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