Friday, July 9th, 2010—Bar 180

Day 180—Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Rodeo Bar
The blistering heat wave that hit New York has lightened up a bit, it “only” got up to 89 degrees today. All this heat has made me thirsty for a good margarita and I’ve been told they serve up decent ones at a bar called the Rodeo Bar on 27th and 3rd. It’s close enough to walk to and there’s live music every night of the week. So what the fuck? Let’s go!

Lots of neon here at the Rodeo Bar.

It's crowded but I see a little slice of the bar that I'm going to slide into and order a margarita.

And the friendly and super-cute bartender Amy Jo is more than happy to serve one up.

Here's a view from the end of the bar.

Peanuts!

(Which can only lead to) Shells on the floor!

I didn't write down all their names, so we'll just refer to this group as the Rodeo Bar Party People.

And here I am with the aforementioned Party People.

There's neon on the outside and neon on the inside at this roadhouse.

Some of the drink specials available.

Smile, Chris and Steph, you're on 365 camera!

The antler chandelier hangs over the bar.

Texas license plates cover the top of the long wooden bar in the front room.

There's tables for dining and drinking off to the side of the bar and in the back.

Ally and Alex were seated next to me at the bar and I found out they had just moved to New York and this was their first night. Welcome to the city ladies, you're a beautiful and welcome addition!

Amy Jo came round from the bar to pose with Ally and Alex.

The bar has an upstairs lounge area.

And here it is, a comfortable little hideaway.

Here's the room off from the bar where bands play seven nights a week.

And there's another bar in this room done up in true truck stop style.

The Fustics were onstage and they were a great band. They played songs ranging from Johnny Cash, to the Allman Brothers to The Band. Check them out on MySpace here: The Fustics.

And downstairs in the basement, there's ATM service for Joey D. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
When you step into the Rodeo Bar, you leave Manhattan and enter a Honky Tonk atmosphere that would do Texas proud. The atmosphere is pure roadhouse, from the peanut shells on the wooden floor to the indoor neon lights to the bar which is made up of Texas license plates. The bartenders are pretty and friendly and the crowd is a mix of locals and tourists checking out a slice of country in the big city. There’s live music, seven nights a week with no cover charge and the band plays in a separate room allowing for easy conversation in the front bar.

There’s a full bar with an impressive amount of bottled beers and several varieties of margaritas to quench your thirst. The kitchen is open late and the flavors here vary from Mexican, southwestern, barbecue, southern and soul food. It’s a large menu with an impressive appetizer list, a good variety of burgers, sandwiches, fajitas and slow-cooked Texas barbecue. If you’re really hungry try the 24 ounce Rodeo steak and let your inner Elvis loose by topping it off with the Fat Elvis dessert which is a deep fried banana chimichanga with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. There’s drink specials during the Happy Hour which runs from Monday through Saturday, 4pm to 9pm. There’s also a late night Happy Hour, midnight to 2am on Monday through Wednesday. Yeeha!

Rodeo Bar
375 Third Ave. (@27th St.)
212-683-6500