Thursday, December 9th, 2010—Bar 333

Day 333—Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
On the Rocks
Okay, I’m in a fucking hurry tonight because I have to come in to work early tomorrow. They want me here at the crack of noon, which means I have to get up around nine in the morning to put my post together. Oh the sacrifices I endure for the 365 bar crawl! So, anyway I picked this place because it’s not so far away and it sounds like kind of a simple, dark, whiskey bar from the review I read. So let’s hit the road and get this shit over with check it out.

Since I'm in a hurry, I thought we'd take a cab there.

Hate the cab TV, so off it goes.

Touch here to resume...that's what she said. (Rimshot.)

Fucking crosstown traffic. Somebody cue up Jimi Hendrix!

Okay, here we are. Nice wooden exterior and subtle sign, let's check it out.

Nice dark and cozy in here. Let's settle in.

While this place is a whiskey bar they also have 60 kinds of bottled beer. I tried one called the Kingfisher and bartender Daniel serves it up.

Like I said, this is a whiskey bar.

A shot of the bar from my perch.

The top of the bar showcases the wide selection of bottled beer.

The whiskey is displayed in the heart of the bar.

And below is the vodka, gin, tequila and likewise. It's all top-shelf liquor in here.

Gary was seated next to me at the bar and was enjoying one of the top-shelf drinks.

And here's the owner of the joint, Howard (on the left) with one of the patrons whose name I forgot to write down. Maybe Howard will chime in on the comments and help me out here. Howard...help!

Some of the specials are written on the boards up here.

There's a candle-lit wooden railing with chairs opposite the bar.

A long shot of the bar. Hey, let's go see who the couple is in the front window seats.

It's Mark and Paula. They're engaged and the wedding is in June. They neglected to tell me where the reception is, so I'll have to scour the papers to see where to crash the wedding.

Meanwhile back at the bar, Daniel's taking care of business.

Ron came in with quite an impressive hat and drinking abilities. He doesn't need no stinking glass!

Looking up I noticed something is missing in here...

There's no TV's. Howard told me he thinks a bar is for socializing and he intentionally didn't put any TV's in here. One of the few bars without TV's in Manhattan. Nice job, Howard! (Sorry, Gene!)

Bar number three, three, three. 32 to go! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Okay, this is the way this shit works here at 365. The introduction is usually written before I go to the bar and then the review is written in the morning. Well, I’m up two hours earlier than I usually do, so I feel like warmed over dogshit on a moldy bagel. So here’s two reviews I found online. They’re pretty accurate.

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Shecky’s:

When you enter On the Rocks, walk straight ahead and grab a seat, because, well, that’s your only option. At this narrow sliver of a bar, there’s little to distract you from the ultimate goal, which is whiskey, chatting, beer and more whiskey. Those familiar with brown liquor will be happy to see old friends—Glenlivet, Macallan and Blanton’s (to name but a few of many)—and happier to learn they’re reasonably priced, with the majority in the $9-$11 range for a sizeable pour. Not as well versed as your neighbor (or just unable to read labels in dim lighting)? The knowledgeable bartender will be your friendly Sherpa through uncharted territory. For those looking for something slightly less intoxicating, there’s a wide array of bottled beer ($4-$20), though you won’t find fruity cocktails with tiny umbrellas here. The scene is sophisticated without being pretentious, but you’ll do well to keep your drinks straightforward like the rest of the bar—neat, straight up or on the rocks.

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Time Out New York

Whiskey lovers have a new hang in this diminutive Hell's Kitchen bar, which features more than 80 varieties of the spirit. If heady quaffs like a Redbreast 15-year or a Ridgemont 1792 bourbon aren't quite your speed, you can choose from more than 60 bottled beers. The dim, narrow space has exposed brick, and most seating is at the concrete bar, the better to claim your bartender's ear and nerd out over obscure brown spirits.

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On the Rocks
696 10th Ave. (Between 48th and 49th St.)
212-247-2055

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010—Bar 332

Day 332—Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Ding Dong Lounge
First, the bad, bad, BAD news: The end of the Mars Bar as we know it may be coming. Read about it here at the EV Grieve blog. It’s funny but I discovered the EV Grieve blog after I went to the Mars Bar on Easter Sunday and bought a pizza dinner for myself and everybody in there and he blogged about it, you can read that here: Easter At The Mars Bar. People always ask me what my favorite bar has been and I always reply that I don’t have one because there’s been so many good ones, but I always tell them that my favorite night was Easter Sunday at the Mars Bar. I was going to make it a tradition to buy pizza there every Easter Sunday. Fuck. First Fedora’s, then the Rum House, probably Ruby’s and now maybe the Mars Bar is going to be disappearing. Motherfucker, I need a drink. Luckily I’m going to a bar within minutes. I’ll drown my sorrows there, I don’t want to even think about this shit right now.

Easter Sunday at the Mars Bar.

Last night, Maddy suggested I go to the Ding Dong Lounge, a cool bar uptown. I’ve been meaning to go there, I wrote a review of it for newyork.citysearch.com years ago and had a good time there. I remember it was not long after September 11th went down and I was nervous about taking the subway uptown. Well, I’m not nervous tonight, so it’ll probably get blown up and you may never read this. We’ll have to wait and see. Thanks for the suggestion Maddy, this bar’s for you!

Okay, here we are at Penn Station to take the train uptown.

Step back? It's obvious the cretins at MTA don't read The Half Empty Glass because...

You  need to lean back, motherfuckers!

Okay, once again through the magic of the internet you're spared a ride with a screaming baby, loud teenagers and a ten minute wait at Times Square and here we are at the Ding Dong Lounge. The place is a little bigger, but looks pretty much the same as it did ten years ago when I wrote my review.

Wow, this is one of the darkest bars yet. You'd love it in here, Al!

And here I am closing the deal on my first beer with Johnny the bartender.

The photo above was taken by Adrianna, one of the owners of the bar. Adrianna is a photographer and her husband is another co-owner and played guitar in a punk rock band before he opened this bar. Like an idiot I forgot to write down the band's name...

But here's Adrianna with a photo of the band. That's her husband on guitar on the left. UPDATE: According to Gidget and/or Linda, the name of the band was the Mobile Homos.

Here's a shot of the dimly-lit bar from my perspective.

There's a pool table up front.

And there's candle-lit tables opposite the bar.

There's a table and a wndow seat in one of the front windows.

The Circle Jerks opening for Run D.M.C. That had to be a great show!

A vintage Plasmatics poster.

A Buzzcocks poster hangs behind this faux window.

There's a brick-walled lounge area in the back of the bar.

Empties, a shot glass and...FIRE!

Ralph was seated next to me at the bar. He's a regular who's originally from Haiti but lives here now.

A shot of the candle-lit bar.

Here's Will and Chris who were chilling out near the bar and enjoying beers.

Johnny's taking care of business behind the bar.

And speaking of taking care of business, I had to make a bathroom stop. Check out the cool flyers on the walls in here!

Sometimes that shit works both ways. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Once again I found my old review at newyork.citysearch.com and once again those asswads have removed my byline. I’m reduced to a “Contributer at CitySearch." Oh well, they paid me the princley sum of 25 bucks to write the fucking thing, I guess they can do whatever they want to with it. Here’s the review (with my byline restored!) below which still stands pretty true today, except CBGB’s is gone now. But you can still buy a T-shirt.

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City Search New York
Top rated (4 stars)
By Marty Wombacher

The Scene
The compact Ding Dong Lounge is dark inside, with brick and blood-red walls surrounding a plain-and-simple atmosphere befitting a true punk rock bar. The walls are decorated with posters of vintage flyers advertising punk gigs from days gone by. While a few college kids have started checking out the bar, the clientele tends to be an even mix of thirsty men and women between 25 to 40.

The Draw
Punk rock from the Stooges to Turbo Negro blasts on the sound system; a DJ (Gidget knows one of them, hi Linda!) mans the turntables almost every night, with live music on a limited schedule. Beer goes for $4 or less, and shots for between $4 and $5. And most surprisingly of all, the bathroom is clean. Take that, CBGB.

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And there's a sister Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne, Australia! The first one of my Aussie mates that sends in a picture of that Ding Dong Lounge gets a free 365 Down Under T-Shirt, designed by "Boris."

Ding Dong Lounge
929 Columbus Ave. (Near106th St.)
212-663-2600

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010—Bar 331

Day 331—Monday, December 6th, 2010
Ace Bar
Tonight I hand the wheel of the bar crawl over to my co-pilot in this journey, 365 commentator, Al Rizo. Al has been helping me find unique bars all along the way and I appreciate his help. Even though there’s thousands of bars in Manhattan, a good percentage of those are all the same and if I did the same type of bar every night it would get boring not only for me, but for the fine people who log on here everyday and read the blog. Last week Al found a bar in the East Village  called Ace Bar that has vintage lunchboxes, a game room and best of all, inexpensive beer! So far Al has yet to pick a dud, let’s go check out this place.

And here we are at Ace bar, let's check it out, it's freezing out here.

Al always finds nice, dark bars and this is no exception.

At first bartender Jackie was a little shy about having her photo taken, but then Max said he'd join her and she agreed to the photo. Thanks for being good sports!

Wyatt was seated next to me at the bar and was showing a picture of his dog, Summer, who's back at his parents house in Texas. You can't see Summer here, so I zoomed in...

And got this shot. A cute doggie!

A shot of the tin ceiling overhead, always the mark of a good bar.

Some of the drafts available at the bar.

There's a vintage cash register behind the bar, always love that.

Some of the specials and beers available at the bar.

The bar in all its darkened glory.

Jackie said she wasn't sure who this painting was, bu that it's been hanging at the bar forever.

There's red leather banquettes to sit at opposite the bar.

There's Ace photos hanging over the banquettes on the brick walls. Here's the Ace Wheel & Rim.

And here's the Ace Motel. You can check out, but you can never leave.

Up front are tables and this amazing display of vintage lunch boxes.

Here's a Hee Haw lunchbox.

And another classic '70's show, Adam 12.

Sunday, Monday...Happy Days. God, I always hated that theme song and now it's stuck in my head for the day. Shit.

Peanuts, candy and Skittles!

The bar hosts dart leagues on Tuesday nights.

Two pool tables are nestled into the spacious back room.

And there's also not one, but two Skee-Ball machines.

Maddy, Arya and David were chilling out in the back room. David is visiting from Scotland and said he was enjoying New York and noted that, "New Yorkers like their beer." How true! Arya has a cool blog and you should check it out here: Just Press Play.

Meanwhile, back at the bar...

Duhnununununununuh...BATMAN!

Maddy, Arya, David ended up at the front bar with me and we had a nice conversation about New York, bars and the sad demise of Coney Island. Here's our parting shots. Cheers and goodnight, everybody!

Review
Ace Bar is dark and gamey in a good way. The front room has a pinball machine, a wooden bar and red leather banquettes and tables. There’s also tables up in the front and a glassed-in display of vintage lunchboxes from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. The back room has two state of the art dart boards, two pool tables and two Skee-Ball machines. All the games in the bar are imported from Coney Island, so you know it’s the real deal in here.

There’s a full bar here with a good selection of beers including: Stella Artois, Blue Moon, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Duvel. They have a happy hour that runs from 4pm to 7pm with draft beers and well drinks going for between three to six bucks a pop. There’s also nightly drink specials and on Sundays they pour their legendary Bloody Marys and pool is free till 6pm.

On the weekends the crowd gets younger and the place fills up with college kids and rowdies, so if you’re not into that scene, try it on a low-key weeknight, like I did.

Ace Bar
531 E. 5th St. (Near Ave. A)
212-979-8476

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Thanks, as always to my co-pilot Al for the suggestion! (Al artwork by "Boris")

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Bonus Video

365 commentator raginrr sent me a story about a traffic sign that flips the bird and I found this video of it on YouTube. That’s my kind of traffic signal! Here it is, thanks for the hat tip, raginrr!

Bonus Video Part II

And now, for Terry and all of you, the Batman video extra. I found not only a Catwoman clip, but a whole freaking documentary on her. Enjoy!