Saturday, April 3rd, 2010—Bar 83

Day 83—Friday, April 2nd
12:31 Bar

Okay, I’ve written about this before, but for me, Friday and Saturday nights are the worst nights known to man and woman to go to a bar, especially in New York. It’s crowded, loud, hard to get a drink and if you’re going out late like I do, it’s filled with drunken happy hour idiots that should’ve left hours ago. I thought I had fixed the situation somewhat by going to hotel bars on Saturday nights, if I had no other plans. But that still left Friday. So now I’ve decided to shift the hotel night to Friday and I have a brand new Saturday theme to debut tomorrow. What’s the new Saturday theme? Well, you’ll have to wait and see, because we’ve got a hotel bar to go to for now.

I found a bar that’s fairly closeby where I work called the 12:31 bar in the Hotel Chandler. The name comes from its location: 12 E. 31st St. From what I read it’s a cozy little bar that doesn’t get too crowded, so it sounds perfect. Let’s go see if it is.

Here it is, the 12:31 at the Hotel Chandler.

Friday night and plenty of seats at the bar, that's what I like to see!

The friendly bartender Shimul serves up a bottle of Original Sin cider.

And here I sample the cider. Note to self: don't ever drink this cider again! I switched to Amstel Light after I drained this one, a little too sweet for my tastes.

Hey there's someone else at the end of the bar.

It's Marco and Veronika who were enjoying drinks and bar snacks. Hey, where's my snacks?

They're right here, free bar snacks! Woo and hoo!

Behind the bar are banquettes and tables to relax and enjoy your drinks.

Which is exactly what Daniel and Catalina were doing. Daniel was visiting from Columbia and Catalina is from Venezuela. Welcome to New York and cheers!

The blue lighting, dark wooden walls and paintings make for an elegant surrounding in the bar.

The bar in all its glory.

Here's LIam, who just got in from London. He smartly made a pit stop at the bar after unpacking.

Obligatory bathroom mirror shot! Goodnight everybody!

Review

The 12:31 bar is a cozy, little hideaway located in the Hotel Chandler on E. 31st St. It’s an intimate and elegant atmosphere with the space being about as large as two and a half New York studio apartments. The blue lighting and dark wood walls set the mood. The patrons are a fun mix of friendly tourists staying at the hotel and if you’re a local like me, it’s fun to recommend different spots and discuss the city with them. The crowd is a bit more local from six to nine when the after-work crowd stops by.

12:31 has a generous six hour Happy Hour Monday through Friday featuring three dollar beers, five buck house wines and drinks ranging from six to eight dollars. The bar features a few speciality cocktails including: a Caramel Appletini, a Pink Floyd inspired drink called, Comfortably Numb and Long Island Iced Tea. They also offer standard bar fare on the menu featuring: Mozzerlla Sticks, Chicken Fingers, Cheese Fries and a Cuban Sandwich. There’s a large screen TV and rumor has it that ocassionally belly dancers are brought in for entertainment.

The bar has a laid back atmosphere where you can usually snag a seat at the bar, even on a Friday night, which in my book is a good thing.

12:31 Bar
12 E. 31st St. (@ Madison Ave.)
646-218-4422

April, 2nd 2010—Bar 82

Day 82—Thursday, April 1st
Galway Hooker

Last night I met Peter Maloney at the Pine Tree Lodge. Peter was sitting next to me with his friend Kevin at the bar and they were fine bar neighbors to tip a few back with.

Kevin and Peter from the Pine Tree Lodge.

They were both encouraging and supportive of the 365 day bar crawl and today Peter has donated twenty bucks with this stated purpose: “Good luck on your journey Marty and come back to The Lodge anytime!!” Thanks a lot, Peter, that’s very generous of you and when we meet next I’ll buy you one back. Cheers, my friend!

Mike “Sully” Sullivan was a legendary barowner in my hometown of Peoria. I found out that he died a couple days ago after a battle with cancer. Writer Phil Luciano wrote a great tribute to him in the Peoria Journal Star and you can read it here: Raise Your Glass To Sully’s Spirited Life.

Mike "Sully" Sullivan

Sully was a great guy who loved to talk, drink and smoke and he was a great barkeeper. Back in my reckless youth when I was living in an Animal House type of pad with my friends Moon and Chris, we used to go to Sully’s river-front bar. Now back in those days we were...um...how can I put this in a subtle way...uhh...we were out of our fucking gourds on booze and other things I won’t mention because Moon and Chris have respectable jobs these days. Someday I’ve got to try and find one of those. Anyway, one thing we drank a lot of back in those crazy-ass days was straight gin. We would get wild-eyed nuts on gin (and the aforementioned, “other things”) and then cause all kinds of trouble. One time Chris and I turned everything in our shambles of a house upside down and were seriously considering hanging meat from the ceiling. I don’t know why, it was just one of those nights. We didn’t have a lot of money for bars back then, but when we did, 9 times out of 10 we would get thrown out for doing something crazy. There was a bar called The Gazebo which banned me for life. Apparently they didn’t like the way I trashed their DJ booth.

Anyway, this is all leading up to Sully and his river-front bar. This was a popular place and there was always a lot of people in there. For some reason whenever we would buy a shot of gin, we’d throw the empty shot glass at a wall and try to break it. Naturally this didn’t please bar owner Sully and you’d assume he would’ve thrown us out like every other tavern in Peoria had done. But Sully was a great bar man and figured out a solution: Plastic shot glasses. That’s right, he instructed his bartenders that we were to be served our shots in plastic shot glasses he had gotten, rather than throw us out of his tavern. We thought this was so funny we stopped causing trouble in there out of respect for Sully. The one barkeep that refused to throw us out!

So tonight I pay tribute to Sully by heading out to an Irish bar and having a Guinness or six in his honor. To Sully!

The Galway Hooker, Sully would've liked this Irish joint.

Gary and Zack were watching the door. I knew I had to behave in here or these two would toss me out on my ear!

It's really nice in here, but the music is playing loud. I'll just take photos, no way to do a meet and greet tonight, which is somewhat fitting, seeing as it's a tribute to Sully.

Natathaniel serves up the first Guinness of the evening.

To Sully. The one tavern owner who never tossed me out.

It's a crowded night at the Galway Hooker.

Comfortable banquettes and sailing pictures line the walls opposite the bar.

The front of the bar is decked out like a ship of booze.

The bar goes on for quite a stretch, making for ample seating for all those who enter the Galway Hooker.

Gavin is the other bartender on duty. Cheers to Gavin!

The back room has tables, chairs and more sailing portraits.

Just a few of the many drafts to be had at the Galway Hooker.

I almost forgot there's a second floor here too.

And it's just as packed up here as well.

Here's a bird's eye view of the first floor bar. Sully would've loved the joint!

To Sully! (Normally I would never ask for anyone to leave a comment here. I appreciate those that do, but I also appreciate those that want to be a silent reader and don't feel like leaving a comment. But today, in honor of Sully, if you could just leave a simple comment saying, "To Sully," below in the comments section, it would be greatly appreciated as a tribute to the man who never tossed me out of his tavern. Thanks.)

Review

To the uneducated, (like me) the name sounds like an Irish prostiture, but in actuality a Galway Hooker is an Irish sailing boat used in Galway Bay off the coast of Ireland. Size definitely matters to this Hooker, because the bar is huge. It’s two floors and has over 10,000 square feet in it to knock back a perfectly pouted pint of Guinness. The walls are dark and covered in sailing photos and maps of Ireland, the bar is huge and the patrons and bartenders are friendly. There’s plenty of room to have a seat at the bar as it stretches the entire length of the large quarters on the first floor. And if that’s not enough there’s another full bar on the second floor.

There’s a vast selection of beers to be had here, 30 brands of bottled beer and 30 drafts are available to conquer the thirstiest of thirsts. The Happy Hour runs from 3 to 7 pm Monday through Friday with five buck beers, house liquor and wine. Some of the house cocktails include The Galway Buzz, a Lychee Martini and The Irish Hooker. Check the events page on their website for a live music schedule. They have a full menu with lunch, weekend brunch and entrees including: Irish Beef Stew, Bangers and Mash, Shepherds Pie and an All Day Irish Breakfast. And there’s 14 plasma TV’s for your sports viewing pleasure.

Galway Hooker
7 E. 36th St. (Between Fifth & Madison Ave.)
212-725-2353

April 1st, 2010—Bar 81

Day 81—Wednesday, March 31st
Pine Tree Lodge

Ding, ding, ding! The donation bell rang twice today!

First off an old friend of mine, Rick Halberg sent me ten bucks via PayPal and his stated purpose was: So Marty doesn't go broke.” Thanks Rick, this will help! Rick’s a writer and is working on a rock ‘n’ roll book that hopefully will be out before my bar crawl is over so I can publicize it here. Thanks Rick!

And secondly, a new friend of mine, Kim Thury, sent me twenty bucks via PayPal with this stated purpose: “For putting up with Fitzy's ramblings & I'll also make you a mean Bloody Mary when you visit Kim's Place in SDak!” We all know my new Australian mate Fitzy though his great comments here and Kim owns her own bar in South Dakota that I’m hoping to visit when Fitzy next visits Kim. Thanks a lot Kim, I appreciate it greatly and I hope to be able to make you bar part of the crawl!

And speaking of donations, remember David Brooks, one of my Australian mates who sent in a donation? Well, he’s been threatening to send in a picture drinking a beer at one of his Australian bars and he finally did it.

Cheers David and thanks for the past donation!

Okay, on to tonight's bar. There’s a lot of campy bars in Manhattan but only one camp bar that I know of and that would be the Pine Tree Lodge. I just found it while searching the internet and it’s a bar that is decorated in summer camp style. Now that it’s starting to get warmer, I’m in a summer mood, so I’ve picked the Pine Tree as tonight’s watering hole, that probably comes complete with a life preserver. Grab some Raid and let’s go.

Are you ready for the summer? The Pine Tree Lodge in all its glory.
It looks cool in here.

They not only have two for one drinks in here, they have pretty two for one bartenders! From left: Dominika and Ewa.

I've heard of a deer caught in the headlights but this one is caught in the Christmas lights.

Okay, I'm done with the chocolate martini's for now, it's back to the Bud for me!

Seated next to me at the bar were Peter and Kevin who are regulars at Pine Tree Lodge. Cheers, guys!

It's a festive and campy atmosphere at the bar.

Margaret and Krissy were enjoying drinks and good times at the bar.

Oh deer, look at this!

In addition to the front bar there's two back rooms. There's this comfortable lounge-like room in the back...

And off to the side is this room with bookcases and more campy kitsch.

This couple were enjoying drinks in the back room.

They're Kait and James. James is starting his own website and I encourage you to check it out. He just quit his corporate job and plans on traveling the world and is going to document it on his website here: Roam Experiment. Good luck on your travelings, James, we'll all be watching!

Outside of the bar is a large patio where you can enjoy your drinks and smoke! Mayor Bloomberg be damned!

Back inside Ryan, Angie, Michelle and Gary were partying and picking the deer's nose in the back room. As good of a time as any to say, "Goodnight everybody!"

Review

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh...here I am at...Pine Tree Lodge. Okay, that doesn’t rhyme, but Pine Tree lodge is definitely the place to bring out your inner Allen Sherman (Google him kids, my age is showing with that reference!) I would say it’s also the place to bring out your inner tube, but they’ve done that arleady at this campy camp themed bar in the Kips Bay area of Manhattan. The bar is filled with life preservers, festive lighting, deer heads and book cases and is one of the most unique bars in the area. The bartendeers are friendly and the patrons treat you like a fellow camper.

There’s a rugged wooden bar with a good selection of decently priced bottled and draft beers. Happy Camper Hour runs for a full five hours from 5 pm to 10 pm Monday through Friday with two for one domestic drafts and well drinks. Here’s a picture of the bottled beers available:

There’s a good selection of draft beers available as well including: Sam Adams, Blue Moon, Bud Light and Guinness. There’s no kitchen at the bar, but they have a lot of take out menus and you can order in from the bar. Stop by on Wednesday and Saturday and say hi to Ewa the friendly and attractive bartender. She’ll make you feel right at home.

Enjoy Pine Tree Lodge, just make sure no one short sheets your bar stool.

Pine Tree Lodge
326 E. 35th St. (Near 2nd Ave.)
212-481-5490