Thursday, Sept. 23rd, 2010—Bar 256
Day 256—Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
MacDougal St. Ale House (Originally headed for 124 Rabbit Club)
The PayPal donation bell has been rung and it arrived in my mailbox. Dan London sent me a crisp twenty dollar bill and it arrived today. I know Dan from his days at Hulu where I published my book, The Boy Who Would Be A Fire Truck. Dan was the director of Search Engine Marketing there and he also interviewed me and did a great job. Here’s the interview: Dan London interview with me. These days Dan is a promoter, organizer and speaker at Fizzled Durham. You can read more about Dan by visiting his website right here: Dan London. Dan is pictured below enjoying a day at what looks like paradise (if only it was dark outside) with a perfectly placed bottle of Miller Lite sure to make Biff more than a little jealous. Thanks for the donation and all your support, Dan! I truly appreciate it!
I’ve been wanting to go to the 124 Rabbit Club for awhile, but I’m a little reluctant because it’s set up like a speakeasy and you have to find the bar and then press a buzzer to get in. The point being, they want it to be a somewhat hidden bar. What I’m afraid of is they won’t allow me to take pictures in there and do my 365 bar thing. But, what the hell, the only way to find out is to hop on over. Get it? Rabbit Club...hop...okay, whatever, let’s just go.
Okay, here we are at 234 McDougal Street. Let's go up and see which buzzer we need to press.
Shit, it's all residential names. Is there some secret code I don't know? Am I at the right address?
Yeah, I'm here, I wrote the address down in my notebook.
As I'm standing on the stoop, I see this place next door. Time to imporvise.
It's a nice dark basement bar. I think this will do. Let's settle in to bar number 256.
And what's looking even better than the bar is the lovely bartender, Gabby who's quick with a cold bottle of beer.
And I'm going to resist to use some Harry Nilsson reference about the lime in the beer.
Nate was seated next to me working on a crossword puzzle. I always respect a man who does the crosswords in ink. No turning back there.
Here's a shot of the lit-up, brick-walled bar from my perch.
There was a birthday party in progress at the bar. From left: The birthday girl, Liza, Lauren and Jay. And Liza wants everyone to know her name is Liza with a fucking Z! Let's all wish her a happy birthday: Happy birthday, Liza, with a fucking Z!
There's wooden tables opposite the bar that lead to a back room.
And back there are two proffesional styled dart boards.
Meanwhile, back at the bar...
Gabby is having a discussion with this gentleman. Let's see who he is.
It's the bars bouncer and doorman, Hansel. Hansel's an event host and you can read more about him here: Hansel.
There's a pool cue rack and stools in the front of the bar opposite the pool table.
And speaking of pool, Nate has switched over from crosswords to billiards.
And now it's time to walk out and close out another chapter on the 365 bar crawl. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
On a street lined with college and tourist bars, the McDougal St. Ale House stands out for not trying to stand out. It’s a low-key basement bar with no frills and no attitude. The pool table is king here and most of the action happens up front at the ample sized bar and wooden booths that line the brick walls of this Greenwich Village Tavern. There’s darts in the back, the bartenders are friendly and it’s a nice place to hang and have a beer or five.
There’s a full bar with a good botted beer selection and 12 beers on tap including: Blue Moon, Newcastle, Samuel Adams and Stella Artois. They have a seven day a week happy hour from noon to 7pm with three dollar well drinks and three buck pints. There’s also different drink specials every night of the week.
MacDougal St. Ale House
122 MacDougal St. (@Minetta Lane)
212-254-8569
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Bonus Photos
A nice fellow was seated next to me at the bar and he politely declined to be photographed, but offered up something interesting. He's a medical marijuana user due to insomnia. Here's a couple things he showed me.
It's fuzzy and you can't read it, but what do you expect of a medical marijuana I.D?
Here's the Medical Marijuana smart card that you get along with government grown weed.
And the back side of the card. "Remember what they say," we know you're stoned out of your gourd, but please make this extra effort. Dude!
And to go with the bonus photos, here's NRBQ with "Wacky Tobacky." Enjoy! And stay high and let your freak flag fly!
25 Comments
Reader Comments (25)
Marty,
Thanks for the links and thanks for doing the 365 bar tour. Awesome idea and a great daily read.
I'm still hoping I get up to NYC and have the chance to join you on the tour.
I find it amazing that the bars in NYC have attractive female bartenders..or at least the ones you visit.
-Dan
@Dan London: Thanks for the donation and for following the blog. When you get here the beers are on me!
Once again you prove yourself to be the king of the bounce back! Gabby's a fabulous looking bartender and this looks like a nice relaxed place to hang out at. Happy birthday Liza with a fucking Z! I like your attitude. And the medicinal marijuana? The icing on the cake! I enjoyed the Dan London interview too, nice to find out more about the bar crawl guy. Be on the lookout for a donation from yours truly after my next payday and I don't mean the candy bar either!
I agree with Barfly,,,Gabby is a very good looking gal. What a knack for finding a last second bar. And a good one to boot. Basement bars are great, this one looks like its built like a fort,,,brick walls with a solid wood bar and a stone wall in the back. You didn't need Rick Nelson this time,,,right next door,,,and you could be right,,,some of those exclusive, hard to get into bars with a buzzer to get in could give you a problem with you doing your thing,,,but it may be worth checking out if you get the right address,,,lol. That medical marijuana card is so funny,,,,you are stoned and now you need to remember what the cop says,,,,,I can't remember yesterday when im sober, this was hilarious.
Great little find!
I love joints like this.
I am also impressed with the Crossword Puzzle in Ink.
My Dad would always use a pen.
Such self confidence.
But,
Where did the 234 McDougal Street come from?
Beats the shit outta me, you da Crawler Daddio.
And.
Happy Fucking Birthday Liza with a Fucking Z!
@"Boris:" I found out it's in the basement of the building! I'll go back there in a bit and check it out.
Hey Marty.........It's me The Professor! Been gone for awhile...Traveling down south and such! Glad to see the crawl is still crawling! Trying not to soil your page with Enlightenment! Say hi to the old crew....They know who they are!!! You know me...........I can't be on a leash! I can only say " Cool bar, Nice Bartender and the food looks good" So many times! As always..........I wish the best for you and the crawl! This place is too fancy for my brand of bar talk! The Professor has just been escorted out of the building! Goodnight! Cheers and a million beers! That Flupsy guy is a real Ausshole!
@Professor Dungpie! I was just talking to Biff last night and I said, "I wonder what ever happened to Professor Dungpie?" Sorry you're leavng, you never offended me or anyone else that I know of. Cheers.
great photo of dan london! i wish i was on that beach with him and of course i'd steal his beer! nice bar and i love the top photo with the neon and the bar sign. and the medical marijuana cards cracked me up LOL!
Great blog you've got going and four letters says it all: NRBQ! Fuckin' A!
Nice come back Marty , but really want to see 124 Wabbit Club , shhhhhh I'm hunting Wabbit .
Happy Birthday Liza with a Fucking Z , Like ZioumZioum !!
@ Marty , just a 109 more to go , WOW !!!
If I remember correctly you need to look for a large black door to the left of the residential building, think it's right under a sign for the Ethiopian Restaurant. There's stairs leading down to a blackdoor. There's no buzzer, you just need to kind of put your finger in the doorbell hole and then pull the door open. Tell the bartenders on duty what kind of beer you like and they'll custom select one for you. Drinks ain't cheap though, 8-25 bucks a bottle, everything's imported.
@NYteacher: Thanks for the information! All the reviews say that they have a buzzer, can't believe everything you read. And thanks for the pricing information too, I'll go after payday!
Regarding that beach photo...Well, helloooooo, Gorgeous! And Dan ain't so bad either! Yay, Miller Lite! Me likey likey!
Forgot to comment on the bar! Oops! Let's see...the Ale House looks nice, what with all that brick and loads of ample seating. Plus, the lighted bottles - always a plus. Plus, plus, plus! Department of Redundancy Department. Anyhoo, I like the red pool table and looks like they have lots of draft beers, if that's up your alley. And it's downstairs, so in the event of a tornado, you can keep drinking. My Grandpa taught me that crosswords should always be done in pen, so congratulations to Nate for doing it right. Congratulations to Liza With A Fucking Z for having another birthday. And congratulations to Jay for copping a half boob shot while pretending to simply pose for a picture. As for that medical marajuana card, I can't tell you how much I like that last instruction: "Say 'I choose to remain silent and I want to see a lawyer.' (Remember to remain silent)." Just in case you forgot in the last nanosecond. Classic.
Hi, Professor Dungpie and safe travels! Ladies, watch out! He's spreading enlightenment all around the country!! Mwah!
That looks like a fantastic find Marty and you look so cute in that photo of you with the Corona.
Thanks for sharing the MM information with us, I never knew that such cards existed.
@365: Yet another nice bounce back! and you look totally chuffed to have an icy cold corona in ya mits. I tried a new beer last night called XXXX Summer lager. Very nice. Similar to Corona.
Thanks for the video requests yesterday and I'm pretty sure that it is Steve Jones, Sex Pistols guitar hero on vocals for Friggin' in the Riggin'. Ronnie Biggs did the vox on the song "The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle"...but you've gone and done mixed your booze with weed. I've made the mistake of doing that many times....
@Tiki Bar Susie: Thanks, yes the cards exist. Do you have the need for weed?
@Tim Clack: I've never heard of the XXXX beer, do you know if they have it in the states? Thanks for the video correction. Did you ever hear Steve Jones' radio show, Jonesy's Jukebox? I've heard chunks online and it was great, but I think its off the air now.
@365: Check your book collection. I'm sure you'd have something in there to read about Australian beers!! XXXX (pronounced 4 EX) is a Queensland beer not sure if it's widely exported. They're usually pretty horrible but this one was a nice change. I'll pick up a few more over the weekend and send you a photo....and maybe a photo of myself drunk.
I haven't heard Steve Jones's show but we have Alice Coopers show out here every weeknight called "Nights with Alice Cooper". He's really funny and plays cool old school rock and metal as well as freaky facts such as - Did you know it's illegal to predict the future in Portland?
wow...whoa...wtf...looks like another great stop...where to start...where to stop...guess about now...happy trails all...KOC
rr
@raginrr: Happy trails to you (are you doing acid?)
Happy birthday Liza with the Z
and my mom does her crosswords with a pen... drives me friggen nuts.
once she had rodney bingenheimer for an answer..
called me to make sure she was spelling it right...
great bar
great improvise
great looking bartender.
I wanna go and steal Dan Londons beer and his beach!
Funny the pool cue rack... I first thought it was hooks for ladies to hang out that hell handbag that you never know where to put (well on your knee! as usual huh!lol)
Happy Birthday Liza with a Fucking Z (I know what you mean! all my life I repeated "Morgane with a fucking E at the end!" anyway now I'm Zioum Zioum with a Fucking double Z! haha)
Hi Professor ! If you missed the Bonus titty Bar, go to see the post 251! ;) No big melons but french small melons anyway and hairy cats !!! haha
So funny the weed card! In France, if you get arrested with 5 grammes and remain polite and nice during the interpellation, most of the time they just confiscate it to you or not (depending on if the cop got something to smoke for himdelf!) and let you go away, but if you have more (for exemple 9 grammes) they normally have to arrest you and they have a buuuunch of administrative papers to fill up... so they just take to you the 4 grammes over, and let you go away with your 5 grammes!! But this happens only if you are nice during the interpellation! ;)