Tuesday, December 7th, 2010—Bar 331

Day 331—Monday, December 6th, 2010
Ace Bar
Tonight I hand the wheel of the bar crawl over to my co-pilot in this journey, 365 commentator, Al Rizo. Al has been helping me find unique bars all along the way and I appreciate his help. Even though there’s thousands of bars in Manhattan, a good percentage of those are all the same and if I did the same type of bar every night it would get boring not only for me, but for the fine people who log on here everyday and read the blog. Last week Al found a bar in the East Village  called Ace Bar that has vintage lunchboxes, a game room and best of all, inexpensive beer! So far Al has yet to pick a dud, let’s go check out this place.

And here we are at Ace bar, let's check it out, it's freezing out here.

Al always finds nice, dark bars and this is no exception.

At first bartender Jackie was a little shy about having her photo taken, but then Max said he'd join her and she agreed to the photo. Thanks for being good sports!

Wyatt was seated next to me at the bar and was showing a picture of his dog, Summer, who's back at his parents house in Texas. You can't see Summer here, so I zoomed in...

And got this shot. A cute doggie!

A shot of the tin ceiling overhead, always the mark of a good bar.

Some of the drafts available at the bar.

There's a vintage cash register behind the bar, always love that.

Some of the specials and beers available at the bar.

The bar in all its darkened glory.

Jackie said she wasn't sure who this painting was, bu that it's been hanging at the bar forever.

There's red leather banquettes to sit at opposite the bar.

There's Ace photos hanging over the banquettes on the brick walls. Here's the Ace Wheel & Rim.

And here's the Ace Motel. You can check out, but you can never leave.

Up front are tables and this amazing display of vintage lunch boxes.

Here's a Hee Haw lunchbox.

And another classic '70's show, Adam 12.

Sunday, Monday...Happy Days. God, I always hated that theme song and now it's stuck in my head for the day. Shit.

Peanuts, candy and Skittles!

The bar hosts dart leagues on Tuesday nights.

Two pool tables are nestled into the spacious back room.

And there's also not one, but two Skee-Ball machines.

Maddy, Arya and David were chilling out in the back room. David is visiting from Scotland and said he was enjoying New York and noted that, "New Yorkers like their beer." How true! Arya has a cool blog and you should check it out here: Just Press Play.

Meanwhile, back at the bar...

Duhnununununununuh...BATMAN!

Maddy, Arya, David ended up at the front bar with me and we had a nice conversation about New York, bars and the sad demise of Coney Island. Here's our parting shots. Cheers and goodnight, everybody!

Review
Ace Bar is dark and gamey in a good way. The front room has a pinball machine, a wooden bar and red leather banquettes and tables. There’s also tables up in the front and a glassed-in display of vintage lunchboxes from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. The back room has two state of the art dart boards, two pool tables and two Skee-Ball machines. All the games in the bar are imported from Coney Island, so you know it’s the real deal in here.

There’s a full bar here with a good selection of beers including: Stella Artois, Blue Moon, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Duvel. They have a happy hour that runs from 4pm to 7pm with draft beers and well drinks going for between three to six bucks a pop. There’s also nightly drink specials and on Sundays they pour their legendary Bloody Marys and pool is free till 6pm.

On the weekends the crowd gets younger and the place fills up with college kids and rowdies, so if you’re not into that scene, try it on a low-key weeknight, like I did.

Ace Bar
531 E. 5th St. (Near Ave. A)
212-979-8476

---------------

Thanks, as always to my co-pilot Al for the suggestion! (Al artwork by "Boris")

-------------------

Bonus Video

365 commentator raginrr sent me a story about a traffic sign that flips the bird and I found this video of it on YouTube. That’s my kind of traffic signal! Here it is, thanks for the hat tip, raginrr!

Bonus Video Part II

And now, for Terry and all of you, the Batman video extra. I found not only a Catwoman clip, but a whole freaking documentary on her. Enjoy!

Thursday, June 24th, 2010—Bar 165

Day 165—Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
La Linea (Originally headed for Simone Martini Bar)
Bar 165 tonight on the crawl! Only 200 more to go, woo and hoo! One thing that’s been great about doing this is it’s brought me out of my comfort zone about going out and about in New York City. When I moved here 17 years ago I was running around like Eliot Spitzer in a whorehouse with a fistull of cash. I spent the whole year going to places and everything was new to me. Then as the years drifted by I stopped exploring and I realized that last year, outside of meeting friends or going to work, I barely left a five block radius around my apartment. Same bar, same diner, same deli, same bookstore and on and on. And I live in a city where there’s a bazillion choices and things to do! Anyway, when I started this I realized to keep it interesting I was going to have to go to all different kinds of bars to have different experiences, meet different kinds of people and have a variety of photos. Tonight’s choice is a good example. Last night I went to Subway Inn, which is the kind of bar I would frequent before I started this bar crawl. But if I went to dive bars every night it would get old, so I have to mix it up. Which leads us to tonight’s choice, Simone Martini Bar.

Up until this bar crawl, I think I had been in maybe one martini bar. I’m usually a beer drinker and I just never went. Since last night was a dive bar, I decided tonight to try a martini bar. I Googled around and found Simone’s Martini Bar, which got a good review in New York magazine and_cafe/ and it looks like an interesting bar, so let’s go find out. (And I’ll watch out for the Oompa-Loompa’s, Jaws!)

Okay, so I get to Simone's and after waiting about five minutes for the bartender to approach me, he tells me I can take a photo of him, but no photos of the bar. I decide to bolt and find another joint. He told me nicely, but the sound system was blaring, Copacabana by Barry Manilow and the red color scheme in there was burning my retina's. Time to move on. Goodbye Simone's, we hardly knew ye...and I'm fine with that.

And so, once again, I begin a lonely walk in search of a watering hole.

I read in EV Grieve that Cheap Shots had re-opened under a new name, but we were just in a dive bar last night, so I'll come back here another time.

I stopped here, gave the bartender my card and told her what I was doing. She looked frightened, went to the other end of the bar for five minutes and then came back and told me I couldn't take pictures in there. Fuck, this night is turning into a nightmare. At this point I just want it to end.

And so it's on we go.

Hey, a familiar face! It's Chris from Bar Veloce last week! And he's talking to Pamela, it's a small world after all!

Shit, d.b.a. is packed, no seats at the bar.

I saw this sign and thought about going in and then remembered I did it already! My mind is turning into mush!

This looks like a nice little oasis.

Half priced booze? Hello destination!

Lots of seats at the bar, aaah, I've finally found a place!

And super-cute bartender Robin serves up an ice-cold Corona. I always say a bartender can make or break a place and Robin's a great bartender. Friendly and anxous to chat. She's also an actress and a singer.

Cheers!

There's a nice area up front to sit and watch people on the street from inside the bar.

There's a full bar and frozen drinks are available at La Linea.

Some of the beer and wine available at the bar.

Robin at the bar.

I couldn't get anyone to pose for a photo, so for here on in, it's just Robin and me. Here's Robin with beer number two.

Peace and here's to beer number two!

And Robin serves up beer number three in a festive manner.

Thanks for the great hospitality, Robin! Beer number three and I'm over and out! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
La Linea bar is a nice little hideaway bar in the East Village. It’s got a cozy, woodsy, laid back feel and some of the friendliest bartenders in the city. There’s a nice seating area up front to gaze out at the street and people passing by and it’s a relaxed atmosphere inside.

There’s a full bar and they have an unbelievable happy hour, actually two happy hours. The first happens every day from 3pm to 9pm with half price specials on all alcoholic beverages.  And Sunday through Thursday there’s the same deal with a late night happy hour that runs from 11pm to closing. Late shifters take note! Friday’s and Saturday’s DJ’s spin R&B, hip hop and reggae tunes.

Stop by and get happy houred at La Linea!

La Linea
15 First Ave., (Near 1st St.)
212-777-1571