Thursday, June 17th, 2010—Bar 158
Day 158—Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Blue Ruin
We’ve got a special guest star on the bar crawl tonight, Tonya Schwarz! Tonya and I used to work together, then she moved onward and upward with her career, got married, had a child (kudos to her husband Matt who babysat for the evening, check out Matt’s business, MSDS, a branding and design firm here in New York City: MSDS.) and I’ve pretty much just spiraled sideways, as I’ve done for the last two decades or so. Tonya joined the facebook fan page that my friend's Gidget (the coolest DJ in the world, check her out on Woody Radio!) and “Boris” maintain. The facebook page has introduced a lot of people to this site since it went up and I want to thank Gidget for having the idea for it and putting it up and “Boris” who helps with the day to day postings. You guys are the best! And remember if you need artwork, a logo designed, art for your website, a book or CD cover, “Boris” is available for freelance, just send me an email and I’ll forward it along. And as mentioned earlier, Gidget is a faulous DJ goddess and her show rocks! Check out her schedule here: Woody Radio.
Okay, as per tradition and because I get sick of trying to figure out where to go every night, I let Tonya pick the bar. She picked The Blue Ruin, a fairly new dive bar in Hell’s Kitchen. And so it’s off we go!
Deja view, we're headed up the same way as last night.
You've waited patiently, Joey D. and here you are with some ATM loving! It's a laundromat edition, so it's clean ATM, the best kind! Enjoy!
And here we are, the Blue Ruin. Let's see if Tonya's here.
She's here!
And the lovely and fun bartender, Reina Terror promptly delivers a can of Pabst as hellos are exchanged.
Tonya brought along two of her friends from her weekly book club. From left: Debbie, Sheila, Tonya and me. Let's call this shot, "Three fabulous women and a goofball."
The vibe here is care-free with an emphasis on getting hammered if you so desire.
Zoe and Sam were enjoying drinks at the bar.
There's a pool table in the back room.
Bob took a break from his pool game to pose for this photo.
The Blue Ruin's jukebox has some great rock 'n' roll tunes on it.
Here's Shy and Charles who were chilling at the bar.
Pizza!
Cheers from Leif who was seated next to me at the bar.
Reina lets her inner Gene Simmons loose and lets off a flaming shot at the bar. Unlike the scary Apotheke, the flames are behind the bar and safely away from the patrons.
Fire! Reina is an expert fire breather and the bar applauded her efforts.
Photobooth!
That's not my finger in my nose by the way! Thanks to fabulous babe bartender Reina Terror for the hospitality and fire show and to Tonya and her friends Debbie and Sheila for joining me on the crawl! A fantabulous night!
Review
The owner describes this joint as, “Gangs of New York meets McSorley’s meets Hogs & Heifers.” That’s a tall order to fill, but after a year in business, they’ve managed to pull it off. With its tin ceiling, pine floors (uprooted from a Pepsi Cola Factory in Queens), flags, pool table, wacky bric-a-brac and fire-breathing babe bartenders, this place manages to give off an old school Hell’s Kitchen dive bar vibe and experience, despite being the new kid on the block. In addition to the fun atmosphere they boast a great jukebox with tunes ranging from the 101ers to Joan Jett to Supersuckers to the New York Dolls.
There’s a full bar here, but the emphasis is on beer and shots. Happy Hour runs from 5pm to 8pm with two for one drinks. The bartenders are female, friendly and fabulous looking and the clientle is an interesting mix of neighborhood regulars, tourists checking out the area and people grabbing a beer and a shot before their bus takes off from the nearby Port Authority Bus Station.
Stop by and enjoy the antique decor and stay for the cheap beer and shots. Cheers!
Blue Ruin
538 9th Ave. (between 39th St & 40th St)
917-945-3497
P.S. Tonya told me to say hi with everyone she used to work with, but I think the only one left besides me is Frank Scott. And Frank, Tonya wanted me to ask you this: "How do you like your job, Frank?" Goodnight everybody!
5 References
Reader Comments (21)
Hubba my bubba! I'll take Reina Terror over Gordon Ramsay ANY day!! Looks like a kick-ass place and stellar jukebox. As always, love those photo booth shots - congrats on not looking like a convict this time! And if I ever move to NYC (please, Barbara Jeannie Eden, make it happen), I want to join that book club. Those kids look like they know how to have fun!
Dude ! I've walked by this place a million times and have never gone in ! I will next time. I like bars with a lot of brick !
No doubt about it,,,Reina is definetly a fire breather and I can see she is good at it. Blue Ruin appears to me to be like a hodgepodge,,,,dive bar,,,wreck bar,,, blues brothers bar,,coyote ugly,,,a kinda theme bar thats not sure yet,,,either way it looks really cool, and its always great when you go to a bar and your hooking up with friends.
ATM. ATM. Sweet. So nice I said it twice. ATM/ laundromat is an oxymoron. I dont think its possible to be dirty AND clean.
I cant believe you called Debbie a goofball.
Reina Terror. CALIENTE.
@Sushi Samba Hater: I'm the goofball in the picture, wiseguy!
they serve pizza at the bar? if so, I'm going there.
@spokeit: They don't serve it, but you can bring it in!
Another great stop on the crawl!
Your winning streak of bartenders is really amazing lately.
If the bartenders are into it the crowd takes the cue it seems.
It continues to roll better every day/night and has indeed taken on a life of it's own.
Not even halfway through the journey.
PS.
Watch for new merch to be added to the store.
Reina Terror...Dragon Lady, for real! With her technique as pictured above, bet she wins EVERY argument...every time! I also bet she's on the NYC fire department's most wanted list!
I love Dragons and I think I love Reina.. Wow she is something else.
Aww Marty saying nice things about me and then I go and be late getting the post up on Facecrack:(
I suck.
@Gidget: I know it's been a tough week, so don't sweat it! You still rock and I thank you for putting up the page!
Reina's very cool and a spectacular fire breather! And your friends seem cool, love the photobooth!
Another Bar that's in my neighborhood , only a few blocks away , dam Marty you should of told me I could of dropped by for a Beer !!
I love Fire Breathers , I always wanted to learn how to do that , so Hot ( Cool) !!
All I can say is that is one totally awesome place!!
damn...it's all been said again,,,'cept I'm surprised...shocked (in a way) that 365 did not plug the Benefit for Bella tomorrow night...i know it has not a damn thing to do with the "crawl" and am sure stuff like this is going on ... aw hell "don't bring me down"...hella of a fire-breather and ex-coworker...looks like nice place to hang...oh yeah @boris got some of "my" stuff from the store nice better than nice... great!...will wear the shirt to work tomorrow...probably get written up...again...oh well..."here comes the sun"...KOC
rr
p.s. damn 365 if i had known you were going visit...would have had you get a couple shirts...even though you don't know me you know i'm "good"for any output...effort or whatever...
@rr: Thanks for purchasing some of the 365 products! Appreciate the support! Don't look now, Richie, here comes the sun!
ha...ha...oh shit that is your line...flashing flashing lights an' alll...lets not forget Friends of Bella...i might be totally mindless but not limbness...KOC
rr
It's great to see all these old school (can't believe it but it's true) juke boxes. Everyone here is switching over to the new digital ones. Great stuff and great bar!
@ rr
Thanks!
I was extremely pleased with the quality of the merch.
Vibrant colors that hold up well.
Some new stuff is in the works...
Stay tuned, but I'm sure you will be.
Thanks again.
"Boris"
"New dive bar" I always thought THAT was an oxymoron until I saw this!! What a cool place! I like the silver snowflakes over the photo booth and the cool juke box.
"Reina Terror"-I love that name! Sounds like a Roller Derby contestant. :-)
This looks like a must-visit place, too, if I ever get out there...
Love the tin ceiling. And I have a soft spot for pool tables. And you didn't seem to mind being squished in that photo booth :)