Saturday, August 28th, 2010—Bar 230

Day 230—Friday, August 27th, 2010
Flannery's Bar
Before we start the crawl tonight, I was summoned over to Mark Burger Bar on St. Mark's Place. Their slider eating competition has gotten up to 20 sliders and I told Chef Eric to call me if there's a competitor coming over to try and break the standing number. Well, he said tonight someone was coming at 8pm, so I decided to take my dinner break and check it out. So it's off to Mark we go.

Here we are back at Mark Burger Bar.

Trevor tried to beat the record a few hours earlier, but only made it to 11 sliders. A noble try though. Trevor has a website devoted to food and you can check it out here: Burgasm.

Here's Chef Eric and Angie in the background. It's 8pm and the challenger is supposed to be here. Hopefully he'll show up soon, as I'm on my dinner hour.

The son of a bitch never showed up! So 20 is still the number to beat. If you think you can do it, let me know and I'll show up and document it.

So now it's on with the crawl. Okay, I’m in my typical burned-out Friday mood. I’m not in much of a bar-crawling mood, so I’m going to go to a classic Irish bar called Flannery's that’s just three blocks from where I live. Hopefully it won’t be packed to the gills, but if it is, it is. It’s about a fifteen minute walk from where I work, so set your stopwatches and time me. And awaaaay we go.

All we do is walk down Seventh Avenue...

And within fifteen minutes, here we are.

And look at this, a prime seat right at the front of the long dark wooden bar.

And Mike the bartender is quick on the draw with an ice-cold beer. Mike's one of the friendliest bartenders I've met on the bar crawl, a great guy!

He even invited me to join him behind the bar for a photo.

Jake and Grimm were enjoying drinks at the end of the bar. Cheers, guys!

Here's Alexis, Grimm and Lauren. They were in the bar celebrating Lauren's birthday. Happy birthday, Lauren!

As you can see, the bar is hopping tonight.

Obligatory barroom mirror shot.

A longshot of the top of the bar.

A wooden railing and stools run along the perimeter of the opposite side of the bar.

The middle room of he bar is devoted to one thing...

Darts! There's five dart boards in here and they are in constant use.

I had to use the flash in the back room, because it's so dark back here. Wooden booths line the walls and there's tables back here as well.

This is where Steve the DJ programs and pumps out the tunes for the evening.

Meanwhile, back at the bar...

Mike approaches me and asks if I'd like to try a Guinness.

I happily accept the offer and he pours...

And serves a perfectly poured pint of Guinness. This can only lead to one thing...

The traditional wearin' of the Guinness. Sláinte!

Bartender John was working the other end of the bar, here he is with Mike.

Cheese it, it's the cops! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
There’s hundreds of cookie-cutter, pre-fabricated “Irish bars” in New York City, but Flannery’s is the real thing. It’s been a fixture on 14th Street for over twenty years now. The front of the bar is decked out with large French windows, that when opened in the warmer months give the front of the  bar a bit of a beer garden feel. The bar itself is long and wooden and there’s wooden tables and chairs to the side and in the back to lounge at. The bartenders are super-friendly Irishmen who know how to pour a slow Guinness pint. The patrons range from working class stiffs to suits unwinding after a tough day at the office to people drinking their unemployment checks away. Throw in a tourist or two and it’s a lively crowd. Their motto is, "Come as a stranger, leave as a friend,” and they stay true to that.

There’s a full bar with a good selection of draft and bottled beers, and of course there’s Guinness on tap. Happy hour runs from Monday to Friday with drink specials on beer and cocktails.

There’s DJ’s on the weekends and about once a month Flannery’s has live music. It’s also a bar that’s big on darts, there’s five dart boards and Wednesday is the “Luck of the Draw” dart tournament night. Drink specials and cash prizes go out to the winners. Patrons can also participate in tournaments with teams from other bars. Stop in and find out how. But have a Guinness or three first.

Flannery's Bar
205 W. 14th St. (Near Seventh Ave.)
212-229-2122