Day 325—Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
The Watering Hole
Another day and another donation rolls in to help me make it to the home stretch. Mark Aleks sent in a generous donation of ten bucks to buy a couple of beers tonight. He’s also sending something else that will possibly really help me out on the old bar crawl. Mark is affiliated with a company called, Zaca and they make an item called, The Hangover Topical Patch. It’s a patch that guarantees a hangover free morning. He’s sending me a sample and I’ll give it a test run next week on the bar crawl. I’ll have to have more than my usual three or four drinks to really test it out, but hey, this is all in the name of science! Thanks a lot Mark for the donation and for sending the Hangover Patch, I look forward to reporting on it. I have to confess to being just a little leery of patches though. I tried the smoking patch and it didn’t work. I could never get the fucking thing lit!
One of my favorite blogs, EV Grieve notes that the Nassau Bar may be in trouble and gives linkage to my post on that fine bar. Check it out here: Another bikini bar on the endangered list?
Okay, on to the bar crawl. I took a cab home from last night’s bar and as we were cruising down 19th Street I noticed a bar I had never seen called The Watering Hole. I made a mental note to check it out sometime and so tonight that’s where the crawl is going. I have to go because I want to get this note out of my mental, it’s itchy!
On my way to the bar I saw a statue of a baby Jesus in a pizza parlor and for some reason it really freaked me out. Especially since he's kind of dressed up like Freddie Mercury.
Lovely!
And we're here! Let's go inside and get watered down.
It's dark and festive all at the same time in here and plenty of seats at the bar. Looks like we're in for a good night.
And Dennis the friendly bartender promptly serves up a beer.
Cheers!
The view from my perch at the bar.
An electric snowman hangs on the wall. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go.
A vintage black and white shot of Grand Central Station hangs on the wall.
A nice leggy shot of Marilyn Monroe.
Tables and chairs are lined up opposite the bar.
Mbacke was the chef on duty for the evening...
And here's Kurt sampling some of Mbacke's fare. He declared it, "Delicious!"
There's a full dining area in the back of the bar.
And meanwhile, back at the bar...
Things have picked up. Pretty crowded for a Tuesday night. Let's go say hi to some people.
Josh and Karen were seated next to me and asked that I take a photo with one of their friends.
So of course I did. From left: Josh, Tanya and Karen. Nice people!
Here's Sean, who's the head bartender at Craft. He's holding a cocktail book that's a reproduction of a vintage publication from Cocktail Kingdom.
Here's Sean with Rufus and Richie who work in the kitchen at Craft.
Okay, somebody put on, "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey and it's time for one last look out the window and then get out. That song always gets me a little miffled. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
The Watering Hole is just as its name implies, nothing fancy or spectacular, just a nice neighborhood bar to have a drink or three. Maybe four. The walls are brick and lined with photos and Christmas lights and the bar is long and wooden. There’s tables and chairs opposite and in the front and back and the crowd is mainly locals from the neighborhood. The jukebox runs constantly, but it’s played at a conversational level and the bar has a friendly vibe to it.
There’s a decent selection of beers available and a full bar of liquor awaits you at The Watering Hole. Happy hour runs for four hours from 3pm to 7pm with four dollar well drinks, beer and wine to be had. After the happy hour if you need to soak up some of that alcohol, they do serve food. All the standard bar fare is here: Buffalo wings, nachos, burgers, sandwiches and wraps. But if you’re in the mood for a full dinner, that can be available too. Some of the dinner fare offerings are: Cajun Meatloaf, served with garlic mashed potatoes; a 14 ounce New York Cut Sirloin Steak; Sizzling Fajitas and Fried Catfish and Chips. Monday through Friday, from 11am to 4pm, there’s a burger special where you can get a burger and a beer for twelve bucks.
And if you’re into karaoke, that is big here and it happens Wednesday through Saturday from 10pm to 2am. If you’re not that into karaoke, simply go on a Tuesday night like I did.
The Watering Hole
106 E. 19th St. (Near Park Ave. South)
212-674-5783
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Bonus Booze Cartoon By Jaws!
