Day 259—Saturday, September 25th, 2010
Traffic Bar & Lounge
It’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night and I’ve found a place that will offer us a slight variation on the theme. I found the menu for Traffic Bar and Lounge at their website and they have something called “Cheeseburger Rolls.” Sounds interesting, so let’s go play in Traffic.
Down in the subway we go...
And through the magic of the internet we are instantly transported a few blocks away from the bar at the corner of Lexington and Lew Rudin Way. Who the fuck is Lew Rudin?
And here we are at our destination, Traffic Bar & Lounge.
Nice bar and there's a seat at the end with my name on it.
And Luthor, the friendly and hospitable bartender delivers an ice-cold Corona.
This lovely quartet of ladies were seated behind me at the front table in the bar. Clockwise from left: Brittany, Jamie, Mitzy and Kate. Cheers, ladies!
There's tables and chairs opposite the bar.
Here's a mirror shot of the bar. Lot's of TV's for Gene in here!
There's a working traffic light at the bar. When it's green, there's a drink special going on.
As you can see, it's a well-stocked bar.
Here's Luthor with Alexandra and Victoria. Alexandra is a waitress at Traffic and Victoria is the hostess.
Everybody at the bar were playing napkin haiku. Here's a pile of some of the finished pieces of prose.
Here's Lloyd, busy in thought, writing his haiku. Five, seven, five, Lloyd.
And I had to get in on the action. My napkin haiku read: "Ah, beer number one, Bar number two fifty nine, The bar is Traffic." Poetry in motion!
And on the pile it goes.
George and Stuart were here to cheer their hometown Indiana football team on the big screen.
The bar is filling up downstairs, let's go see what's happening up on the top level.
The bar upstairs is set up the same as the ground level.
Here's the top staff on duty, from left: Stephanie, George the manager and Brandi.
Okay, time to order those cheeseburger rolls.
And quicker than you can say, "starvin' like Marvin," Lloyd delivers the rolls.
Goddamn, they look delicious!
They come with a sauce made of Russian dressing and they're great! They're like a cheeseburger in an egg roll, genius!
And I thought it only appropriate to take a photo of traffic from my cab ride home. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Traffic Bar & Lounge has two floors with a bar and lounge area on each floor. There’s a working traffic light and when it’s green you know there’s a drink special going on. Hint: It’s almost always green. The two levels are almost identically put together with a decent sized bar upfront and a lounge area in the back.The bartenders and staff are friendly and the crowd changes as the day unfolds. It’s got a sports vibe going on in the early afternoon and evening and then as night unfolds around 10pm and beyond it gets a little more clubbish. In other words, a little something for everyone.
There’s a decent selection of bottled and draft beers and there’s a ton of signature cocktails including: The Traffic Jam which is, Bacardi Dragon Berry, cranberry juice, orange juice and a Bacardi 151 soaked orange wedge; The Cucumber G & T which mixes Hendricks Gin, tonic and muddled cucumber, The Honey Deuce is Grey Goose Vodka, Chambord and lemonade and The Midnight Manhattan which is made with Woodford Reserve Bourbon, cranberry juice and a splash of sweet vermouth.
They have a large menu of food featuring: three styles of chicken wings, six choices of sliders and a tapas menu including: Swedish Meatballs, Baked Macaroni & Cheese, Chicken Quesadillas and Traffic Bites which are homemade crispy macaroni and cheese bites served with a creamy marinara sauce.
The bar has a Happy Hour that runs Monday through Friday from 3pm to 8pm with different drink specials on each night. There’s football specials on Sundays from 11am to 4pm including: Twelve dollar pitchers and buckets of five beers for thirty dollars.
Traffic Bar & Lounge
986 Second Ave. (Near 52nd St.)
212-813-1595
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Bonus Art
Speaking of traffic and cabs, Jaws sent in this piece of art showing off his dream cab.
Bonus Photos
It was the last night in town for Lex, our 365 Canadian correspondent and she sent in these photos and captions from her Saturday night at the Rum House which is closing soon. Have a safe trip back to Canada and hurry back to New York soon, Lex. Great to have you on the 365 team! And say hi to Morley!
This is Matthew in between Mary Ann and Morley. He saved our butts with some (scarce) chairs. He's a regular and will miss this place. I'm here for my farewell Manhattan. Patty isn't here tonight, but Thai served us some mighty cocktails. Cheers!
Thai the drink guy. Nice rhyme!
Casey. Actor. Been coming to the rum house for ten years. He's gonna miss it! His table got stolen tonight by some parade dudes who hung a German flag from the light fixture.
Me and the German guys from Hanover. Karl, Axel and company.