Monday, December 13th, 2010—Bar 337
Day 337—Sunday, December 12th, 2010
Gene's Restaurant
The donation bell has rung and it couldn’t come at a better time, seeing that I’m in the home stretch. Kari Von Wagner who’s a daily commentator here and has her own blog called, Leaf Girl sent in a more than generous donation of thirty dollars! The stated purpose on the PayPal receipt was, “To help get through those last 30!” Thank you so much for the donation, Kari and for all of your nice comments, it’s nice to have you as part of the 365 group!
It’s rainy and kind of rotten outside and I was trying to think of a place that’s not too far from where I live to go out for my Sunday dinner. Then I remembered that at last night’s dinner, Karen told me about the bar at Gene’s Restaurant, which is a place I’ve passed many times, but I’ve never stopped in. She said that the bar there is very old school and very nice. Her and Jon picked last night’s bar and that was a winner, so let’s go check out the bar at Gene’s restaurant.
Wow, what a rainy and rotten night it is out here.
Luckily, Gene's is only five blocks away.
See, we're here already, let's go inside and get out of the rain.
And look at that, a seat at the bar, front and center.
And friendly bartender Frank pours the first beer of the evening. Frank's a veteran at Gene's, he's worked here for over 12 years.
A full shot of the dark, wooden bar.
Here's a view from the other end of the bar.
And seated at the bar is the owner, Danny. He was very supportive of the 365 idea and told me to feel free to take as many pictures as I liked.
Liv is a regular at the bar and restaurant and told me she's been coming here for years.
An original painting of the bar and restaurant done by artist, Armondo Dellasanta hangs on the wall up front.
As does an article in the NY Times about the restaurant.
The dining room is located at the back, but I'm walking into bars, not dining rooms, so let's go back there.
Aaah, I feel more at home here.
A shot of Frank in action behind the bar.
Another great old cash register.
It's Sunday night, time to order dinner.
The stage is set for the dinner.
I got the prime rib, which is the special on Sunday night.
Frank snapped a shot of me digging in. It comes with a side order of spaghetti and the whole meal was delicious.
Burp.
After dinner I had another beer and had a nice conversation with Tom at the bar about New York and the whole bar crawl journey.
Glancing out the window I see it's stopped raining, a Christmas miracle!
And it's out the door to walk off dinner and head home. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Gene’s restaurant has been on the block in Greenwich Village for over 90 years. The bar is located in the front and it’s wooden, small and cozy. The patrons are almost all neighborhood regulars, but they welcome strangers with open arms. The dining room is in the back, complete with white table cloths and old school Italian food and atmosphere.
There’s a full bar available with a decent selection of bottled beers and cocktails. Espresso and cappuccino are available as well. The dinner menu is Italian featuring such dishes as: Linguine In White Clam Sauce; Clams In Green Sauce; Rigatoni Matriciana and Veal Cutlet Parmigiana. Sunday’s they have a prime rib special, which I can personally recommend. And if you still have room after your meal, there’s Italian cheesecake for desert.
Gene's Restaurant
73 W 11th St. (Between 5th and 6th Ave.)
212-242-9185
1 Reference
Reader Comments (31)
Aaaaaahhhhhh .... there is just something special & different about pub crawling in New York during the Christmas season. Everywhere looks festive with the holiday lights up -- and most people are in a better mood. Can't wait for this weekend !
@GENE: There was something about this place that made me think of you, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
I agree with Gene, there's a nice festive feeling here lately. Christmas is adding a new dimension to the bar crawl.
You could gain ten pounds just LOOKING at that prime rib...mmm mmm MMMM!!
Very nice place and extremely similar to Donohue's the night before. Even down to the picture window with the name on it. Another old school bartender, professional looking. Owner Danny is very young looking and he already knows about free publicity (letting you take all the pictures), good guy. Hey Marty,,what are you doing,,,,saving the best places for last? keep it up.
@Al: Thanks! And thanks again to Karen who clued me in about the joint.
So glad you could dig the scene at Gene's! Man, that side of spaghetti looks awful good, not to mention the rib. Frank is one of our favorite bartenders, a real pro. And don't you think he bears a resemblance to a certain actor from a certain Quinn-Martin production dating from a certain decade we were both certainly watching TV in? Certainly!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGJ82yhdMqk
@Ned Sparks: I'm here at work and YouTube is blocked, but I'm going to guess the TV show you're referring to is Cannon. And how fitting as Cannon's first name was Frank as well! Nice observation!
Ooooh, we must visit Gene's on Prime Rib Nite. That slab o' beef looks mighty inviting.
Wish we were there! Still, there's something to be said for staying home, nursing your cold, and listening to Regis & Kathy Joy's holiday pizazz.
@Grade "A" Karen: Thanks again for the suggestion! And as Regis and Joy would say/sing: "Thanks for the Memory."
That prime rib looks like it was worth braving the torrential down pour!
@365: Prime Rib looks tasty! a side of spaghetti too! Now I can't help but think that you've done something to that photo...or are my eyes playing tricks on me?
Another nice touch was how they set a place for you at the bar with the silverware and cloth napkins. Thats a really classy establishment that will be up there as real contender for one of the best on the crawl.
Frank is a legend. Any guy that can hold down a gig behind a bar for that long deserves respect.
To: Frank!
@Gene: No doubt you'll be adding this place to the itinerary?
@Meleah: It definitely was!
@Clacky: Sometimes the photos look weird due to the fact that I'm not using a flash or the lighting hits something. And yes, To: Frank!
@Clacky: Nope .... this place might be a little fancy for me ........... but ........... I really want to go here:
http://www.aguywalksinto365bars.com/a-virtual-bar-crawl/2010/8/19/thursday-august-19th-2010bar-221.html
Mmm mmm mmm, do I love prime rib, and Gene's looks like a great one! As always, the white shirt/tie combo is classic. And I like the no-nonsense bar with the old-fashioned cash register. I don't like digital dashboards and I don't like digital registers. That's just the way I roll. Kudos to Danny, for letting you feature his fine establishment. And hello to Liv, who has the sweetest smile I've seen in a long time.
@Gene: I forgot about Zum Schneider! That was one of my desired locations for inebriation. Fuck, it's really easy to get side tracked in New York. Those beers are massive. I think the barman at ChopTank was discreetly trying to encourage me to order one of those.
You've been going to some classy looking places lately. @Clacky I thought that photo looked like it had been photo-shopped too.
@kari: Thanks again for the donation, kari!
Very welcome!
love those pictures of the front window!
A neighborhood hidden charm. Glad you discovered it and had a good time. Love this journey you're on!
let the ragin begin...365 probably hates to see me post... clause to sto...cause ckackster is in a different time zone...maybe some others are too....but when i rage others don't come back...well genes looks alright with me...GENE...see motherfucker...i agree way above my scale....but if i have not mention be fore ...365 eats a lot better than me....hell the cats eat better than me....365 has prime rbi get 2 slices of whatever...KOC
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@raginrr: I love to see you post, the reason there's usually not much after is you're almost always the last one to show up and I think everyone else has stopped looking for the day. KOC—Keep On Commenting!