Day Two—Monday, January 11th—Parkside Lounge
Alright, I’m a little hungover from last night, but you know what they say when you fall off your bike...actually I have no idea what they say when you fall off your bike, I just know that the best cure for a hangover is more booze. I’ve been meaning to go to the Parkside Lounge ever since my friend Alex Tirpack started bartending there over a year ago, so now is as good as time as any to make the trip. And awaaaay we go!
Tonight it wasn't as cold as last night so I walked down Broadway and eastward on Houston till I arrived at the sea of neon announcing I had made it to the Parkside Lounge.
A river of booze awaits you at the Parkside Lounge.
And there to drink all things bottled and Budweiser is me!
Joining me in the swillfest is Parkside Lounge regular Rich Fahrer. Rich is a data analyst for CDM Connect (I hope that's the right name of the business, after only one drink my notes were a little garbled) and can drink a bottle of beer in 2.6 seconds. Really, I timed him.
This is Jodi, the manager of the Parkside Lounge. I pressed her for dirt on Alex, and while conceding he's a good bartender did confess that, "he's a dirty hippie." You read it here first, people! Take that Page 6!
Bill is another Parkside regular who told me the cheap drinks and ESPN are what lures him in.
And now for the cutest couple of the evening...Eric Danville and Victoria! It was announced at this photo session that they are oficially boyfriend and girlfriend. I blessed them with my third bottle of Budweiser and let them be in their romantic end of the bar. (Eric, by the way is a New York bar afficionado who recommended tonight's bar. Stay tuned for that, tomorrow!)
Foosball!
Dan Mackay is another regular at Parkside Lounge. He's an iron worker who's working right down the street, which makes the Parkside an easy after work stop.
Some of the many beers to be had, both bottled and draft.
Life, it's more than a cereal and a board game, it used to be a magazine as shown here on the walls of the Parkside Lounge.
I thought I'd check out the pool game brewing in the back of the bar.
Sadly, I blinded this fellow with my flash and he missed the shot. Sorry!
Two hand models from the Home Shopping Network were there to illustrate the highlights of the game.
Time for the nightly bathroom break.
One of the cleanest toilets in a bar I've ever seen!
And the sink is loaded with ice in case you need to freshen your drink up.
Sadly there was no mirror for my obligatory bathroom shot, but I did notice this graffiti on the sign over the toilet. Hmmm, I wonder what wise-ass left that there?
Cocktail watiress Celida demostrates the fine art of when life hands you lemons, put them in a tray and stuff them into other people's drinks.
Trip Henderson's Whistlin' Wolves were the featured band of the evening in the spacious back room and they put on a great show.
While Brian Brannigan isn't a regular, he is a professional guitarist with great tales of meeting Waddy Wachtel, seeing Little Feat and a fan of the late John Hartford, who I met at Peoria Steamboat Days. A long story, which I shared with Brian, but I'm not going to share it with you. You should've been there. Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!
Bartender Emily (check out her band's MySpace page: Action City Blackout) performs her version of the Golden Globes at the Parkside Lounge. And the winner for the best writer/journalist/bartender/dirty hippie goes to...
Alex Tirpack! He'd like to thank all the little people who made this and his midget dick joke possible.
This is Christorpher Lee (no relation to the horror star) one of the owners (along with Karen) of the Parkside Lounge. When asked to dish the dirt on Alex, Christpher said he was a big fan of Alex, but when pressed did admit that he thought Alex was also a dirty hippie, in addition to being a great bartender. In addition to running the Parkside Lounge Alex is an actor here in NYC and has not one but two websites, check them out: Sparkplug Productions and Christopher Lee NYC.
Christopher told me that the Parkside Lounge has the best Bloody Mary in the world and the key to this is the special ingredients of pickled string beans and peppers. He says it's the ultimate and tastiest hangover cure to be found. Check it out some hungover Sunday.
Speaking of pickled, I was on my ninth or tenth beer and the writing was not on the wall, but on the sidewalk outside that my night was over. Goodnight everybody! And special thanks to Alex and the whole crew and crowd at Parkside Lounge, a splendid and fun time was had and I'll be back. You've been warned!
Review
The Parkside Lounge is a legendary Lower East Side hangout located in a part of New York that still feels like New York. It’s equal parts old school meets new school cool and definitely a smorgasbord of characters (on either side of the bar), fun, live music and a wide menu of cheap but good and potent drinks and a large selection of bottled and draft beers.
You can’t miss the bar on the corner of Houston and Attorney, due to the fact that it has the largest neon sign in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Once inside you’ll find a large bar, comfortable booths, a pool table, TV, foosball and a couple of video games for your perusal and playing adventures. The clientele ranges from neighborhood regulars to first timers drawn in from the hypnotic neon sign outside. It’s a fun mix of people and the bartenders and waitresses are some of the friendliest and fun in town. The night I was there a high-spirited joke telling-session between customers and staff provided big belly laughs in between many bottles of Budweiser.
There’s music and comedy every night of the week in the spacious back room. The music ranges from rock ‘n’ roll to country to acoustic and, well, just about any genre. Check Parkside’s MySpace page (below) for the schedule. Along with the music comedy is thrown into the mix some nights. Most night’s there’s no cover charge for the music/comedy, which along with the cheap drinks to be had, makes the Parkside Lounge the perfect bar for these economically challenging times.
And be sure to try the Parkside’s specialty Bloody Mary. A patron recently told bartender Emily that the Parkside Lounge’s Bloody Mary, “changed his life.”
Parkside Lounge
Parkside MySpace Page
Parkside on Twitter
317 E. Houston (corner of Houston and Attorney)
212-674-9308