365 Bars - A Virtual Bar Crawl

Entries in Jim Brady's (1)

Thursday

Dec302010

Thursday, December 30th, 2010—Bar 354

Day 354—Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
Jim Brady’s Restaurant
Okay, I’m back in the bar-crawling saddle here in New York. Yesterday I sent in some shots of LaGuardia airport to the fine blog, EV Grieve and he published them here. That led to a bit of an email exchange which resulted in EV Grieve requesting that I check out Jim Brady’s bar and restaurant in the Financial District. I checked out the bar’s website and it looks perfect. And so now, it’s out to the snow we go. Ho, ho, ho.

Okay, once again through the magic of the internet you're spared a subway ride that included me hopping on an uptown 4 train by mistake which sent me to Grand Central Station, so I had to double back and get on a downtown train which took me to the financial district, which I don't know too well. After a half an hour of wandering around, asking directions, I finally found it. Jim Brady's! Let's go inside, I need a drink or four after that journey.

Okay, this looks well-worth the effort to get here, let's snag a seat at the bar.

Joe the friendly bartender serves up a beer. This guy is a quintessential bartender. He knows everyone's names, brings you a beer just as you need one and keeps the bar jumping. There's a lot of regulars here and they all said the same thing, "We come here because of Joe." Cheers to you, Joe!

A view from my perch at the bar.

Adam was seated next to me. He's a firefighter from Washington, DC and this is his first time in New York City. He was waiting for his friend Casie to show up at the bar. Welcome to New York Adam!

Ornate brass light fixtures hover over and illuminate the bar.

A painting of W.C. Fields and Mae West hang behind the bar.

Joe gave me this pamphlet of the St. Baldrick's cancer fundraiser that was founded at Jim Brady's. It's the largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research. Check it out further here: St. Baldrick's.

You gotta love the vintage cash register behind the bar.

These guys are all regulars at Jim Brady's. From the left: Ivan, Marc, J.K. and Nash. Cheers, guys!

A shot of the drinks at the bar all lined up like pretty maids all in a row.

In June, 2009 Elvis Costello played a surprise gig here and Joe showed me a picture from it. You can read more about the night here: Elvis Costello at Jim Brady's.

The front of the restaurant features this cozy, square dining nook with red leather banquettes and tables.

One of the walls is a tribute to some of the regulars here who were killed in the World Trade Center on September 11th. Sadly a lot of the bars in this area lost regulars on that day. R.I.P.

Here's the main dining room which sits just opposite the bar.

This painting was done exclusively for the bar over 30 years ago and depicts not only "Diamond Jim" Brady, but all of the people in the painting are people who worked there at the time.

Here's "Diamond Jim" in the painting, getting his drink refilled.

And here's the two owners of Jim Brady's in the painting.

Meanwhile, back at the bar, Joe is in mid-conversation with some patrons. Let's go see who they are.

It's Lacey, Ivan (this guy works both ends of the bar!) and Savage. They informed me it was Lacey night, all night long. I wasn't about to argue.

Frank was enjoying some chicken fingers at the bar. He works upstairs, so you know he's a regular.

And look who showed up at the other end of the bar, Adam's friend Casie. The night has now come full circle.

And so it's time for parting shots. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
The bar/restaurant is named after James Buchanan Brady, a.k.a. “Diamond Jim” Brady. “Diamond JIm” was a wealthy man purported to have a voracious appetite for food and pleasure and was a real man about town in New York at the turn of the century. Jim Brady’s restaurant mirrors the man’s philosophy and has been in operation since 1976. The actual bar itself has plenty of history behind it, since it was imported from the 1960’s hotspot, The Stork Club. The patrons and bartenders are friendly and while this line is over used in bar reviews, it’s a genuine “Cheers” atmosphere in here. Everybody may not know your name when you come in, but they will before you leave. Some may not remember it the next day, but hey, what are you going to do?

There’s a full bar here with a good selection of bottled and draft beers and since “Diamond Jim” was known for his unending appetite, there’s plenty to choose from on the menu. The specialties of the kitchen are: Old Fashioned Shepherd’s Pie, Home Style Chicken Pot Pie and Sausages and Mash with onions and gravy. In addition there’s also burgers, steak sandwiches, seafood and four styles of pasta available.

If Diamond Jim were alive, you know he’d be a regular at this joint. Cheers and thanks to EV Grieve for a great suggestion!

Jim Brady’s Restaurant
75 Maiden Ln.
212-425-1300

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Bonus Photos from Tim Carey!
Last week when I was in town I met with Tim and Colleen Carey who joined me on the bar crawl way back in May of this year. We were joined by our friend Bob Hurst. The three of us used to goof off and avoid doing anything constructive work at Fleming Potter together in Peoria. It was a nice reunion and here’s a couple pictures that Tim sent me from the evening. (And remember, get a Butch’s pizza or ten for your New Year’s Eve party.)