Thursday, July 29th, 2010—Bar 200

Day 200—Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Puffy’s Tavern
Ding, ding, ding, the PayPal donation bell is ringing! Nick Beal who recommended yesterday’s bar and lost a loosely placed bet sent in a generous donation of 15 dollars and said in an email that it was: “To cover the bet and a little extra.” Thanks so much, Nick, the bet was a bit of a joke, but I appreciate the donation and look forward to having another drink with you on the bar crawl in the future.

Tonight’s a big night, the 200th motherfucking bar! I racked my brain on where to go and the problem is I’ve used up most of the iconic New York bars, like McSorley’s, Pete’s Tavern, Whitehorse, etc. I decided a fitting place for this night would just be a bar that’s just a bar. No beer pong, no DJ’s, no frat boys or girls, no hipsters, no Buck Hunter, no gimmicks, frills or bullshit, just a nice unpretentious bar to hang out in and celebrate the night. Well, these kinds of places are getting harder and harder to find. But I found one. It’s called Puffy’s Tavern and it looks like a nice old school joint, located in the Tribeca area. The bill themselves as “of the friendliest establishments you will find.” Let’s go see just how friendly they are.

Here we are, Puffy's Tavern in the heart of Tribeca.

Wow, nice, well worn bar.

And the ceiling is tin, you know this is the place for the 200th stop.

And Travis the bartender serves up an ice cold Red Stripe. Travis was a great bartender and I had a nice conversation with him with topics ranging from punk rock to writing to movies to the decay of our culture from the Jersey Shore people to Lindsay Lohan. Travis is the perfect bartender for this place. And he's also a graphic designer and artist. One of his talents is tattoo designs, so if you'd like a quote on a design, stop by Puffy's and discuss it with Travis.

Number 200! 165 to go.

Here's another look at the bar. I like the old school bar chairs.

Tables and a wooden banquette line the wall opposite the bar.

I like the art on the brick wall with the single illumination from the hanging bulb. It brings a nice bohemian flavor to the tavern.

A vintage checkerboard table goes along nicely with the mosaic tiled floor.

And it's a family affair night in Puffy's Tavern. Here's Travis with his brother Lionel, who was on the other side of the bar.

And to complete the picture, here's Travis and Lionel with their mom (I thought she was their sister) Tina. Tina is a personal chef specializing in vegetarian and therapeutic diets. She serves in Manhattan and Brooklyn and if you'd like more information, you can email her at: Tina Struble, Personal Chef.

Business Card Drop Box?

If I win you're all invited.

And here's the obligatory "Dan Smith Will Teach You Guitar" ad on the bulletin board. Hey, what's that drawing there?

It's a drawing of writer Nick Tosches by Travis. Nick stops by the bar occasionally and Travis did this fine portrait of him. Sorry for the fuzzy quality, but my camera's no good at close-up shots. My guess is that Nick would enjoy the fuzziness though.

There's a grade-A dart board in the back and the bar sponsors dart leagues.

I asked Travis for a special drink to commemorate the 200th stop of the 365 Bar Crawl and he mixed me up his original Bloody Mary.

Okay, this is the best and most unique Bloody Mary I've ever had. Lots of spices and heat and it's topped off with a shot of Guinness. Genius drink and a perfect way to cap off night 200.

A parting glance out the window before I leave and close out the 200th night. Cheers to Travis, his mom and brother and to all of you for following me on this journey! I appreciate you sticking with the 365 travelings! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Sometimes you just want to go to a bar. No frills, no chills, no daffodils. Puffy’s Tavern is that place. It’s a joint, a place to enjoy a cold drink and not have to shout out the order because the DJ is blaring some ironic ‘80’s song that is shredding your ear drums and frat boys and girls are drinking sugary shot bombs in between beer pong. Happy hour can be a little crazy in here, but outside of that it’s a chill, old school joint that’s been on the block for years, with friendly bartenders and local cliental. You may recognize the bar upon entering as its been used in numerous TV shows and movies including Law and Order and State of Grace among others.

Puffy’s has a full bar and serves some specialty drinks that they serve with their own unique twist including a Gin Limonata, Passion Fruit Lemonade, a Mojito and I can recommend Travis’ Bloody Mary with the Guinness topper. If your tastes run towards the sudsier side of the bar, there’s a decent selection of draft and bottled beer including: Bass Ale, Hoegaarden, Stella and Guinness on tap. Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams Lager, Heineken and Theakston's Old Peculiar are four of the twelve bottled beers behind the bar. There’s also a decent wine list and well drinks go for seven bucks a pop. The happy hour runs from 11:30am to 8:00pm with various drink specials during different hours.

From 11:30am to 5:00pm they serve a dozen different Italian sandwiches served on your choice of bakery fresh bread. Some of the sandwiches include: the Pavarotti which is salami, smoked mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, artichokes and sweet peppers, the Fellini which consists of sopressata, fresh mozzarella, hot peppers, arugula and the Americano which is a nice combination of smoked chicken, sliced vine tomato, arugula, mayonnaise. The sandwiches run between seven to ten bucks and are a meal unto itself. There’s also bar snacks such as boneless chicken wings, pizza, onion rings and jalapeño and cheddar cheese poppers.

Pull  up a stool and enjoy one of the friendliest establishments you’ll ever find. They didn’t lie in their boast!

Puffy’s Tavern
81 Hudson St. (Near Harrison St.)
212-227-3912