Wednesday, September 8th, 2010—Bar 241

Day 241—Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Mona's
Alright, the party’s over. The three day weekend is done, so I’ve decided to get back to the basics of bar-crawling. 365 commentator, Al Rizo suggested I go to Mona’s in the East Village and he hasn’t steered me wrong so far, so that’s tonight’s destination. It’s an old-school Irish bar and I read online that on Tuesday’s they have live music. So let’s go check out Mona’s.

There's no sign outside, but the neon gives it away, here we are at Mona's.

It's dark inside and there's a nice, weathered, wooden bar to sit at.

Bartender Aidan cheerfully serves up a can of Pabst.

Some of the lit up bottles behind the bar.

There's a stack of the daily papers for perusal at the bar.

Matt and Min were seated nearby at the end of the bar. Matt suggested I try a Guinness and said it was the best in town. So I ordered one.

And it was expertly poured, complete with a shamrock on top. Good call, Matt!

And of course this leads to the time-worn tradition of the "Wearin' of the Guinness."

There was a Japanese Zombie bikini movie queued up on the TV. Now that's my kind of TV!

There's a large choice of bottled beer available and none of it is over five bucks.

There's vintage photos on the wall. Here's one of Bob Dylan.

And here's a fuzzy photo of The Band.

Thursday's there's three buck Ginness all day and night. Such a deal!

Sam, Laurence and Alex are in town visiting from London, England.

Aaron and Christian were there to enjoy the live jazz music featured on Tuesday nights.

There's a pool table in the back room.

And it turns out our friends from London were making the most of it. Sorry for blinding you with this shot!

Here's Sammy, Aleksandra and Ziga enjoying drinks at a table in the back room.

And here's the house jazz band, Mona's Hot Four. Hey, I only count three.

Oh, here's number four. Check out their website here: Mona's Hot Four.

A shot of the bar over the bass players shoulders.

On my way out, I bought a CD from Gordon the piano player.

As I headed home I stumbled upon a familiar sight. Otto's Shrunken Head, bar number one on the crawl. I had to stop in for old-times-sake.

Deja view! The place hasn't changed a bit since January.

Lani wasn't working, but Nell told me she'd send my regards.

Back to the future. Cheers and goodnight, everybody!

Review
You won’t find a sign outside saying “Mona’s”, you just need to know where to go. And most people in the neighborhood know the spot to go to is where there’s neon signs in the window and cheap drinks inside. Mona’s has been on the block forever and is about as old-school as it gets. There’s a long wooden bar in the front room with stools and a railing opposite. Some vintage black and white photos decorate the walls and movies play on the TV hanging discreetly over the far end of the bar. There’s a pool table in the back room along with a jukebox stocked with diverse artists such as: Johnny Thunders, Nina Simone, Television, The Damned, The Beatles and The Velvet Underground.

There’s a large selection of bottled beers including: Red Stripe, Negra Modela, Corona and Sierra Nevada. Cans of Pabst can be had for $2.50 and on Thursday you can get three dollar pints of expertly poured Guinness all day and all of the night.

Mona’s is a friendly neighborhood joint that’s been on the block for years. And there’s live jazz every Tuesday featuring the in-house band, Mona’s Hot Four.

Mona's
224 Ave. B (Near 13th St.)
212-353-3780

Bonus Photos!

365 commentator and Aussie chef Tim Clack took photos in his back yard of an Australian Stubby. He explains in the captions below.
Bonus great Aussie invention - The stubby holder.
This is actually a Schooner holder for gents who enjoy a game of Lawn Bowls.
To stop beer spilling onto the bowling green, some absolute legend has invented this remarkable tool. Amazing.