Tuesday, October 12th, 2010—Bar 275

Day 275—Monday, October 11th, 2010
Nancy Whiskey Pub
Okay, first off, let me whine a little bit. As I’ve said before, I don’t blog about my job because I don’t feel like getting dooced  in this shitty economy of ours, but I will let you in on one fact: I’m working the dayshift for two weeks. And I fucking HATE the dayshift. I hate morning, I hate the sunshine, I hate morning people and I don’t drink coffee. I’ve worked a nightshift job since 1986 and working the dayshift really fucks with my system. Plus if there’s a lot of work, I have to work the nightshift also. So I could be putting in some twelve hour plus days. So be prepared for some rough bar-crawling ahead!

Okay, enough whining and on with the crawl. About a month ago, jco who’s a commentator over at the fine Half Empty Glass blog, run and written by Fat Al and his blogging buddy, anonymous271 suggested I check out the Nancy Whiskey Pub in my travels and I made a note to check it out. Well last week, my bar-crawling co-pilot, 365 commentator Al Rizo suggested the same place, and as we all know Al’s never picked a bad spot. So it’s off to the Nancy Whiskey Pub to drown my daytime workshift sorrows.

And we're here, time for beer!

Wow, looks great in here! A fine suggestion from jco and Al.

And it just gets better as the lovely, fun and friendly bartender Kat serves up a beer.

The bar recently made the cover of the Village Voice as one of the top 10 dive bars in Manhattan. Rumor has it that they used models for the cover. Now you know these broads have never paid for a drink, much less poured one! Come on Village Voice, you've got a fine bartender like Kat behind the bar and you use models for the cover? For shame, for shame!

Lawrence and Matt were enjoying some brews at the end of the bar. Lawrence tends bar at Peter McManus Cafe, which was the 17th bar on this bar crawl.

And of course there's a tin ceiling above.

Colored lights and a string of glowing pumpkins add to the festive spirit of the bar.

A shot of the center of the bar.

This sign made me think of Johnny Rotten's autobiography.

The front window has a nice view of Sixth Avenue.

A long-shot of the wooden bar.

Here's Lauren and Sarah who were hanging out by the front window.

Kat plays her tambourine as the jukebox wails "Sympathy For The Devil" by the Rolling Stones.

The Nancy Whiskey Pub houses New York's only shuffleboard table.

Here's Larry getting blinded by my flash as he takes a shot at the table.

The bar proudly hangs a 9/11 Flag in the corner. The Nancy Whiskey Pub was one of two bars that stayed open directly after September 11th. And they stayed open round the clock for weeks, feeding and pouring drinks for cops and firefighters on the job.

Here's a painting featuring every regular in the bar by artist Robert Cenedella. Check out more of Robert Cenedella's work here: Robert Cenedella Gallery.

And speaking of regulars, here's Erick, one of the shuffleboard enthusiasts at the bar.

And here's Erick and his son featured in Robert Cenedella's "regulars" painting.

Here's a shot from the opposite end of the bar.

I was going to leave, seeing as I have to get up early in the morning, but it was raining like crazy...

So what the hell, let's have another beer and I'll be sorry in the morning. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
The Nancy Whiskey pub has been a popular neighborhood watering hole since 1967. As they say on their website, they were here before it was Tribeca. The bar has a cozy, inviting atmosphere with friendly bartenders and local patrons. The Village Voice may have declared it one of Manhattan’s top ten dive bars, but owner, Billy Wall will humbly tell you it’s just a “gin joint.” In addition to being a fine and inexpensive drinking establishment, the Nancy Whiskey Pub is home to Manhattan’s only bank shuffleboard table. The game gets a lot of action during week and on Saturday and Sunday nights they have tournament play going on.

The bar is well stocked and there’s a half a dozen beers on draft and eight selections of bottled beer including: Amstel, Corona, Heineken and Magner’s Cider. Happy hour runs from 4pm to 7pm, Monday through Thursday with Bud and Bud Lite pints and bottles going for $2.50 a pop. Monday through Thursday you can also get ten buck pitchers of Bud, Bud Lite and St. Pauli Girl from 5pm to closing.

Some of the pub grub on the menu includes: Burgers, chicken wings, a chicken cutlet sandwich and fried shrimp and chicken baskets. Saturday afternoon’s from noon to five there’s Nancy’s College Football Special which offer two one-half-pound burgers deluxe along with a picher of Bud or Bud Lite for fifteen bucks. Sunday’s feature’s an NFL Sunday Brunch from noon to 4pm.

Nancy Whiskey Pub
1 Lispenard St. (@West Broadway)
212-226-9943
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Bonus Photo!
The other day when I posted the Circa Tabac post, Gidget made a comment about when she was a cigarette girl. I asked her to send in a picture and here she is (on the right, cute as a smoking button! Thanks for sending that in Gidget! And if you haven’t heard her show on Woody Radio, you’re missing out on great music and a lot of fun. Gidget’s the coolest DJ in the world and you need to check out her show. It’s simple and free, just go to the Woody Radio site and check out her schedule. Click here and check out Gidget’s schedule: Woody Radio.