Wednesday, March 14th, 2010—Bar 94

Day 94—Tuesday, April 13th
Cinema Cafe
Alright, tonight I hope you’re in a movie frame of mind, because the name of the place we’re going to is, Cinema Cafe. I have two good reasons for this: 1.) I walked by it the other night and it looked cool because silent movies were playing on the walls and I thought it would be something different for the 365 Crawl. 2.) Like a dumbfuck I left my bag at Bar XII last night and I have to pick it up. Cinema Cafe is right next door, so I can kill two birds with one stone. Okay, let’s hit the road before someone from PETA reads that last sentence and comes after us with buckets of paint or something.

First stop is back to Bar XII where I left my bag last night. I called and they said they had it.

And here's Alex with the bag he retirieved from last night. Thanks Alex! And for those of you still wondering, he verified he wasn't giving me the finger in last night's photo. Just a slip of the finger. Thanks again for saving the bag, Alex!

Okay, it's just a hop and a skip next door to the Cinema Cafe.

They have a nice little intimate bar inside.

Sammy the bartender serves up an ice cold Corona.

And there's free popcorn at the bar! Cheers!

The front room has tables and a nice view of Third and 34th streets.

Silent movies are projected continuously on the back wall throughout the night.

Jared and Tara were enjoying sangrias and the silent movies in the back room.

Lions and Tigers and Beers...oh my!

Patrick is the manager and a hospitable host. He's also shopping an independent movie he produced.

There's really cool movie prints on the walls, here's Julia Roberts and Al Pacino.

You talkin' to me?

The Marx Brothers, my heroes and an early inspiration.

Morgan's a writer and a teacher who came in for a nightcap.

And to cap the night off, Patrick bought us all a shot on the house. Cheers and goodnight everybody!

Review
Okay, this place is officially a cafe, but there’s a bar in there so it qualifies for the 365 Crawl. This is a unique little hideaway in the Murray Hill area of Manhattan. There’s an intimate bar with friendly bartenders and tables in the front and back for dining. Silent movies are projected on the back wall and some of the features include The Three Stooges, Charlie Chaplin, Godzilla movies and Lawrence of Arabia. Vintage movie pictures and posters decorate the walls and of course there’s free popcorn at the bar.

There’s a full bar featuring bottled beer, a large wine list and signature Cinematinis including: Lemon Sorbet Drop, Lychee- Tini, Strawberry- Mint Gin Tini and a Blue Raspberry Cosmo. The menu is massive. They have a full breakfast and lunch menu, plus a brunch menu as well. The dinner menu offers up specialty pizza, sliders, sandwiches and dim sum. Some of the entrees include: Miso Glazed Scottish Salmon, Braised Beef Short Rib, Chicken Pot Pie and Black Pepper Seared Ahi Tuna Salad. Happy Hour runs from 4 to 7 pm Monday through Friday featuring five dollar cinematinis and sangria. The food is also five bucks during Happy Hour and you can feast on tapas, pizza and five different varieties of sliders.

There are two other Cinema Cafes owned by the same company on 45th St. and 70th St. So, yeah, it’s a chain, but a local chain so it’s all good. Lights, camera...beer!

Cinema Cafe
505 Third Ave. (@ 34th St.)
212-689-9025

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010—Bar 93

Day 93—Monday, April 12th
Bar XII
First off, I need to announce that starting this week, the 365 Bar Crawl is going to hit the road soon! I’m going to Cleveland Friday and Saturday and hope to hook up with the Minister of Culture, Michael Heaton. And then the next week I’ll be in Peoria for five days and then off to Chicago for two more! And of course I’ll be posting about bars the entire way.

And now on to tonight. I’m really tired tonight, so I looked for a bar nearby where I work. I found a bar called Bar XII, which looked interesting. So let’s go before I fall asleep.

Here we are, Bar XII, that's Bar 12 for you Roman Numeral challenged folks.

Since it's Monday night, it's a little quiet in here, plenty of places to sit at the bar.

And Alex the bartender is quick with a cold bottle of beer.

And speaking of bottled beer, here's a list of them. A long list!

Uh, oh, a crowd has gathered at a back booth, let's check it out.

They've all gotten together for Amy's 21st birthday. Here's Amy (I think this is Amy, it was so many people I was a little confused when I got home to I.D. the photos. So if I'm wrong, well, let's just pretend I'm right. Happy birthday Amy!)

If you're a fan of draft beer, you'll love this place.

And all of the draft beer taps have these little TV's on them so you don't miss a minute of action while your beer is being poured.

In addition to the little TV's there's 20 big screen plasma screens as well.

There's another bar in the back with even more draft beer available.

Kellene, Julie and Josh were enjoying the bar and the birthday party for Amy.

On Sunday's you can cure your weekend hangover with their Soak It Up Sunday Party Brunch. All you can drink for 20 bucks, an instant hangover cure!

I forgot to get a picture taken in the bar, so I took a "Goodnight" video in the cab ride home.

The cabbie saw me filming and wanted to share this story with all of you. Goodnight everybody!

Review

Combining a lounge atmosphere with a sports bar sounds like a strange mix, but at  Bar XII it actually works. There’s a large bar in front with red lighting, candle lit tables and another bar in the back. There’s 20 plasma TV screens to enjoy the games and for those of you that don’t want to let your eyeballs stray too far from the bar, there’s five inch beer-tap mounted TV screens for you to watch as your favorite beer is being poured.

There’s 13 bottled beers and 20 styles of draft brew available along with a full bar. There’s also a menu featuring all your favorite sport food including: wings, sliders, chili cheese fries and a variety of eight ounce burgers. There’s also some surprises to found such as: coconut chicken, pasta bolognaise and six different varieties of bruschetta. The hour Happy Hour runs from noon to 8 pm Monday- Friday, with Bud, Bud Light and Coors Light drafts for four dollars and five buck well drinks. And every night there’s a new event happening, check the calendar on the website below.

On the weekends the clubs lounge atmosphere comes alive with DJ’s spinning music and baseball caps are traded in for dancing shoes. And check out Sunday’s Party Brunch, I particularly like the Walk of Shame Burger. If you’ve got egg on your face from the night before, you can order it on your burger, eat it and start all over.

Bar XII
206 E. 34th St. (@ 3rd Ave.)
212-545-9912

Monday, April 12th, 2010—Bar 92

Day 92—Sunday, April 11th
The Habitat
One of my Twitter friends (yeah, I’ve got Twitter friends, shut up!) Danielle who runs the super-cool website, Living Free NYC, invited me to meet her in Greepoint, Brooklyn to have Sunday dinner at one of her favorite bars, The Habitat. I’ve been meaning to venture out of Manhattan more and sample some of Brooklyn’s bars, so this was the push I needed. So let’s hit the subway and head off to Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Don’t forget your Metro Cards!

Okay, we're taking the F train and then transferring to the G, it's simple as ABC!

And now the waiting begins. Come on train!

Reason number 12,408 to cancel cable.

Alright, here's the train!

Here's our car. After I took this, the woman seated next to me asked if this was my first time in New York, assuming I was a tourist because I was taking photos. I told her no, and then she asked where I was from. I told her 16th street and she truly seemed puzzled.

And through the magic of the internet we're here! In reality it was an hour ride with the G train stalling out for about twenty minutes in the station, one of the reasons I don't leave Manhattan that often.

And here we are at the Habitat. It looks nice and airy, perfect for this nice spring evening.

Some of the specials for the evening. Time to find Danielle.

And here she is, already a drink ahead of me, time to catch up!

And John the bartender is more than happy to help me out, thanks John!

There's a large selection of draft to be sampled here, along with specialty cocktails.

Here's Nicole, one of the owners and a gracious and nice hostess.

Briana and Carlos were seated next to us and wished me well on my 365 day bar crawl.

There's lots of tables and benches in the bar, giving it a bit of a comfortable woodsy lounge feel.

Elyse and Nick are from Australia and were impressed that I was interviewed on the Morning Show there.

Danielle introduced me to two friends of hers at the bar, Soriya and Vichet, cheers guys!

Here's Michelle, May and Rina enjoying their Sunday dinner. Hey, speaking of Sunday dinner I'm starvin' like Marvin over here!

And here it is, delicious mac and cheese and an order of buffalo wings.

Danielle and I point at the food. Seconds later we devoured it. it was a delicious Sunday dinner.

John at work at the bar.

Paul took a seat next to us at the bar. He's just been here for six months and is a sales rep for Great Brewers. Check out their website: Greatbrewers.com.

We ended the evening with shots of Patron Tequila. Cheers!

I didn't feel like taking the subway home and luckily one block away is the Java Car Service. And an ATM world, I think Joey D. lives there.

Wilson is at the wheel and made it back to Manhattan in record time!

Wilson has the last word, "Goodnight everybody!"

Review

The Habitat has the feeling of a rustic cabin meets an open air front porch. It’s a cozy place and if the bar is filled, there’s plenty of tables and seats within the airy bar. It’s definitely a neighborhood scene here, but first-timers like myself are greeted warmly by the bartenders and patrons alike. The antique cuckoo clock and the giant wooden bathroom are just a couple of the talking points here.

If you’re a draft beer enthusiast, this is your place. Just some of the many drafts on tap include: Greeen Flash Imperial IPA, North Coast Red Seal, Nebraska EOS Hefeweizen and Boulder Obovoid. There’s also a flight menu to sample where you can try your choice of any four 8 ounce drafts for 13 bucks. The Habitat also has a decent wine list and specialty cocktails such as: Nicole’s Famous Sangria, Triple Rum Punch and Bourbon Mint Lemonade.

There’s also a full menu of delicious home cooked food. There’s three styles of empanadas to be had, a build your own burger served on an English muffin, goat cheese gnocchi and a crispy chicken sandwich garnished with cheddar cheese, bacon, garlic butter pressed on polish country rye. And the mac and cheese is truly inspired with cabot white cheddar asiago cheese topped with a generous pile of butter bread crumbs. And it’s only five bucks during Happy Hour which runs from 4 pm to 7 pm. Stop by the Habitat and get happy!

The Habitat
938 Manhattan Ave. (Greenpoint, Brooklyn)
718-383-5615