice dark wood bar but no bar rail. The wooden chairs that matched the bar had rungs enough though. The wall behind the bar consisted of large bolted on grey metal plates, or something that was meant to look that way. Kind of interesting in an industrial kind of way. No mirrors back there though, too many televisions. Just a plain brown wood shelf that looked like it was a wrap-around of the bar itself. There were tiered shelves on top of it that held the liquor. The glasses and more liquor was stored underneath. Neat old domed style lights hang over the bar.

The wall opposite the bar is brick and there is a long burgundy banquette with small round tables and chairs sitting against it. Between the top of the banquette and the televisions is a narrow band of mirrors. A smaller banquette sits against the back wall and a double row of round tables and chairs runs down the middle of the wooden floor.

They had frozen strawberry daiquiri, pina colada, and margarita machines and a large sign that advertised karaoke three nights a week. Woot, frozen drinks and karaoke, can’t get much better than that. There are a lot of Mr. Biggs tee-shirts on display and you can get gift certificates for frozen drinks. Kind of an interesting touch. Give your loved ones a gift certificate for a frozen drink and send them off to karaoke night.

The bartender, Melanie, was very pleasant.

Melanie, The Pleasant Bartender


She had worked at the WWF restaurant and bar in Time’s Square and she said that place had a lot more televisions than here. Hoo Boy, I will have to truck on over there one day and check it out. Can’t imagine the ambience of having a drink surrounded by the images of sweaty pretty-boy wrestlers wearing skimpy briefs. Not wrestlers like back when I was a mere Bar Boy. Then we had real men like George, The Animal, Steele and the Vachone brothers, Butcher and Mad Dog, and my hometown hero, Vern Gagne.

They have a nice little outdoor seating area and because it is on the corner of 10th Avenue and 43rd Street at 596 10th Avenue it wraps around so you have seating on two sides.

I had a Magners Irish Cider, hit the spot as the day was warming up.

709) Druids



This was the destination that I had in mind when I headed out today. It is at 736 10th Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets. It was a bit of a hike up there in the heat but I took it slow and noted a couple of places to stop in on my way back to the subway. Druids is an older place with a nice wooden bar and a brass rail. The bar back is largely mirrors with glass and metal shelves holding liquor and glasses. Little upturned glass shaded lights are mounted between the mirrors. Green glass cone shaped shaded lights hang over the bar. On the shelf above the mirror are old books, a real old accordion, storm lamps, old Celtic style paintings, candlesticks, and weird statuary. There is, of course, a picture of Stonehenge above a shelf of old books. Two very old golf clubs were mounted above the bottles behind the bar.

A bunch of puppets hang in front of one of the windows and there is an article about the guy who makes them.



I guess he must be a regular there. A lot of original artwork hangs on the brick wall opposite the bar and on the bluish-grey back wall as well. Druids hosts shows of the works of local artists. In fact one came in while I was there looking for the owner, who was at his other place (Landmark Tavern, a stop I will soon be making), to see about arranging a show. Candle-like electric lights hang on the brick wall. There are about ten tables nicely decked out with white tablecloths and linen.

This was a very pleasant place and I enjoyed myself a lot chatting with Marisela and then with a friend of hers that popped in. A most enjoyable stay.

Marisela, A Very Friendly Bartender


While I was there someone came in who just wanted to see the back “garden” area. I went back to take a peak and found a nice little outdoor seating area with more artwork on display.



I wouldn’t call it a garden though. Looks like it would be a fun place when the weather cools down a bit.

I had a draft Bass Ale.

710) 1050 Lounge



Heading back to the subway I stopped in this lounge affiliated with the Skyline Hotel at 725 10th Avenue.



It is a much more interesting place than you normally find in a hotel. In fact the lounge alone would be reason enough to stay here, that and the fact that it is so close to Druids and the colorful Hell’s Kitchen location.



Marisela said that they have a big European clientele so that probably explained the soccer on the televisions, including one large screen projection television on the side wall. There was also a colorful 1922 poster advertising Maccheroni Pianigiani, a pasta.



The bar is curvy and has a pink and grey marble top. The front is light wood and there is a brass rail. Pale blue, yellow, and green swollen tubular glass lights hang above the bar. The bar back is light wood and frames mirrors, the center one with an arch. Tiered shelves holding the liquor sit above black coolers.

There are large windows on the 10th Avenue side but the bar is set so far back that you aren’t flooded with light. Plush well-worn red and blue sofas, chairs, and stools surrounding low tables line the walls and there are heavy deep red drapes on the windows. Brass and wood overhead fans, each with a single red or blue bare bulb hang from the ceiling in front of the windows. The walls are dark green with a slightly lighter green ceiling. The place had a definite old European flavor to it and might be worth dropping into again.

A Jamie Lee Curtis looking working girl came in and ordered a Coke which she then proceeded to drink through a straw without ever picking the glass up off the bar. I figured she either had the shakes or was just staying in practice. Sorry, no picture.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

711) Clinton Grill



Just down 10th Avenue at 637, and across the street from the gas station, is this corner bar and restaurant. It had a lively lunchtime crowd at its sidewalk tables, despite the heat, when I walked by it on my way to Druids. It was empty now though. Bar Man takes a certain perverse pleasure in drinking while most people are at work.

The bar has a rough grey and tan tile top and a wooden front. No bar rail but the black tubular chairs with oxblood vinyl seats gave you enough places to park your feet. The floor was a pink and grey tile with a texture similar to the top of the bar. There are recessed panels of mirrors behind the bar with tiered shelves of liquor and glasses. Two levels of glass shelves are mounted on the mirrors themselves and these hold the stemware. A large American flag was mounted on the pale green expanse of wall above the mirrors. A couple of small hula dolls sat atop the cash register. Cone shaped green shaded lights hang above the bar from the brown patterned tile ceiling. There were two televisions, but they weren’t turned on.

Just opposite the bar were two maroon benches separated by a round table with a green tablecloth. Behind the benches are more tables and chairs. One row of tables sit in front of similar maroon benches set against a brick wall with two good-sized windows. One window has three glass shelves with empty Chianti bottles, a few cut glass decanters, some frosted bottles, and a small cluster of American flags.

There are four overhead brass and wood fans and a single tannish inverted umbrella like light hanging from the ceiling in the dining area. Neat rattan furniture on the outdoor sidewalk dining area.

I had a draft Red Hook Blond (wonder if it was because of a sub-conscious memory of the woman in 1050).

Another enjoyable day with four bars hit making a lucky 711 for the year and leaving 289 to go.

Putting the "I" Back In Irish

I decided to concentrate my efforts on Irish bars today, specifically Irish bars listed in Jimmy’s “Fairly Reliable” Best New York Irish Pub Guide. I have come to the conclusion that the mistake on the map with Doc Watson's was that because it was number 57 on the guide it somehow got placed on 57th Street on the map. Oh well, it is still a good reference. There were four listed in there that were grouped conveniently close together so I took the subway up to 59th and made my way to:

704) Kennedy’s





Located at 327 West 57th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues is this New York institution. Ask people to name an Irish pub in New York and probably four out of five will mention Kennedy’s. It seems to be known by everyone and loved by all. Well, no complaints from me. You have the classic wooden bar with a brass rail and your conversational Irish bartender. In fact he was so conversational that I had a hard time taking notes about the place. We got to talking, somehow, about New Orleans and spent a good half an hour reminiscing about the good times we had had there. I am sure if I had ordered another beer we could have talked for another hour. It wasn’t too busy at the bar but a lot of people seemed to be headed to the back dining area.

There is a large copper Kennedy coat of arms behind the bar that is flanked by white branches festooned with little white Christmas lights. An old wooden bar back, not overly fancy, but with nice wooden shelves and oval mirrors. Yellowish orange helmet shaped lights are affixed to the columns flanking the mirrors. Brass racks for glasses hang above the bar. Two silver beer stations with eight spigots each sit on the bar. Little national flags hang from the wooden overhang above the bar.

A round table with four chairs sits by the window up front that has drapes featuring English fox hunting scenes. Plush red banquettes are against the wall opposite the bar with tables with green tablecloths in front of them. Little glass vases with red and white roses sit on the tables. Above the banquettes are shelves with mostly ceramic jugs sitting on them. Three stained glass skylight-like lights adorn the dark green ceiling. There are lots of photographs of politicians on the walls as well as a framed painting of J.F.K. at his desk. A collage of pictures of entertainers and a framed map of Ireland sits up front.

I had a draft Pilsner Urquell.

705) Jake’s Saloon



I first swung by D.J. Reynold’s because it is on the same block as Kennedy’s but it was so packed there was no place to sit at the bar, or anywhere else, for that matter. There is a construction site not far from here and it looked like it might be lunch hour for them because everyone seemed to be of that ilk. In fact a lot of them were wearing union tee-shirts of one kind or another. Hopefully these aren’t the heavy equipment operators. But, I digress; as I said, I skipped by this place temporarily and headed to Jake’s Saloon at 875 10th Avenue, right on the corner of 57th Street.

This place was certainly noisy enough even if not quite as packed as D.J. Reynolds. I did manage to find a place at the crowded wooden bar, with a brass rail, where a lot of people were eating lunch. The barstools were wrought iron with well-worn vinyl seats. The back bar was nice looking with fairly ornate molding at the top. There were five panels of mirrors with glass shelves in front of the mirrors at each end. Small, 7 bottle by 4 bottle, wood wine racks sat in front of the two mirrors next to the ones on the end and an old, wooden-looking cash register under a wooden shelf sat in front of the middle mirror. Below the mirrors were a set of wooden cabinets and drawers with brass handles. To the far left were what looked like mounted kitchen cabinets, but of the same color wood as the rest of the setup. Under those was a more functional looking cash register but there was another antique one sitting at the far right end of the bar. The portions of the wall that were exposed were brick. There was also a large framed mirror with “Jake’s Saloon” etched on it on the wall to the far right.

The ceiling was brown tile up front over the bar area. A wooden bench sat under the window up front with tables and chairs in front of it. This little nook was under a lowered ceiling of red tiles from which hung miniature versions of the lights that hung over the bar, kind of opaque glass helmet looking things. A dining area opposite the bar was separated from it by a wood partition with a ledge and a brass railing on top. There was another small dining area in the back. Because this is a corner place there were windows all around so it was nice and light, especially in the dining area.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

706) D.J.. Reynolds



Well, I wandered back to this place at 351 West 57th Street and the crowd had thinned out quite a bit. There is a nice long mahogany bar with a brass rail and an ornately carved overhang with embedded spotlighting. Set back from it over the area where the bartender, Katie, plies her trade were lights with stained glass shades in varying colors and patterns.

Katie, Posing, Not Plying


The wooden bar back is very ornate with wooden shelves and mirrors. Coolers with wooden doors and silver handles and hinges are down below and flank a large open set of tiered shelves that hold most of the liquor. There was also some liquor up on top of the shelves too, of course. The wooden bar chairs had oxblood colored vinyl seats. There were more stained glass lights hanging from the ceiling throughout the rest of the place which is mostly devoted to dining.

The walls are nicely paneled and decorated with large framed black and white photos of New York, Joe Dimagio, and, my favorite, Bogart lighting a cigarette. I had that same Bogart poster in my apartment when I lived in downtown Minneapolis many a year ago. Ah, the memories. There was also a more colorful poster for the movie “The Quiet Man,” which starred John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. Although the movie is set in Ireland, only two weeks were actually spent on location. For those of you interested in trivia, at the beginning of the horse racing scene there are a bunch of people playing bagpipes. However, they are playing Scottish bagpipes, not Irish bagpipes. How can you tell the difference? Scottish pipes are blown into while Irish pipes are pumped up with a bellows under the right elbow. Hey, who says you can’t learn anything by reading this blog.

I talked with Dennis, the current owner of D.J. Reynolds. He is the son of the original Dennis Reynolds that opened the place in 1989. Very pleasant chap, and Katie was pleasant as well. Dennis recogized me from my picture in the paper long ago and I had already given my card to Katie. We talked about my endeavor for a bit, always a fun subject for me. Dennis offered to buy me a drink but I had to take a rain check because I had one more bar to visit before heading home.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

707) P.J. Carney’s Pub





A bit of a walk away, but not too far, at 906 7th Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets. It is right by Carnegie Hall. It is a surprisingly small place, but very convenient to public transportation.



There is a rectangular bar with the serving station in the center that has protruding shelves displaying their better liquors, including a nice selection of single malt Scotches and Bourbons. They had Old Whiskey River, and I have never, to my recollection, seen that before. The wall that faces the street is floor to ceiling windows so, at least during the day, it is fairly light. Neat yellowish marble-like saucer-shaped lights hung over the bar.

The two side walls had green cushioned and cushioned back benches with small wooden tables and chairs sitting in front of them. Above these was about three feet of wainscoting and above that a panel of plum-colored paint. Quite attractive. The wainscoting had shallow rectangular recesses that held pictures, alternating between charcoal and pen cartoon-like sketches and more colorful, jazzy looking ones. On the ledge that separated the wainscoting from the painted area sat a variety of other pictures ranging from serene Irish landscapes to cluttered pictures of people. A large painted collage of people, customers I guess, hangs on the wall between the restrooms. Neil Diamond was playing on the sound system so the Mysterious Chinese Woman would probably have melted if I brought her here. Particularly if I slipped her one of what I was drinking.

And what was I drinking? Shoot me. They had a sign advertising their daily special “martini,” a Zentini. Arrgh, it was made with Absolute Citron, Green Tea Liquor, and a splash of sour mix. What the hell was I thinking? It looked like piss and the back taste of tea was, to me at least, most unpleasant. I should have had a shot of the Old Whiskey River bourbon and chased it with a beer. Bar Man learns a lesson he should have learned long ago, do not drink daily “martini” specials, no matter what. I would like to blame the bartender, Katie, for talking me into this concoction, but she was, in fact, blameless.

Katie, The Blameless Bartender


A thoughly pleasant day nonetheless, and I managed to hit 4 bars bringing my total for the year to 707 leaving 293 to go.

Twenty-Five Flavors, Step Right Up

Another day, another block. I hit three bars on a single stretch of 54th Street between 8th Avenue and Broadway. I had a fairly decent day, right up until the end.

701) Ye Olde Tripple Inn





Walking up 8th Avenue from the subway I passed by a number of restaurants that had bars to find a bar bar, and I did. At 263 West 54th between 8th Avenue and Broadway is this little bar, and it is little bars like this that gets Bar Man out of bed in the afternoon. Just a friendly neighborhood bar tucked away on a busy cross-street. A beat-up, somewhat irregularly shaped dark wooden bar with a brass rail. Two ornate brass beer stations sit on the bar and they have six spigots each. Not a real inspiring selection, and not much better in bottles. They did have Pilsner Urquell and Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat though. There is an old bar back with bottles stacked on four tiers of shelves below mirrors. More bottles and coolers are down below. Evergreen garlands with Christmas balls decorate the rafters and green shamrock lights hang above the bar back. There are little unlit lanterns hanging above the bar but most of the light seems to come from neon beer signs There is a Christmas tree mounted high in the corner in the back as well as a large snowman next to a large-screen television. There is a smaller television up front.

A dartboard is set into what looks like the remains of a telephone booth. Good idea, cuts down on the number of eyes put out by ricochets. Two little tables with red and white tablecloths sit in a nook by the windows up front. More of the same in the back and in a small side room. There are also a few tables up on a balcony in the back. The walls are pretty much plastered with old black and white photos of entertainers, many of them signed. I understand they have entertainment in here in the evening but I am not sure where they perform.

I had a bottle of Pilsner Urquell.

702) Iguana





Well, not too far down and across the street but miles away in every other respect is this cavernous place, complete with a waterfall against one stone wall. Where to begin? The shape of the bar wouldn’t have been inappropriate for a swimming pool, although somewhat smaller. Nice dark wood top with green tile sides. The floor is an interesting combination of tiles and wood. Cylindrical lights made up of rectangles of stained glass hang above the bar. Over the frozen margarita machines in the middle of the bar hangs a cluster of large metal star shaped lights. More of these hang elsewhere in the dining area. These lights are reflected, to nice effect, in the large mirror behind the bar. The bar back is dark wood and flanking the large mirror are two mirror backed shelves. As you might imagine, they have a large selection of tequilas.

Festive pictures of Mexican street life adorn the walls as well as some of those chubby people by Fernando Botero. There are small round marble topped tables with stools by the front windows and a couple of square tables with chairs against the red brick wall opposite the longer portion of the bar (behind where I was sitting). A large metal candleholder sits by the door.

There is a very large and festive looking dining area in the back with a combination of chandelier-like lighting and green, yellow, and red carriage-style lights. They also have sidewalk seating but, again, on a day like this it was way too hot to sit out there.

Bar Man is predisposed to be suspicious of any bar that offers 25 flavors of any kind of drink, particularly margaritas and mojitos or, God forbid, martinis.



But I liked this place, I really liked it. The bartender was friendly and I got a bowl of chips with two kinds of salsa, one green and one red. They were both very good. He tried to convince me to try a passion fruit mojito but I was resolute and just took mine plain. He was very persuasive though and if this were my last bar he might have convinced me. Maybe next time.



I had a plain Mojito and it was excellent. Minty and tart with lime, in a tall glass, most refreshing on a day like this. Or any day, for that matter.

703) Dillon’s



Dillon’s is just down the street from Ye Olde Tripple Inn, at 254 West 54th Street, and across the street from Iguana. It is much smaller than it looks from outside. That is because it is totally separate from the dining area next door, or at least as far as I could tell, and has a separate doorway. It has an old wooden bar and looked like it could have been a decent enough place but it had a messy look to it. A bottle of bleach and some spray cleaner in a yellow bottle sat on the bar and a half eaten meal sat next to me on the bar the entire time I was there. When I sat down there was an empty glass, a crumpled napkin, and a dollar bill on the bar in front of the one of the only open stools. Now don’t get the impression that this place was busy, they were apparently taking applications for jobs so there were a lot of people filling out applications.

There was an interesting bar back with shelves and little wooden wine racks above. It looked like something you might find in a very old pharmacy. Opposite the bar was a nice cut glass mirror above wood paneling and the rest of the walls were painted kind of a sky-blue. There were a couple of televisions showing the Mets game.

Despite the messy look about the place the bartender spent all of her time, after serving me my rather expensive drink, talking to a couple of guys at the end of the bar. Now that wouldn’t have been so bad if she had actually cleared away the dirty dishes first, or at least stashed the cleaning products, but that would have been too much trouble. In fact she said, rather loudly (as she said everything else) that the only reason she came back to work here was because she didn’t have to do anything. I can kind of see why, I doubt if they got much repeat business. Then she, and one of the customers, proceeded to trash the night shift, who were considered to be worthless, other bartenders, owners of other bars, and on and on and on it went. As you can imagine the language was a bit on the vulgar side as well. I always say the bartender makes all the difference in the world, and this one sure did. I downed my drink and headed out and will certainly never return.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic, $7.50 for the dubious pleasure.

Three bars for the day and 703 for the year leaving 297 to go. Feels like the home stretch somehow.

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

I headed back to the same general Times Square area that I visited on Friday, but this time stayed away from the in-your-face touristy places. Instead I hit a couple of older bars in the neighborhood and a couple of newer ones as well.

697) The Rum House





Located at 228 West 47th between 8th and Broadway is this piano bar that is affiliated with the Edison Hotel, right next door. The separate entrance and somewhat funky interior keeps it miles apart from the standard hotel bar, especially ones like the one I was in Friday at the Hilton. The place was empty when I got in there a bit before noon but it probably kicks it up a notch or two at night. The main, non-piano, bar is L shaped and has a hammered coppered top with a wood paneled front and a brass rail. Black wooden bar chairs have padded black vinyl seats and backs. Two large round ceiling fixtures have what look like electric versions of kerosene lanterns hanging from them. The bar back is fairly plain wooden shelving. Not much in the way of decoration back there, mostly framed licenses, special tax stamps, and, most colorful of all, the poster that shows you what to do if you encounter a choking victim. There were 5 very old and browning $2 bills in a picture frame and a Cheerios box that also added a bit of color. Four televisions were tuned to either FOX or ESPN and the big story seemed to be Rafael Palmeiro’s steroid use. One does have to wonder how you can take steroids inadvertently. I mean, do these guys just slurp down anything someone hands them? Oh, and by the way, my forearms just happened to grow two inches.

The V shaped piano bar in the back is smaller and plain wood. Pictures of performers and happy customers grace that corner of the room.

I had a bottle of Bass Ale.

698) Hurley’s





Not far away at 232 West 48th Street is this bar that has been around since 1892, but not in this location. Interestingly, in the 1930’s when John D. Rockefeller decided to construct the Rockefeller Center (sounds a bit like Donald Trump) Hurley’s refused to sell their property (no eminent domain back then, I guess) and so the 6th Avenue façade of the 70 story RCA building had to be redesigned with a recess to accommodate the four story bar.

Even if it is in a new location, there is the real ambience of a classic, and classy, Irish bar with the requisite gregarious Irish bartender, as classic as the bar itself. There are good sized dining areas both upstairs and in the back. Opposite the bar are a couple of high round tables with chairs and one comfortable looking booth with a fringed shaded light hanging over the table and a large gold-framed mirror on the red wall.

The bar has a dark patterned marble top with a wood front and a brass rail. Cherry-wood looking bar chairs with padded burgundy leather seats offered a comfortable place to park one’s butt. A fairly ornately carved bar back with arches over mirrors behind tiered shelves for the liquor. Two good sized brass beer stations on the bar each had 10 spigots for a decent selection of beers. Lots of baseball caps were mounted above the mirrors, mostly with a nautical theme to them. There were three good sized plasma TVs and lots of pictures of old New York and framed memorabilia on the walls, including a somewhat obligatory, for an Irish bar, picture of J.F.K. There were more nautically themed pictures up front. The walls were covered in a combination of dark paneling and golden-tan wallpaper with a subtle leaf design.

I chatted with the bartender about bars in the neighborhood, how they were changing, and the few classics that remained. He gave me a couple of good selections that I will be following up on in the not too distant future.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic.

699) Social



Moving up 8th Avenue to 795, between 48th and 49th Streets is this newer looking bar that doesn’t quite smell broken in yet. Nicely done though. This place has three levels to it as well as a rooftop area. There is another full-service bar on the second floor as well as a VIP-like lounge area. The bar itself, at least the downstairs one, is old looking with hooks under an overhang for garments, purses, and whatever. The bar has a darker wood front and a tile foot rest. Wooden bar chairs have black leather-like seats held in place with large, silver-headed tacks. Two silver beer stations were mounted on the bar with 10 spigots each. Must be a new standard set-up. The same ten beers were poured out of both stations though so there wasn’t a real large selection, nothing too esoteric. Blue Moon Belgian Ale was probably the best bet, if you like that type of beer. There was a decent enough bar back but not overly ornate, more manufactured looking than carved. There were three built in plasma televisions above five rectangular mirrors. The mirrors on each end and in the middle were longer than they were high and had, respectively, “Beer,” “Wine,” and “Spirits” etched on them. The mirrors between them were higher than they were wide and had “Social” etched on them. Tiered shelves held the liquor.

The wall opposite the bar had high banquettes with brown high backs and narrow seats and a foot rests below them. Below the seats were multi-colored tiles that matched the narrow band immediately in front of the bar. Above the banquettes were tiny, shiny square mosaics. Towards the back, next to the seating, the wall was brick and there were small tables, a ledge for drinks, and more stools. A couple of light fixtures hung from small recessed squares of tin ceiling and red lights above grained plastic provided the rest of the light. There was also a raised dining area in the back. I will have to drop back later in the evening one day to see how this place fills up.

I had a stiff Tanqueray and tonic, no complaints about it at all.

700) Latitude



Heading back down 8th Avenue towards the subway I passed this place at 783 8th Avenue between 47th and 48th. This place was also three stories and had a roof-top area. Not that surprising because I found out it had the same owners as Social and opened at about the same time, somewhere around St. Patrick ’s Day. My nose knew that other place wasn’t broken in yet. Well, as I have mentioned earlier, this area, still in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, is undergoing a massive change and someone is betting big money that it is going to pay-off. You have to have confidence that there is a customer base to open two big places within a block of each other. I wonder if these guys have anything to do with HK.

I liked this place a lot better than Social, but that might just have been because the bartender was friendlier, at least to me. Now don't get me wrong, the bartender at Social was in no way unfriendly, she just had more customers to deal with and couldn't give me as much of her undivided attention (pout). I didn't even get the chance to warm her up enough to ask if I could take her picture. Oh well, Michelle more than made up for it.

Michelle, The Mixologist


For some reason this place had a vaguely Asian look to it. I think it was the lights; they had a Japanese lantern look to them. The setup behind the bar also had clean lines and reinforced the Asian look. Nothing over the top though, not like they had pictures of dragons or Samurai or anything. They did have a lot of televisions. There is even a television above a fireplace in the back. Instead of the standard 10 spigot station they had three pairs of stations with 5 spigots each. Probably the same under-the-bar setup though. The walls were interesting, gray, looking somehow like pressed stone. The floor looked kind of like solidified lava. Lot’s of money went into these places and, again, I would like to come back and see how they are doing at night. They seem to have a primarily Mexican menu.

I chatted with the bartender and she seemed interested in my journey. She was relatively new to New York and really hadn’t had a chance to check out too many bars in the area. She had friends coming in to town and said she would use my blog as a guide as to where to take them (she also seemed to share an affinity for dive bars). I, of course, graciously offered my services as a guide and she said she might take me up on it. I will probably end up with the Mysterious Chinese Woman chaperoning the tour.

I had a Tanqueray and tonic and then, being in a conversational mood, asked Michelle to make me her favorite cocktail. She whipped me up a most tasty concoction that she called a Mojito. Well, it was very good, but it wasn’t really a Mojito, which calls for rum. She used Cachaca instead, but with the same recipe as a Mojito. It was quite good though. I tend to like Cachaca, at least the good stuff, as an interesting alternative to rum. She used a brand called Ypioca that seems to be gaining in popularity. I recommend that you try it, either as a substitute for rum in a Mojito or in the more traditional, for Cachaca, Caipirinha. Or, branch out a bit and try some other Cachaca based drinks, the Batida for example, which basically substitutes pineapple for the lime.

A most pleasant day. Quite a change from Friday (except for B.B. Kings). I hit four bars and made the 700 Club. Just 300 to go for the year.

750th BAR PARTY AT DUFF'S

I headed out to my sister-in-law's house in New Jersey for the week-end to celebrate another sister-in-law's birthday. Great fun, good eats (I again pulled duty as the master smoker), noisy children, and ice-cream cake. The only down side is that I had no time to hit bars and probably won't get to my next one until tomorrow. I thought I would take the opportunity to again post a reminder to clear your calendar for August 20th when there will be a party at Duffs in Williamsburg, bar number 750 on my march toward 1000.

Duff's is on North 3rd and Kent about one block from the East River. It has an outdoor area where, I believe, there may be a BBQ of some sort. At the very least it provides a place to have a smoke. Jimmy Duff, the owner, has agreed to an early, for him, 4:00 P.M. opening and has assured me that everyone will have a great time.

Williamsburg is easily reached by subway, either the L from Manhattan or the G from Brooklyn. The bar is a scenic walk away once you arrive. Just don't get so distracted by the numerous bars you might pass that you fail to show.

This should be a real hoot because I understand Jimmy can throw one hell of a party.