Day 177—Monday, July 5th, 2010
Grassroots Tavern
Okay, first off, 365 resident artist, “Boris” has been busy putting some new additions to the 365 Bar Store. There are now black T-shirts available in men’s and women’s styles. Just check on the additional colors menu off to the right of the shirt. And in honor of those 365 followers in Australia, “Boris” has set up special, “I Follow Down Under” shirts. They come in four different styles and you have your choice of a regular logo, or if you really want to show you follow down under, there’s an upside down logo as well. The choice is yours! Check it out in the apparel section of the store here: 365 Bar Store. Great job “Boris!” And remember that if you need some artwork for your website, “Boris” is available for freelance work. In addition, “Boris” can create a logo, design a CD or book cover or create just about anything you need. Just send me your request and I’ll pass it along to “Boris.” And, as you’ll see in the next paragraph, it was nice timing for “Boris” to think up this special design for our Australian mates!
I was going to go to Coney Island today, since I have the day off work, but right now it’s 99 degrees here and there’s no way I’m going down in the subway where it always feels about 20 degrees hotter. I didn’t have to go any further than my email to decide what bar to go to instead of journeying to Coney Island (and don’t worry, I will be going there before summer’s over.) I got an email from Rohan, who lives in Melbourne, Australia and said he’d love for me to stop at Grassroots Tavern on St. Marks Place. He said it’s where he hangs out when he’s in town. So that’s today’s bar. See how easy this works? Okay let’s go get beat in the heat!
And we're off, it's hotter than shit out here, I pray the air conditioning is working at Grassroots.
Bank ads on pizza boxes. Is nothing sacred anymore?
Despite the heat, there's a lot of activity in Union Square Park. Artists selling their work and this heady chess game are just part of the action.
And after a sweat-soaked walk, here we are, the Grassrots Tavern on St. Marks Place. Love the neon sign!
And for once, since I'm not working and it's early, I can take advantage of the Happy Hour specials!
Aaahh, the air conditioner is working and the place looks great. Nice tin ceiling and there's plenty of spots at the bar.
Keith was the friendly bartender on duty. Rohan asked in his email to see if John still worked there and he does, but he had the day off today.
Seated next to me was Veronica Saddler, who lives in the neighborhood. Veronica didn't want her picture taken, but she volunteered to take a shot of yours truly. It turns out Veronica is a pinhole photographer (as is 365 commentator Jason Hwang) and here's her website where you can check out her impressive photos: Veronica Saddler Photography.
There's well-worn tables off to the side and in the back of the spacious bar.
Vintage dart boards hang in the back room of the bar.
Riian and Riley were beating the heat at the bar.
Whitney flashes the 365 card while hoisting his drink. Cheers!
And Chris joins the party just in time for me to snap a photo.
Here's some of the beers available. As you can see, you're not going to go broke drinking in here.
Vintage coasters and pitchers hang over the bottles of booze at the bar.
The sun sets on St. Marks.
Robert and Stephanie were enjoying drinks at a side table and were very enthusiastic about the 365 bar crawl project.
A perfect spot on a hot summer day, great suggestion, Rohan! Cheers and goodnight everybody! (Photo by: Veronica Saddler.)
Review
Sometimes it nice to get back to the basics and drink in a no-frills bar, with decently priced drinks and an old-school flavor to it. Grassroots Tavern lives up to its name, it’s an old school New York dive bar and it’s nice that it hasn’t been pushed off the block with a chainstore or bar. Grasroots Tavern has been a fixture on the block since 1974. The bar is long and wooden and definitely shows history of many pitchers of beer and drinks that have been hoisted from it. There’s tables to the side and a back room with functioning dart boards and an antique trophy case. There’s a good selection on the jukebox with artists ranging from Johnny Cash, to Neil Young, to John Lee Hooker to the Pretenders.
There’s a full bar and drinks are cheap. Budweiser and Michelob drafts are just three bucks and you can get a pitcher for nine dollars. Bottled Buds go for $3.50 and a bottle of Heineken or Corona will cost you $4.50. Happy Hour runs Monday through Friday with one dollar off pints and two bucks off pitchers, so this place is definitely easy on the pocketbook, which is a good thing these days. You can also get a heaping bowl of popcorn for a buck to soak up some of the suds.
And the air conditioner works, which on a day like this makes the joint a real cool choice. Cheers!
Grassroots Tavern
20 St. Marks Pl. (Between 2nd & 3rd Aves.)
212-475-9443