Tuesday, August 10th, 2010—Bar 212
Day 212—Monday, August 9th, 2010
Swift Hibernian Lounge
First off, I want to wish DJ, 365 commentator and blogger, Gidget the happiest birthday ever! Today is actually the second birthday of the year for Gidget and you can read all about that at her blog: Gidget Bates Crap She Spews. Gidget is THE coolest DJ in the world and hosts a great rado show on Woody Radio, check out the schedules and listen when you can right here: Woody Radio. She's hosting her birthday show today from 1pm to 5pm, so tune in and send her your birthday wishes. Happy birthday, Gidget!
Check down at the end of this post after the review for some special bonus photos. Our Australian mate and 365 commentator Fitzy sent in some photos of the Koala hospital where he works in Australia. There’s some great shots and commentary by Fitzy himself. A little Oz treat down under the post from down under itself. Thanks for sending these in Fitzy mate! Looking forward to the 365 Oz summit!
Okay, yesterday in the comments section we had a couple complaints about TV sets in bars. I agree, but to the Whiskey Trader’s defense, they do bill themselves as a “Sports Bar and Lounge,” so it kind of comes with the territory and you should realize before you step a foot in there that there’s going to be big TV’s with sports on them. Anyway, I did a Google search on bars with no TV’s in New York City and found this article from 2009: “The Few, the Proud: Pubs That Still Resist the Pull of the Television Screen.” They forgot to mention the Mars Bar, but we’ve been there already, and the only bar they mention in Manhattan that has no TV sets is the Swift Hibernian Lounge (the other two are in Brooklyn and I’ll try and get there sometime). The article is a year old, let’s go see if this place is still sans TV.
Here we are at the Swift Hibernian Lounge.
Now there's a good idea on this hotter than fuck-all evening.
Check out the large cathedral, wooden doors.
And they open up to a nice dark, candlelit bar and not a TV in sight. The cathedral of the good drinker.
Bartender Shane expertly mixes me up a margarita. Shane is one of the best and most friendly bartenders I've met on the bar crawl, a great guy and he mixes a mean margarita.
Delicious!
There's a wooden lounge area opposite the bar.
Here's Chris and Steve who are fire fighters from Ladder 9. To the right of them hangs a memorial plaque to their fallen brothers from September 11th. Thanks for your good work, Chris and Steve!
There's a nice candlelit nook up front to enjoy the view outside of the bar.
Shane at work behind the bar.
The well-stocked bar at Swift Hibernian Lounge.
The draft beer list.
And the bottled beers that are available. An impressive list.
The mural that runs along the entire wall was painted by local artist, Carey Rothman.
Rob, Corey and Jennie were enjoying some drinks at the bar and agreed to post for the 365 camera.
Then Rob took the camera and turned the tables on me and had me pose with Corey, Jennie and their friend Matthew in the back.
A long, candlelit wooden bank runs the length opposite the bar where you can rest a drink or an elbow.
There's tables and booths in the large back room of the bar.
In between Margaritas Shane poured me a perfect Guinness. The bar is known as the go-to place for a perfectly poured pint of Guinness.
Here's Shane with his girlfriend, Erin on his left and her mom, Nadine on his right. Erin and Nadine are from New Orleans. Erin lives here now and her mom is visiting. Cheers to you all!
Rob and Chris in conversation at the front of the bar.
And here I am with a margarita and the ultimate traditional wearin' of the Guinness on the noggin'. Good night, everybody!
Review
They bill themselves as a lounge, but theSwift Hibernian Lounge could also be called an Irish alehouse. A large Irish alehouse. The front room houses a long and winding wooden bar with a wooden lounge area opposite. Up front are two nice window viewing nooks and there’s a large back room with a communal table and oversize wooden booths. The bartenders are friendly and the cliental are mainly neighborhood regulars, but first-timers are treated as friendly as the long-time customers. The Swift Hibernian Lounge has been in business for 15 years and has grown to be a neighborhood favorite.
There’s a huge selection of beer available here. There’s 54 bottled beers and 23 beers on tap to choose from. The selection changes daily, but there’s real time viewing on what’s availble at their website. They feature a decent wine list and specialty cocktails including: The Captain Gulliver, which mixes Jameson whiskey, ginger beer and lemon; Esther, which is a combination of Beefeater 24, mint and fresh limede and they also have raspberry or lemon sorbet sangria. The spirit list is impressive with copious varieties of Irish whiskey, single malt scotch, tequila and American bourbon.
The menu is small and strictly pub fare featuring such items as: chicken salad sandwich, reuben sandwich, beef and Guinness pie, mini cheddar burgers and tomato and mozzarella pizza. Food is served till four in the morning and they are open 365 days a year. On the weekends DJ’s spin tunes and on Tuesday nights they have a traditional Irish seisuin. I’m not exactly sure what a “traditional Irish seisuin” is and I’m running late for work. I think it’s live music, but Google it to be sure. I gotta go! Sneeze ya, tomorrow.
Swift Hibernian Lounge
34 E. 4th St. (Near The Bowery)
212-260-3600
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Bonus Photos!
Here’s the photos and comments that Fitzy sent in from the land of Oz and the Koala hospital where he works, enjoy! Thanks for sending them in Fitzy, mate!
Koala Crossing sign—Had to get you a pick of this Marty after you hit me up to check out how authentic "The Creek Bar # 207" was, so you can see their Koala Crossing sign was an authentic replica not far off the mark. This is about 50m from the entrance to Macquarie Nature Reserve, home to Roto House and the Koala Hospital.
Here is Barry—Barry is me best mate. He is the oldest koala we have, he is the grumpiest and has the worst attitude going which is why i love the little bastard! The girls gave me Barry to feed the 1st day i started as an initiation thing, and yes the fucker bit me a beauty. But since then we've become mates, i let him keep his milk moe after feeding (they hate having their mouths wiped) and he lets me check him for ticks without inflicting injuries on me they may require stitches...good bloke Bazza!
This is Danny—Danny is sorta a cross between Fabio and Steve McQueen ("The Great Escape"). He has escaped twice in the last month due to it being mating season. He was bought in with conjunctivitis and Chlamydia, yep the sexually transmitted disease, they are horny littl' critters i kid you not! Danny is the definition of "young dumb and full of cum." So Danny is in our Max Security Wing for time being.
Another shot of Danny—He was found just round the corner from me after we got a call from a local saying a koala was at the base of a tree in their backyard. F.Y.I. people, if you see a koala lurking at or toward the base of a tree, not going up, call the Dept of Wildlife, its a tell-tale sign the koala is crook and in distress, plus at the base or low they are vulnerable to attack. The healthier the koala, the higher you will find them in the tree. Danny, "the little slave to erotica" will be released in a month or so, in plenty of time for the rest of the mating season!
And finally, here's to Erin's mom, Nadine who's visiting from New Orleans and is named after my favorite Chuck Berry song. Have fun in New York, Nadine!
43 Comments
Reader Comments (43)
TO : Ladder 9.
TO : Fitzy ( for those Fun Photo's , is that you in the hat ? )
I Like the atmosphere of this place & nice to see a friendly bartender that will let you take pictures , Cheers .
@JHwang: That is indeed Fitzy in the hat! And let's not forget to wish Gidget a happy birthday!
Great shots from Fitzy, Danny looks very healthy and probably horny too. The Swift is just perfect as a bar,,for me. Dark, check,,,,lots of wood, check,,,,,big variety of beer and liquor, check,,, no tv, check,,,,did I mention dark?
GREAT bar! I agree with Al on all his checkpoints. Perfect place and a good find on the old crawl. Happy birthday, Gidget! And cool down under photos from Fitzy! Thanks for sending them in! The crawl is international, love it!
There's so much to say about this post. First, TO LADDER 9! And to all the other firefighters and emergency folks who rush into buildings when everyone else is rushing out. The definition of selfless. Second, Happy Birthday, Gidget! I hope you had a good one! Third, TO the Mars Bar! I love that place. Fourth, TO Swift Hibernian Lounge! Looks like a nice, dark place to enjoy a nice, dark beer. As always, I love those lighted bottles. And that's truly a perfect pour on the Guinness. Also, STELLA!!!!!! I always say that when I see Stella, even though I'm not Marlon Brando (thank goodness) and even though it's annoying. One small point of trivia regarding the Stella, though...they shrunk the bottles to 11.2 ounces instead of 12. That's why the bottle's top looks very large in proportion to its body. Much like a pez dispenser. Or Celine Dion. Anyway, Swift looks like a great place and I dig their murals. Fifth, to Erin and Nadine: Laissez les bons temps rouler! Long live live music on every street corner! Long live Crawfish Monica! Long live Irma Thomas! Long live New Orleans! Sixth, Fitzy, thanks for sending in those pictures. Great work saving those Koalas! Especially Danny, for singlehandedly ensuring that koalas will be around far into the future. And TO Barry! I love grumpy old men, even when they're koalas. And seventh, Fitzy, mate...don't look now, but everyone's driving on the wrong side of the road!!
nice brick and wood in this place. especially nice tables in the back. i'd like one of those for my apt. i heard the burp castle is sans tvs.
"And seventh, Fitzy, mate...don't look now, but everyone's driving on the wrong side of the road!!"
@Biff: Ha ha ha! You still gots it, Biferoonie!
WOOOOOOOW so cute the Koalas !!!! :D
When I was kid, after watching the movie Gorillas in the Mist, I dreamed to open a gorilla hospital in Africa. (Ok, that's still a dream somewhere hiden in my mind) and Then I started to bring home several injured animals (my mom was so mad, so it happened I did it by hidden them in my bedroom! Yeaaah yeah I did that with a Hare, and he totally destroyed my bedroom and ate my clothes!!!)
One day my dad crashed into a Golden eagle with his car, we kept him at home 1 month, and when it was time to put him back to the nature, I felt so proud of myself.
I admire people doing that Job. TO FITZY !!
Happy Birthday Gidget !!!!
I like that painting in the Bar!!!! But where is the Fire Joke,marty? ;) haha
@Zioum Zioum: I'll do the fire joke tonight, if there is fire at the bar. TO FITZY! And happy birthday to Gidget!
I love the atmosphere of this place. Those doors are beautiful, too. I wish I had them at home.
And, KOALAs!!! So cute :)
I drink a margerita every year on my birthday Marty..
TY you for drinking one for me this year...
you so rock!
ty for the birthday wishes:)
this made my day...
i'd spend a birthday at this bar...
OMG! I love the bonus photo shots from Fitzy!
Smith Hibernian...sounds more like a mountain climbing expedition in the Himalayans than a bar, but I love the look of the place! Warm, somewhat elegant and low key...great place to bring a date! @ Fitzy; koalas look like absolutely the last animals in the world capable of inflicting injury, but I'll take your word for it...there's so many things living in Australia with one HELL of a bite! At least koalas aren't poisonous...are they!?!
Great Alehouse!
Love the look of the place.
Nice place to slip away from it all.
Happy Birthday to Gidget!
And to Fitzy!
Good having you aboard here.
Cheers Mate!
Keep up the great work down under!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIDGET!!!!....hope you have a good one matey!!!
@everyone, thanks for your kind comments....& i totally agree on the "cute" koala factor...the littl' shits are that!! plus they each have their own individual personalities, so this combo really makes them grow on you.....but it can turn ugly at the hospital from time to time....like last sun we got a rescue call out to save a mum & her joey who had fallen victim to a dog attack.....& going on the bloody horrific wounds inflicted on the mum whilst trying to save her Joey there was more than one dog.....the mum was DOA, & the joey died a couple of hours after we got him back to the emergency room...that shit tugged at the heart strings for a while....in saying that, the koala's biggest enemy is MAN! property development & loss of natural habitat is their biggest killer...way more education is needed in this department!!!
@Biff & Marty, thanks fellas for the heads up on the traffic problem we have down here....onya smartarses!!!! LOL!
@Jaws, if it was going on Barry's breath you would'nt go near him with a 10ft pole for fear it had to be poisonous!!!!....but naa mate they're not poisonous...but they do have up to 1.5 inch sharp as all fuck claws, & being built like littl' fury balls of muscle if they grab hold of you, you stay held onto till they wanna let go....i'm lucky in my early days (rather even now) that i have'nt had to get stitches from one of them...touch wood!!!
@marty, yep give the Swift the fitzy tick of approval.....
@Fitzy forgot to mention how friggen cool those pictures are...
i have a thing for sharp teethed and sharp fingered little animals...
cute and viscious is kinda hot LOL....
@Gidget, makes it easy having cool subjects to photograph.....& LOL!! on the cute & viscious thing....all i can say is Barry is your "Man-Bear", or if you're in the "Toy-Boy Bear" market you'd have to consider Danny....LOL!!!
@fitzy now that I am old i need Danny i guess...like a cougar/koala thing:)
@Gidget, hahaha! you crack me up!!!!! ;-))
I can make sooo many jokes on marty's new venture has to be a dating serice lol.. but i think there are laws agaisnt koala and people mating LOL...still dont want to know about the clamydia bear....
@Gidget: NOW you tell me! I gotta go hide my koala!
Oh Happy Birthday Gidget , so how old are you ?
ZioumZioum , no fire jokes , didn't you see the firemen !!!