Tuesday, October 26th, 2010—Bar 289
Day 289—Monday, October 25th, 2010
McSwiggan’s
Today I got an email from a person named, Lindsay Turner and it read: “Hey there, I was wondering how I can get my bar, McSwiggan's over at 393 2nd Ave, corner of 23rd street listed on your website?”
So I wrote back, “It's pretty easy, all you have to do is ask. I'll stop by tonight after work.”
And so it’s off to McSwiggan’s we go.
Here we are at McSwiggan's bar.
It's nice inside and since it's after midnight on a Monday night, there's plenty of seats at the bar.
And the lovely Priscilla serves up a can of Pabst. You can get a 16 ounce tallboy here for three bucks. Such a deal! Priscilla's originally from Ireland, she came here for a vacation and never left. Very cool!
The lit up bottles behind the bar.
Some of the many drink special in here and an obligatory barroom mirror shot as well.
There's tables up front to relax at and look at the view outside.
I thought this was Kenny Rogers at first, but Priscilla told me it's the Dos Equis guy.
I didn't know this guy was such a big deal. Apparently he's the most interesting man in the world. To Dos Equis!
Some of the drafts available and a reminder that Halloween is on the way.
Kevin was enjoying himself at the bar while his friends were playing darts.
And here they are at the aforementioned dart game.
Drew and Chad are not only dart players...
They're photographers and they turned the tables on me for once.
Everybody in the bar had a camera! Here's Justin who's taking pictures with his girlfriend's camera.
Dueling photographers. Cue up the retarded banjo kid from Deliverance.
Deedle-eee-dee-dee.
Justin took a shot of me doing my 365 bar thing and emailed it to me. Thanks, Justin!
There's a pool table in the back room.
Another reminder that Halloween is on the way.
A shot from the other end of the bar.
Back at the bar, Priscilla warms up...
And BOOM! The two-finger salute! Goodnight, everybody!
Review
McSwiggan’s is one part Irish bar, one part dive bar and an overall cheap oasis with multiple nightly drink specials that will literally make your head spin. The front room has a large wooden bar with tables in the front and a professional dart board in the back. The back room houses video games, a pool table and a boxing game. The cliental ranges from office workers looking to forget the working day at the early happy hour to late night revelers enjoying the early morning happy hour. Unlike most bars that claim to be open till the wee hours, McSwiggan’s never shuts the doors till after 4am.
McSwiggan’s has a full bar and you don’t need to come here on payday to get a snootful. There’s two daily happy hours that run seven days a week. From 4pm-7pm you can get three dollar well drinks, 4 buck call liquor, 4 dollar glasses of wine, 3 dollar Bud and Coors and 3 bicl select shots. If you second shift or you just stay late enough another happy hour happens between midnight and 1am. There’s a decent beer selection with 17 drafts available including: Guinness, Bass, Harp, Newcastle and Molson. There’s also over a dozen bottled beers and 16 ounce tallboys of Pabst go for three bucks, all day and all of the night, to quote the Kinks.
In addition to video games and several large TV’s, McSwiggan’s has a pool table and two dart boards. And if you’ve come with a laptop packed, there’s free internet access.
McSwiggan’s
393 Second Ave. (Near 23rd St.)
212-683-3180
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Bonus Link To Brand New Tunes By Chris Erikson and The Wayward Puritans!
If you’ve been following this blog for awhile you may remember back on May 7th when I saw my friend and former editor, Chris Erikson play live with his band The Wayward Puritans at the Lakeside Lounge. That was a great show click here to read about it and see the pictures from the original post. Chris is currently recording a CD of original music and you can listen to a few choice cuts by clicking on this link: Chris Erikson and The Wayward Puritans. Great tunes, Chris, can't wait to hear the whole thing. When the CD is finished and for sale, you’ll be the first to know! There might even be a record release party, stay tuned!
20 References
Reader Comments (22)
McSwiggan’s is a very fun snd festive looking bar. I should like to visit there one day.
"The most interesting man in the world" I love those commercials they are so great. How cool that they have his portrait there. I love it!!!
Nice one, Priscilla's a nice addition to our country! And I love the double finger salute! And I listened to Chris Erikson and The Wayward Puritans tunes, someone give this band a record contract. Beats any of this American Idol shit into the ground! A great crawl today!
Priscilla gets my vote for "Flipper of the Week" so far!
I agree with Boris,,,Priscilla gets my vote also,,,something sexy about getting flipped off by a girl. The picture of the most interesting man in the world is great,,,,,"stay thirsty my friend". This place has everything I like,,,dark, red lit up bottles, pretty bartender, great prices and a great neon BAR sign outside.
FYI: Kenny Rogers doesn't look like that anymore. He now resembles NYC's very own cat lady...Ol' Whatshername, with the eyes tucked back behind her ears. You know...her. ANYHOO, McSwiggan's looks AWESOME! Love the dartboard with its dedicated spotlight and the pool room looks cool too. Plenty of room to move the cues around for your trick shots and whatnot. That's one of the best barroom mirror shots I've seen on this crawl and I think it's hilarious that everyone had a camera. I don't know if it was the other photographer who photoshopped that "BARTENDERS ARE HOT" into the pic or if it was just a statement from the teevee gods, but in any case, whoever it was is right on the money. TO PRISCILLA and her two-fingered salute! And @ Marty: "Cue up the retarded banjo kid from Deliverance"...HA HA HA! You still gots it, Wombacher! You still gots it!
@Barfly: I second your opinion on Chris getting a record contract!
@Biff: Thanks, Bifferoonie and yes, TO PRISCILLA and her two-fingered salute! SALUTE!
love the dueling photographers! why did everyone have a camera, was there something gong on in there that everyone was taking pictures of, did they know you were coming? great bar and I agree with everyone else, love pricillas two finger salute! LOL! and your friends songs are great i remember that post and can hardly believe that was all the way back in may!
@rita r: As I always say, fun flies when you're havnig time! And the cameras were just a weird coincidence.
$3.00 PBRs and Priscilla you can't beat it. McSwiiggans here I come.
@365: Mr. Wombacher! Kick arse post my man!! Where to start??.....firstly I'm gonna throw a shoe at my ex prime minister....then I'm gonna cook up that dead octopus from the world cup.
I had to work last night and I've realised how unfit I am but gimmie a couple of hours and I'll be doing some McSwiggan of some beers myself!
Cheers to Priscilla and the cutest 2 fingered salute!
I've never seen Deliverance and don't think I'm in any hurry... Shudder.....Awesome bar.
LISTEN UP BAR OWNERS IN NEW YORK!!!!
Take a leaf out of Mc Swiggan's book and get in touch with Marty. How easy was that. All you've gotta do is ask and you've got free advertising... WORLDWIDE!!!
Ah yes...All hail The Wayward Puritans! Fuck yeah. Thats some low down honky tonk Americana rock'n'roll that sits really well with me. I wanna shot of Jack after that.
I'm off to catch another song....
@Tim Clack: ZZ Top may be bad and nationwide, but 365 is bad and WORLDWIDE! Ha ha ha! I'm glad you're checking out Chris and the Wayward Puritans tunes, I encourage everyone to give them a listen. Really good, original tunes. What's sad is that fucking Adam Lambert has a record deal and these guys don't! One week and the boozing begins, mate!
@365: Ha ha ha It sure does...but to be honest with you, the boozing began 15 years ago! We're pretty excited about the sights, sounds and smells of the Big Ipad. Adam Lambert sounds like Richard Marx. Some sad, miserable lady requested Right here waiting on some local radio station last night while I was driving. She said it was a really meaningful song. I'd hate to be the guy she dedicated it to. I wanted to stop and have a small puke. It turned my car into the Tropical bar. BOOOOO!!!
TO Chris and The Waywards!...and to ZZ (of course. Fandango. one of the coolest albums ever)
well hell...took zz a number of years...damn off topic...damn i gotta change clothes and clean the cat box take out the trash or else...so will turn it over guest commentator...99..."story of my life...i fantasize the blonde and a bowl of lucky charms and i get roseanne and a bottle of bud."... guess priscilla was off that time...hope she there when i stop by...KOC
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@Tim Clack: I swear to fucking god this is true, I was just in the deli downstairs getting my dinner and guess what was playing on their loudspeaker: "Right Here Waiting," by that fucker Richard Marx! TO CHRIS ERIKSON AND THE WAYWARD PURITANS. You'll all know when the CD is officially for sale.
@raginrr: Is that Lucky Charms quote from the 99 beers book? I have to re-read that fucking thing!
365...it certainly is not from "get smart"...KOC
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hint...page 25..KOC
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@raginrr: Thanks!
@365: We call him Dick Marks down here. You should have kept with the tradition and gone to a different deli. (some good deli recommendations would be welcome) Hey you wanna take the crawl to DC? or Philly? We've sort of planned a few day trips...or I'd be happy to correspond. If you give me a few cards I'd be happy to promote.
Hope you've still got a couple of books for me...autographed of course.
@raginrr: Howdy mate! Haven't heard from you in a while. Make sure you get that cat box clean. If you don't that cat will find other venues for it's ablutions...ya know wha' I mean? Fuck I'm half pissed and thinking about walking down the bottlo' for a 6er. struggling to tuype.....
Ahahahahhahah! I love The two-finger salute
@Tim Clack: I wish I had the time for day trips, but the books are here and autographed. They say, "To Clacky, from Dick Marx." They're right here, waiting for you! Ha ha ha!
Missed out on posting yesterday.. but meant to write this yesterday..
something very hot bout a curly haired lass flipping ya off wearing a flannel.
yum.
I love this bar.
when this crawl is over between all the hot bartenders boy and girl alike i am gonna need one really really long cold shower.
you might need and ending tribute page to all the hotness you provided Martster.
Love that they see the value of your site and asked to be on it. That says they're cool in my book :)