Day Eleven—Wednesday, January 20th—Red Bar & Lounge
More great news on the donation front. That button to the right is getting a bit of a workout lately and I thank everyone who has donated so far. Four drinks a night minimum (sometimes a lot more) isn’t cheap in New York and I appreciate the help.
I still have some dough left over from the mysterious Tiki Bar Susie and tonight I got two more donations! The first one is from this website resident artist, “Boris.” “Boris” generously sent in 20 bucks for the bar crawl and that was nice of him. “Boris” created the banner and you can read all about him here: “Boris.” He does freelance artwork, so if you have a website that you need a banner or artwork for, he’s your go-to guy. Just send me an email and I’ll pass it along. “Boris” also does CD covers, book covers and just about anything you can think of artwise.
The second donation comes from a woman that I have drank many beers with, Tina Hennessey. Tina sent me thirty bucks! I wish she and her trouble-making husband were out here so we could all go to a bar together! Speaking of her trouble-making husband Tim, he’s one of the owners of the best ice cream parlor in Peoria, Illinois. If you don’t believe me, go to Emack and Bolio’s at 4534 North Prospect Rd in Peoria Heights, Illinois and find out for yourself, check them out online here (their store is on the bottom right of the page): Emack and Bolio’s.
Okay, enough money talk, and onto the bar crawl. I’m kind of tired tonight so I thought I’d hang close to where I work. The Koreatown section of Manhattan is minutes away and I found a bar there called The Red Bar & Lounge. I read that the signature drink there is called a Tornado and the ingerdients are Coors Light and Johnny Walker Black. Kind of bizarre and they encourage patrons to throw a napkin coaster soaked in the drink at the ceiling. It’s just too weird to pass by, so that’s tonight’s destination and now through the magic of the internet and a camera, let’s go! (I accidentally deleted the outside photos of the bar, I’ll take them again when I go to work, check back for the update around four in the afternoon. I’m a fucking idiot!) UPDATE: The picture is up and note that there is no sign for this bar, so keep the address handy when you go. Just go up the stairs and it's the first door to the left.
Here we are at the comfy and cool Red Bar & Lounge.
Lisa, the lovely bartender on duty happily serves up two Tornadoes. She also clued me into a fun night that's coming up which her co-worker Joe Masse is headlining. It's a night of comedy and fun at the Village Lantern on Saturday, January 30, 2010. I'm going to be there and you should come too. I'll take your photo if you do!
And she not only serves them up, she demonstrates how to drink them. First you shake it up and down.
And then you swirl it all around, letting the whiskey create a tornado in the beer.
And then you throw the napkin at the ceiling. Why? I don't know, it's just the thing to do. Mine didn't stay there long, i'm not to good at throwing napkins.
LIsa however is an expert and she showed the proper napkin throwing techinque.
Here's the front room of the bar, which is a fun party area.
Kristen and Dania were sitting at the bar enjoying the night out at The Red Bar & Lounge.
The Red Bar & Lounge is a comfy environment.
This is Anne who's interning at a magazine here in New York and recommended I go to the Ghost Bar in Las Vegas. I'm going there in a bit and I will check it out! Thanks, Anne!
A well stocked bar. Booze wonderful booze!
Free popcorn! Woo hoo!
I think this guy is wanted by law. He didn't want his picture taken and refused to surrender his name.
This is Sam and this is his first night in New York. He came from California and his first stop was the Red Bar & Lounge.
I've switched from Tornadoes to Sapporo. This is my third one, which leads me to...
Tonight's bathroom break.
Another clean urinal. I've been bowled over by the clean toiets on the bar crawl so far. Pun intended.
Hey, how'd that get there?
Obligatory bathroom mirror shot!
Review
This is truly a little treasure of a bar/lounge in Koreatown. It’s got all the comforts of a lounge bar, but it’s not overly noisy and there’s none of the attitude you get at some lounge bars. There’s lots of specials, cheap but great drinks, I encourage you to try the Tornado. Get some pointers from bartender Lisa if she’s working that night, she’s a master of the signature drink and will expertly walk you through the finer points of getting the tornado to swirl in the glass. It’s really cool and a great drink!
This is one of the most comfortable bars in Manhattan, there’s nice music, but it’s not overpowering and would be a great first date bar. They have a small menu of food and daily drink specials. There’s a friendly and nice vibe in the bar from the bartenders to the people on the other side of the bar. And you get to throw alcohol soaked napkins at the ceiling! Who could ask for anything more!
Red Bar & Lounge
51 W. 35th St. (between 5th & 6th Aves.)
212.244.4090