Day 205—Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Smith's Bar
Okay, first things first. The Chief who comments here and runs the fine Peoria Bar Review blog has a friend who’s playing a show in Brooklyn tonight. The guy’s name is Derrick Hart and check out one of his video’s here. And this is his website: Wrecking Ball Wreckords. He’s playing a show at Coco 66 and if you live in Brooklyn or want to see some good live music, check it out, it’s only five bucks at the door. I’d go, but I have to work. My fucking job always gets in the way, but I need the dough for the bar crawl.
And speaking of dough for the crawl, I got not one, not two, but three generous donations tonight. The first one is a generous 20 dollar donation from James Schiano, who was the friendly and hospitable bartender at Saturday’s venue, Jamie-Lynn’s Kitchen in Brooklyn. The message on James’s reciept said, “Get drunk on me.” Alright James, don’t mind if I do! Mucho thanks, James for your hospitality the other night and for this donation!
The number two donation was a generous donation of ten dollars from Matt Mullen who resides in San Rafael, California. The message from Matt was: “Hey, 365 bars guy, I enjoy reading your blog. If you can, buy a beer from California .” I’ll do my best, Matt, I’ll see what the bar has in stock. Thanks a lot for your donation!
And last but not least, Ryan Borho generously sent in a twenty dollar donation with the message saying: “Marty, Great website. Let me know next time you're on the UWS. From, Ryan Borho (son of Dane, nephew of Jim.)” Holy shitballs! A Borho lives in New York and no one told me? Thanks so much Ryan we’ll hang out soon! Say hi to your dad and uncle for me!
I wasn’t going to visit Smith’s Bar because I didn’t think they’d let me do the bar crawl thing in there. Years ago I got thrown out of the bar when they found out I was writing a review of the place for Time Out New York. This place was a real New York dive bar and the only thing older and grumpier than the grizzled bartenders were the sizzled and sozzled geriatric alcoholics that frequented this dump. Well someone told me they renovated it last year and that the bartenders are friendly now and the vibe of the bar is totally different. That got me curious, so let’s go check it out.
You gotta love the half-lit neon sign.
It's Monday, so there's plenty of seats at the bar.
And friendly bartender, Troy serves up an ice-cold Corona. A friendly bartender in Smith's? A big difference since the last time I was in here over a decade ago.
And Matt, this isn't a California beer, but it's from Mexico which is close, cheers to you, James and Ryan for donating to the 365 cause!
Lee was seated next to me at the bar. He was in town from Leicester, England and is part of a comedy duo called Naylor and Gant. Here's a clip of one of their performances: Naylor and Gant.
Opposite the bar are large, German beer hall style wooden tables and stools.
Here's Jayna, the cute waitress on duty this evening.
More tables in the back with big windows providing a nice view of 44th street.
Tom and Kevin were enjoying drinks at the front of the bar in a window seat.
They asked me to join them in a picture and Lee grabbed the camera and got the shot.
You can gaze at a pay phone outside the front window that overlooks 8th Avenue.
As you can see, there's a huge beer selection available.
Jarrod, Cassie and Ashlee were in town from the land down under. That's right, more friendly Australians meet me on the bar crawl. You gotta love it!
They've cleaned the joint up, but the bar remains the same.
It turns out that the other bartender on duty was from England, so I had to get a shot of Lee and Peter together. Two English gentlemen in New York City.
And a parting shot as I make my way out the door. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Smith’s used to be a real dicey, Hell’s Kitchen dive bar. It’s been renovated and like much of the neighborhood, it’s cleaned up its act and the bartenders are now friendly and the cliental no longer consist of skid row alcoholics. It’s spacious inside with a long wooden bar and German beer hall tables to the side of it. There’s live music Wednesday through Saturday in an adjoining room which has its own bar. Every Tuesday is karaoke night at Smith’s.
You can quench your thirst here pretty much any time of the day, the bars hours run from 7am to 4am. There’s a full bar here with over a dozen beers on tap and a large selection of bottled beers including: Amstel Light, Corona, Beck's and Miller Lite (hello, Biff!) Smith’s has a large menu with breakfast, lunch and dinner items available. There’s nine varieties of burgers available, chicken wings, nachos, mac and cheese and hot plates including: Chicken-Fried Steak, Grilled Chicken Platter, Chicken Pot Pie and Fish and Chips.
The “new” Smith’s is a friendly joint where tourists and locals easily mix for a nice drink, free live music and karaoke on Tuesdays. But I have to be honest, a part of me misses the old Smith’s where I would’ve been thrown out on my ass for bringing my bar crawl in there.
Smith's Bar
701 8th Ave. (@44th St.)
212-246-3268