Day 152—Thursday, June 10th, 2010
Dublin House
First off, what’s that sound? No, I didn’t fart...okay, I did, but that’s not the sound I was looking for. Ding, ding, ding, that’s what I like to hear, the sweet, sweet sound of the PayPal donation button being run. James Mollo generously sent in a $37.00 donation to keep the crawling going! This is James’ fourth donation, so he joins Tiki Bar Susie in the 4-timers club! Thanks James, I appreciate it. And James is moving back to New York soon, so be looking for him in a July posting of the 365 Crawl.
Okay, speaking of donations, a friend of mine is involved in a worthy cause and is trying to get the word out. My friend Ash, from pungsnotded is part of the American Cancer Society DetermiNation endurance event program. It’s a race to help cancer survivors see another birthday and you can help her reach her goal (and maybe surpass it) by clicking on this link and donating: Ash’s DetermiNation page. Donate if you can, let’s show Ash what the 365 community can do! (And tomorrow I’m going back to begging money for booze so appreciate this brief bit of generosity.)
It’s nice out tonight and I would go to last night’s destination, Sophie’s, but I already promised another follower a bar for tonight. I’ll hit Sophie’s next week, I promise. But tonight I already promised commentator Al Rizo that I’d go to The Dublin House tonight. Al lives in Miami but emailed me that when he was in New York a few years ago a trip to The Dublin House was one of his highligts. This is a great suggestion as I haven’t been there in years. When I first moved here I lived on the Upper West Side and used to go to The Dublin House, but after I moved downtown, I haven’t been back. Okay, Al, this bar’s for you!
It's a nice night out and here's my view from tonight's cab ride. Next stop, 79th and Broadway!
And here we are, The Dublin House, cool neon sign!
I haven't been in here in over a decade, but it hasn't changed a bit.
Okay, here's where the weirdness kicked in. This is Mike the bartender, who agreed to pose for a photo, but kept telling me that, "time is money." Then after this shot he told me not to take any more pictures in the bar. When I told him I wouldn't bug anyone, but I needed to take photos for this post, he said, "People are drinking in here. You can't take pictures of that." I could see he wasn't going to budge on this, but I wanted to tell him that Prohibition ended in 1933. Anyway, the crawl had already started here, so there's no turning back. Onwards and sidewards.
Here's a shot of the bar I took behind Mike's back.
Mike was taking an order so I quickly took a shot of some of the booze at the bar.
This is my second Guinness, Mike saw me take this photo and gave me a dirty look. I have the feeling if I'm caught another time it might be the end of this crawl.
No need for my notebook tonight, I can't ask anyone for a photo. Sob!
Here's a sneaky shot of the woman who was sitting next to me under the bar so Mike couldn't see. Cool boots and nice legs! Ooh la la!
Mike was talking to regulars at the end of the bar, so I got this shot. This whole thing is a little nerve-wracking. I feel like a paparazzi taking shots of Sean Penn and hoping he doesn't spit on me.
At this point I've switched to Budweiser and a guy has sat down next to me. His name is either Steve or Scott, I'm horrible with names. Anyway, it turns out we both lived on the Upper West Side in the '90's and are having a nice conversation when some guy comes up and asks if either of us have a cigarette. And he's willing to give two bucks for one cigarette. Steve/Scott tells the guy he can have one for free and tells him that he'll go out and smoke one with him. He leaves a third empty bottle of beer and says he'll be back in a minute.
He had bought me a beer, so i bought him one during his cigarette break. The weird thing here is that he never came back. And he had left a beer that had a third left. I bought him a full one, but he never came back to claim it. Kind of weird. I wonder if the guy bumming cigarettes kidnapped him, or if Martians zapped him onto a space ship. I would've drank the bottle of Miller Lite, but I thought if he walked back in it would be strange for me to be drinking the beer I bought him back. And just as I shot this picture, Mike gave me a dirty look and I had had enough of tonight's weirdness. I realize the photos tonight weren't that great, so I'm going to take bonus photos back at my apartment when I get home for your amusement.
Okay, I'm back at home and here's BONUS PHOTO 1: This is a box where I'm keeping every business card, coaster, menu and other stuff from this bar crawl. I figure I can use it for my book at the end of all this.
BONUS PHOTO 2: My favorite poster of all time. I've had this Mothers of Invention poster since I was around 18-years-old. It's been in every apartment I've lived in and if it could talk, I'd love to know what I've been up to for the last four decades.
BONUS PHOTO 3: My entertainment center. Yes, I live large!
BONUS PHOTO 4: My Beatles butcher album cover, a Slinky, weird little bottles and candles. A few of my favorite things.
BONUS PHOTO 5: Oblligatory home bathroom shot. Goodnight everybody!
Review
The Dublin House is a true Irish bar that has been a fixture on the Upper West Side For decades. The neon sign is a beacon that draws neighborhood regulars and tourists looking for a slice of old school New York. The bartenders are for the most part no-nonsense Irishmen who aren’t too thrilled with yobbos coming in to take pictures for their websites or blogs. As we’ve just witnessed. Buit in retrospect that’s part of the old school charm of the joint.
There’s a full bar here and of course a perfect pint of Guinness is expertly poured upon request. The front room is narrow, with dark wooden hues and there’s a back room with tables and chairs to accommadate larger parties.
The mood is friendly, just don’t bring a camera in here, they’re a little camera shy.
(P.S. Happy birthday, Jim.)
Dublin House
225 W. 79th St. (Near Broadway)
212-874-9528