Wednesday, May 5th, 2010—Bar 115

Day 115—Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Crocodile Lounge
Okay first things first, what’s that ding, ding, ding you hear? Why it’s the PayPal donation bell going off. Woo hoo, this is good news, because I need the dough.

I feel bad, because I just discovered that over a week ago, Kyle Shortland sent in a generous donation of fifty bucks from Australia. For some reason this didn’t show up in my email and I didn’t see it till I was checking my PayPal account the other day. Kyle’s stated purpose was: “From an Australian fan who would like you to buy a drink or two for some lovely American women” which is funny considering tonight’s bar crawl, I’ll explain more later. For now though, I extend belated thanks to Kyle for his generous donation!

The other donation is ten bucks from Manny Howard who read at Sunday’s Bar Crawl at Sunny’s from his wonderful book, “My Empire of Dirt.” The book is about how Manny was assigned a magazine piece for New York magazine to turn his Brooklyn back yard into a farm and how it took over his life. Think Field of Dreams meets Green Acres. You can read more about Manny and his book here: Mannyland. I posted this before, but it’s worth posting again, here’s Manny explaining his book:

Manny sent me ten bucks and the stated purpose said I could spend it “at my discretion.” Mega Millions is up to 266 million, so I decided to take Manny’s ten bucks and spend it all on Mega Millions tickets. If I win, Manny and a lot of you people who regularly read this blog will have a nice payday. I’ll announce the results tomorrow after I check the tickets.

Alright, tonight I’m joined by two guests from Bloomington, Illinois. Tricia and Megan have come out to New York for a visit and one of the things they wanted to do was join me on a night of my bar crawl. So tonight that’s what they get to do. Dreams really do come true here at 365 Bars, it’s kind of like an alcoholic version of the Make a Wish foundation. Here they are in New York City!
Alright, I thought I’d take Tricia and Megan to the Crocodile Lounge. If you remember, it’s a bar that gives out free pizza with beer. It was too packed the last time I went, but I figure since it’s a Tuesday night it shouldn’t be too nuts. Alright ladies, on your mark, get set, buckle your shoe at half past two...Let’s crawl!

Okay, here we are again, the Crocodile Lounge. People aren't spilling out into the street, so maybe it won't be as crowded as the other week.

Free Pizza!

It's crowded for a Tuesday, but not crazy-crowded like the other week. Tricia, Megan and I decided we would do the crawl here tonight.

And Bartender Jeff serves us up a round of drinks.

Kyle from Australia wanted me to buy some drinks for some lovely American women, so here you go, Kyle! Cheers, mate!

Ned and Travis were seated next to me and offered up assistance in beating up a guy who had abandoned his bar stool so we could sit down. Nice! Ned is the editor of Sheeshead Bites, check it out here: Sheepshead Bites. It's Sheepshead Bay's only independent news blog. Travis has a blog as well with the great title of: My Friends Are Cooler Than Your Friends. He wrote up a post about myself and the 365 Bars site today, check it out here: 365 At My Friends Are Cooler Than Your Friends. Nice to meet you guys, maybe we'll find a bar in Sheepshead Bay before the crawl is over.

The bar and the specials in the mirrored wall.

Jerry and Sarah were whooping it up at the end of the bar.

Tricia and Megan enjoyed drinks while I did my bar crawl thing.

Bartender Jeff at work.

Here's the beer garden in the back. It was closing early since it was Tuesday.

We moved into the game room where we tried our hands at Skee-Ball.

Megan shoots and scores!

Here's Laura, Josh, Sylwia and Will in the back room. Hmm, what's that on their table?

We made our way back to the front of the bar where Sydney was enjoying a pizza. Hey, pizza, I almost forgot, it's free here!

The pizza oven is in the back of the bar.

Stephen is the master chef who sculpts and bakes every pie.

Okay, this batch is done, time for free pizza!

Woo and hoo! Thanks to Tricia and Megan for joining the crawl all the way from Bloomington, Illinois! Goodnight, everybody!

Review

I just cannot get my head wrapped around the fact that for every drink you order in this place you can have a free pizza. I asked Jeff the bartender the most pizzas he’s seen one person devour and he told me that one little guy once ate around seven of them in one night. They’re not huge, about six small slices per pizza, but you can get one free with every drink. Is it the best pizza I’ve ever had? No, but it’s free! Is it the worst pizza I’ve ever had? No, that doughy-distinction goes to Two Brothers pizza on 6th between 15th and 16th and their slices go for a buck apiece. Here you get a whole personal pizza for free, what a concept.

The bar itself is nice, there’s tables off to the side and a game room in the back with Skee-ball, a bowling game and a photo booth that doubles for a drunken make out oasis in the back of the bar. A beer garden is also located in the back with tables and you can smoke back there. There’s trivia on Wednesday night and the free pizza is available every hour the bar is open.

Free pizza. I almost hope I get laid off tonight from my stupid night job because I just found my nightly food kitchen if I do. Cheers!

Crocodile Lounge
325 E. 14th St. (Near First Ave.)
212-477-7747