Friday, February 26th, 2010—Bar 47

Day 47—Thursday, February 25th
Trailer Park Lounge

You’d think a trailer park in Manhattan would be as hard to find as a drive-in movie, but there’s one on 23rd street and it’s loaded with booze, kitsch and mountains of kaboodle. The Trailer Park Lounge is an ode to white-trash, tin can dwelling and a slice of our culture that’s fine with French-kissing their younger sister. So put on your best trucker hat and pack a wad of chewin’ tobacky in your jaw and let’s head over to 23rd street and the Trailer Park Lounge!

Another fucking snowstorm! Oh well, at least it's only seven blocks away.

And here we are, the Trailer Park Lounge. Let's get inside away from this goddamn mess outside!

Wow, a nice crowd in spite of the weather out there.

Chris the bartender serves me up my first Pabst of the evening. Drunk chicks dig him!

Now it's time for my patented point at the Pabst can pose. Cheers!

The beer is chilled in this lovely bathtub.

One of the prized possesion's in the bar is the Penthouse X-rated tape of Tonya Harding's wedding night.

A sampling of some of the vintage kitsch on display.

Mead was sitting next to me at the bar. He's a regular here and pointed out a couple of things to me, like...

The pregnant woman atop the bar who's nursing a Pabst and a cigarette. And dig those pink flamingo slippers!

Mead also pointed out this hidden gem, an Elvis Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It's got a layer of banana on underneath the peanut butter.

These two fellows, both named Chris are enjoying some of the comfort food at Trailer Park Lounge.

You gotta love the hula dancer lamp! I'd like to take all this stuff home to my apartment!

The Elvis lamp really lights up the tiki bar.

Megan and Soyoung were relaxing in the booth at the front room of the bar.

Here's the back room of the bar.

And seated back there was Stephanie and Cristina. I call this shot, "Two Women and a Tater Tot."

The walls are jam-packed with fun signage and vintage knick-knacks.

Tinsel and yard lamps adorn the ceiling.

I'm going to let the Elvis lamp have the last word. "Goodnight everybody...and thank ya, thank ya very much!" Okay, that's all, Elvis has left the trailer park.

Review

Trailer Park Lounge is a combination trailer, truck stop, tiki bar and a vintage thrift shop all rolled up into one fun package. The decor is equal parts Elvis and pink flamingo style with a dash of Hee Haw thrown in for good measure. One wall is an actual side of a trailer, the bar is done up tiki style and there’s plenty of booths and lawn chairs strewn about the joint to get comfortable in.

There’s a daily Happy Hour featuring three dollar cans of beer and drafts and five dollar margaritas. You get one free mug of beer with a sandwich between noon and 4 pm, with subsequent drinks charged at Happy Hour prices. Monday and Tuesday the Trailer Park Lounge features a $7.49 burger and beer special all night long. In additon to the burgers, you can munch on sloppy joe’s, BLT’s, mac and cheese and tater tots. For dessert you can satisfy your sweet tooth with an authentic Moon Pie.

The margarita is their signature drink and there are four other specialty cocktails in addition to a full bar. Bottled beers include Budweiser, Heinekin and Corona. Pabst and Rheingold are available in cans and there’s Rolling Rock, Miller Lite and Sam Adams on draft.

They also sell Trailer Park t-shirts and if you fill one out like the woman below, let me know the next time you’re going to be at the bar and the drinks will be on me.

Trailer Park Lounge
271 W 23rd St. (between Seventh and Eighth Ave.)
212-463-8000