Friday, August 6th, 2010—Bar 208

Day 208—Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Langan's
Okay, my parents are in town and I’m meeting them for dinner tonight and for the next few evenings. So the bar crawl is going to move to a daytime shift. Today I’m going to Langan’s bar which is on the way to the way to my folks hotel. Langan’s is famous for being a watering hole for writers and editors from the NY Post, in particular, former notorious columnist Steve Dunleavy. Dunleavy was a legendary, heavy-drinking scribe for the NY Post and it was always rumored that many of his columns were phoned in from this bar. Robert Downey, Jr. based his role from Oliver Stone’s movie, "Natural Born Killers" on Dunleavy and the two of them hung out before the film was made. So let’s check out this joint in the afternoon.

Here we are in the cold light of the afternoon. Ouch, that sunshine is harsh!

Inside is a safe haven from the sunshine and there's plenty of stools available at the bar. It must be deadline time at the NY Post.

Eddie the bartender serves up an ice-cold Corona.

Top of the afternoon to you.

And speaking of the NY Post, here's today's edtion sitting at the bar. Former Mayor, Rudy Giuliani's daughter got busted for shoplifting. And the headline reads: "Rudy Daughter Bust." Come on, NY Post, that's the best you've got? This from the paper that penned the legendary, "Headless Body in Topless Bar?"

Okay, that's better, that's the NY Post I know and love!

And speaking of love, check out the tin ceiling in the joint. Nice!

AT the end of the bar they have a tribute to the retired hard-boozing, NY Post columnist Steve Dunleavy, who pretty much used this Irish Tavern as his office.

Here's some photos of Dunleavy. The headline reads, "Dunleavy is Glazed." I bet he was.

Here's a long shot of the wooden bar and stools.

Magic Hat is on tap!

And these frozen drinks are available. I had a margarita and it was very tasty and cold.

Here's the back dining room.

Some of the draft beers available.

Condiments!

As I gaze out the window and look at 47th Street, I realize I'm late to meet my parents!

And here we are at dinner. Maybe I shouldn't have had that ninth beer at Langan's. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Okay, I have to confess that I’ve overslept and my parents are coming over to my place at five o’clock this afternoon, so I have to get to a bar pronto. I don’t have time to write a review of Langan’s, so here’s what New York magazine has to say about the place:

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Profile
Ever since irascible-lovable Steve Dunleavy stumbled upon this Irish pub, it's been home away from home for New York Post journos—even Rupert Murdoch himself can be seen on occasion. The paper's columnists have been such regulars that Langan's has immortalized them, with a portrait of Dunleavy etched into one of the glass partitions and a corner featuring a photo of the late, great gossip Neal Travis.
Brunch

Sun, 11:30am–4pm; $17.95 prix-fixe, with complimentary drink

Live Music
Sat, 9pm–12:30am and Sun, noon–3pm, jazz

Pre-Theater Menu
Daily, 4pm–7:30pm; three courses, $29.95
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Okay, I’m off to this afternoon’s bar, sneeze you tomorrow. Cheers!


Langan's
150 W. 47th St. (Near Seventh Ave.)
212-869-5482

Monday, July 26th, 2010—Bar 197

Day 197—Sunday, July 25th, 2010
P.J. Clarke's
Okay, for those of you who just follow the crawl during the week, you should really check out yesterday’s post. It was a great night out and one of the best so far, here’s the link: Sunday’s post.

Seeing the film “Goodfellas” last night, put me in an old school New York frame of mind, so tonight I thought I’d go to the classic New York tavern, P.J. Clarke’s. It’s one of New York’s most well known bars and some of the former regulars include Frank Sinatra, Jackie O., Nat King Cole and Buddy Holly proposed to Maria Elena Santiago in here in 1958.

I found this great P.J. Clarke’s story from the actor Richard Harris online and here it is: “I adore the hamburgers at P.J. Clarke's. In my drinking days, it was my first stop from the airport. A fellow named Vinny used to be the bartender there, and when I told him I wanted the usual, he lined up six double vodkas. I told an interviewer that once, and he said, ‘That's a lot of bull, that's one of your exaggerated stories!’ I said, ‘call a taxi.’ We walked into P. J. Clarke's, I said, ‘Vinny, my usual.’ And he lined up six double vodkas.”

Ha ha ha! That’s great, I think I’ll stick to beer though and I think I see a cheeseburger in my future!

Okay, we're two blocks away, here we are at 53rd and 3rd. Cheers to Dee Dee Ramone who used to work this block.

There it is, it looks like it's the one after 909. Okay, I'm done with the song puns.

Here it is, the legendary P.J. Clarke's.

The bar's crowded as usual, but I spy a seat I can wiggle into.

And bartender Michael is quick on the draw with an ice cold beer.

Here's some of the draft beer available.

There's a big crowd in here considering it's Sunday night.

As you can see, there's an extensive list of bottled beers available.

Here's Jillian, the lovely hostess for the back dining room.

And here's the back dining room in all its red-checkered table cloth glory.

The raw bar stands opposite the bar.

The whiskey list.

Mark and Can were seated next to me at the bar and had a few suggestions for the bar crawl, I may try one of them tonight.

It's Sunday night and that means Sunday dinner at a bar. Here's my appetizer, homemade potato chips and baked blue cheese dip.

The condiments are set up which can only mean...

Cheeseburger! Bartender Justin serves up the Cadillac Burger.

It truly lives up to its name.

A tasty burger indeed!

A glance out of the window as I leave. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
P.J. Clarke’s is a New York institution. It’s open till four in the morning every day of the week and you’ll find a decent crowd of locals, tourists, business people and construction workers all enjoying the old school ambiance. If you’re lucky to score a stool at the front wooden bar, the bartenders will happily serve you up a beer or a drink that you can choose from one of the chalk board menus hanging up in the back wall of the bar. The bartenders wear white shirts and black ties and are quick with a drink and some of the friendliest servers in town.

P.J. Clarke’s has a full bar and a dining area in the back. The menu includes delicious appetizers such as: Homemade Potato Chips & Baked Blue Cheese Dip, Crisp Parmesan Tater Tots and ‘Hand Picked’ Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. There’s a raw bar that has offerings of, East & West Coast Oysters, Littleneck and Cherrystone Clams, Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, and a Raw Sampler Platter including four oysters, four jumbo shrimp, three littlenecks and three cherrystones. There’s a wide range of entrees including five choices of steak and daily specials, but take my advice and skip them and order the The Cadillac Burger which is smoked country bacon and American cheese and a perfectly cooked burger. Nat King Cole named it and you should eat it if you’re there. The name isn’t a lie.

P.J. Clarke's
915 Third Ave.  (@55th St.)
212-317-1616

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010—Bar 174

Day 174—Friday, July 2nd, 2010
Irish Times
Okay, it’s Friday night and as usual I’m really tired and feel pretty burned out. And, yes, I would like some ice with my whine. Anyway, as I’ve constantly moaned about since I started this 365 Bar Crawl, Fridays are impossible to do my usual thing where I go around and talk to people. The bar is crowded, most people are out in groups, so it’s tough to approach them and the biggest thing is by this time of the week I’m really fucking sick of talking to people! I just want to make like Marcel Marceau, drink my three drinks, take some photos and get the hell out of Dodge. Last week I used quotes from Frank Booth, Dennis Hopper’s great, creepy character in the movie “Blue Velvet” for photo captions and I was going to start using different movies every Friday. The only problem was I couldn’t find another character that worked as good as Frank did. And then I realized, what the fuck, just because I don’t talk to people doesn’t mean I can’t write captions. So the captions are back on Friday’s posts, I just won’t know anyone’s names. And they won’t know mine, sometimes that’s a good thing. Oh and we’re going to Irish Times because it’s about a four minute walk from where I work. Set your stopwatches, you’ll see.

See? Here we are. Okay, let's go in and get this over with...err...have a good time.

Hey, look at this! It's not very crowded at all in here! Plenty of seats at the bar.

And Rijo serves me up an ice cold beer before I even sit down. Looks like I can do this Friday in true Bar Crawl fashion. Hooray for me!

I joined a friendly group of people for a drink who were sitting nearby. From left: Steve, Lauren, me and Amanda.

The TV's and lit up booze bottles make for a nice bar setting.

Large, comfortable wooden booths line the walls opposite the bar.

The long and winding bar.

Some of the beers on draft.

The dining area in the front...

And in the back, plenty of seats in here.

And there's an upstairs.

Let's check it out.

A spacious area with a great view.

A bird's-eye-view of the bar, part one...

And part two.

And something I haven't done for awhile, the obligatory bathroom mirror shot. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Okay, this is a good bar in a bit of a no-man’s land in Manhattan. If you’re going to an event at Madison Square Garden or want a quick drink or three before taking your train back to Jersey, you can’t get much closer than this. There’s always a good chance at getting a seat at the long and winding high polished wooden bar. There’s tables in the front and back for dining and drinking and a spacious seating area upstairs. Sports programs are projected from all of the 15 screens scattered throughout the bar.

There’s a decent selection of bottled beer and a very large selection of brews on tap including: Guinness, Steinlager, Palm Amber Ale and Boston Lager. Irish Times has a large selection of food including such Irish staples as: Irish Beef Stew, Shepherd's Pie, Fish And Chips and an Irish Breakfast that has grilled Irish bacon, sausage, pudding, tomato, eggs and served with french fries. They also have three varieties of burgers and a large selection of sandwiches and salads. There’s nightly drink specials and Happy Hour runs Monday through Friday offering six dollar martinis and cosmos, four buck beers and five dollar well drinks and shots.

Stop by on a Friday night, there’s plenty of seats. For now.

Irish Times
254 West 31st St. (Near 8th Ave.)
212-216-9355