Sunday, February 7th, 2010—Bar 28

Day 28—Saturday, February 3rd

The Blue Bar in the Algonquin Hotel

I’ve never been a big fan of going out on Saturday night. Every place is packed, it’s loud and people go out because they feel like they have to. So I never joined the crowd and would usually stay home, drink beer, watch porn...err...I mean watch a movie and just chill out. Well, now with this website, I have to go out now. I was looking for a quiet place and through searching for quiet bars on search engines I stumbled up The Blue Bar in the Algonquin Hotel. I realized I haven’t gone to a hotel bar yet on the 365 crawl and so I’ve decided every Saturday night will be “Hotel Bar Night.” Hotel bars are generally quieter and a little more laid back, just the way I like my Saturday nights. So...live from New  York...it’s Saturday Hotel Night!

Here's the Algonquin Hotel, located in the heart of Times Square.

And here's the entrance to the hotel's bar, the Blue Bar.

The bar itself is tiny and it's packed.

Luckily there's plenty of tables in the back to sit at. Hey, who's that in the back table?

It's Zioum Zioum the Chainsaw and Jason. Faithful readers will remember them from the Wechslers Currywurst post.

And before you can say, "Cheers," the beers have arrived at the table.

Zioum Zioum takes a picture of...

Jason taking a picture of...

Me drinking my beer baboon style.

A bird's-eye view of the table...hey, what's that in the middle?

FREE PEANUTS!

One of the reasons I love this bar is they have original Al Hirschfeld artwork on the walls.

More Al artwork.

The bar itself is still packed and no wonder...free fruit!

Zioum Zioum models a lovely Ostrich-ass mascot she made for my obligatory bathroom wall shots. Thanks, Zioum Zioum! Well, you know what's next...

Obligatory ostrich-ass mask bathroom shot!

Hey, how'd that get on the wall?

Review

The Blue Bar is housed within the legendary Algonquin Hotel, where you can sit and have a drink in the lavish lobby as well. But I’m walking into 365 bars, not lobbies, so I chose to visit the Blue Bar. The actual bar itself is a small half horseshoe and it’s filled with locals as well as visitors staying in the hotel. The style of the bar is old school New York, with comfortable leather lined booths and tables lining the dark wooden walls of this hotel tavern. Adorning the walls is original artwork by legendary artist Al Hirschfeld, donated by the Margo Feiden Galleries. Hirschfeld was a regular at the bar when he was alive.

The Blue Bar is open from 11:30am to 1:30am and they have a full bar and a wide selection of wine, cocktails and domestic and imported beer. The food menu at the bar features unique treats such as pan seared crab cakes, lobster mac and cheese and street fair steak fritters. And there’s free peanuts at every table! Woo hoo!

The Blue Bar in the Algonquin Hotel
59 West 44th Street (@ 6th Ave.)
New York, NY 10036
(212) 840-6800