Wednesday, November 24th, 2010—Bar 318

Day 318—Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Savoy (originally headed to Oficina Latina)
(We now interrupt the bar crawl for this crass holiday announcement.) If you’ve been thinking about getting a 365 Beers t-shirt or some other product from the 365 Bars store, now is the time to act on that impulse, there’s free shipping at the store from the 24th to the 28th. Check out “Boris’” new “Crawlapalooza” design and if you’re a fan of Woody Radio, there’s also three designs there including shirts for the coolest DJ in the world, Gidget and for in-house artist’s “Boris’” Secret Weapon show. Perfect holiday gifts!

Okay, back to the bar crawl. I stumbled upon Oficina Latina while Googling around tonight and it looks like it might be something a little different. It’s a Latin American-styled bar/restaurant and they have over 100 rums and feature lots of specialty cocktails. The cocktails are 12 bucks a pop, but what the hell, I drank three dollar cans of Pabst last night, so we may as well mix it up a bit. So away we go.

This fellow was entertaining people down in the subway. It kind of gave me a Shmenge Brothers flashback. Cabbage rolls and coffee!

Huh, here we are, 24 Prince Street, but it looks more like a place that sells used tires and crack.

Looks like this is the place after all, let's go inside.

Wow, it's really crowded and loud in here, my first impulse was to run out the door, but I see a seat at the bar. Let's go snag it.

But before I could sit down, this guy grabs me and asks me what I'm doing. When I told him I was sitting at the bar he said I had to wait to be seated there. Wait to be seated at the bar? I told him that I didn't need to wait and walked out the door and out onto Prince Street.

Time to improvise and take that lonely walk.

The Savoy...hmmm...wonder if there's a bar in here?

I think I spy tonight's destination. Looks like a nice little bar to relax at.

Plenty of seats and I bet there's no waiting.

No waiting indeed! Friendly bartender Brian quickly pours me a much needed beer.

Cheers!

It's a small, but well-stocked bar.

Another angle of the "U" shaped, wooden bar.

Fire!

Doorba and Alok were seated to my left. They live in the neighborhood and stopped in for a nightcap.

The dining room is in the back and there's a second floor dining area as well. I didn't go up there because the bar is down here.

There's window seat tables opposite the bar. Let's go say hi to these two diners.

Hi! Ken and Marco were just finishing dinner and relaxing at their table.

A glance out of the view of the window of Prince Street.

Emna stopped in for a glass of wine after a long day and night of work. Love the smile!

I decided to try one of their specialty cocktails for the last drink of the evening and Brian mixed me up the "Sgt. Pepper," which is tequila, cynar, granada pepper and lime.

He blew his mind out in a bar. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
The Savoy has been a neighborhood favorite on the block for over 20 years now. The restaurant has a cozy, rustic feel to it with exposed wooden beams and a working fireplace. The bar area is small with a wooden “U” shaped bar that allows for interaction among all present. Brian the bartender is friendly and is happy to share his knowledge about the signature drinks and wine available. The cliental is a nice mix of neighborhood locals, people stopping in after work and the odd tourist that has happily stumbled onto this welcoming oasis of food and drink.

The beer selection is small but choice with just two draft beers to choose from and both are local New York brews. They are: Ommegang Rare Vos and Six Point Sweet Action Pale Ale. Your choice of bottled beers include: Reisdorf Kölsch, Two Brothers Pale Ale and Geary’s London Porter. There’s a decent wine list and a half dozen signature cocktails that are house inventions. Happy hour runs daily from 3pm to 7pm.

The food menu is American Traditional and some of the choices are: Chicken fried duck livers with honey mustard; roasted wild striped bass; pig head torchon and country ham. And tomorrow there’s a four course Thanksgiving dinner for 75 dollars. Gobble, gobble.

Savoy
70 Prince St. (Near Crosby St.)
212-219-8570

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010—Bar 317

Day 317—Monday, November 23rd, 2010
The Four-Faced Liar
I don’t even know how I found tonight’s bar, but I had it bookmarked and didn’t feel like searching around, so that’s tonight’s destination. It’s an Irish bar in the West Village called, The Four-Faced Liar. I wonder if Jon Lovitz owns this joint? Let’s go find out.

It's an easy subway ride there, here's Penn Station, looks like there was a hockey game tonight.

Whenever I see a train coming now, I think of Fat Al. Lean back, motherfuckers!

And here we are outside in the West Village.

(Inside joke alert between Marty and Biff.) The Karavas Tavern! Spanks for the memories! (I think Biff's on the road, so don't expect a response to this. But it's cracking me up.)

And here we are at the Four-Faced Liar. Those shoes hanging over the sign make me think of the movie, "Wag The Dog."

Holy shitballs, it's crowded in here for a Monday!

And Dan, the friendly bartender is quick with a three buck can of Pabst.

A shot of the well-stocked, lit up bar.

A glance upwards reveals the mark of a classic bar, a tin ceiling.

There's lots of leather couches and wooden nooks to sit at in the bar.

Which is exactly where I found Stephanie and Pete having a drink.

Peanuts!

Lams and vintage black and white photos line the wall of the pub.

John was seated up in the front window area and told me that they shot a movie in here. The name of the movie is, The Four Faced-Liar (what else?) and here's the trailer: The Four-Faced Liar movie.

The bar has a back room, let's go check it out.

There's a couple back here, let's go say hi.

Brianne and Chris were having a drink back here and told me it was their first time in the bar.

There's a state of the art foosball table back here.

Things are still hopping back at the bar.

Melissa was seated at the end of the bar and we had a nice chat about the bar crawl and a somewhat mutual hatred of midtown. What a great smile!

Luke was overly-relaxed at the bar and reminded me it's time to say...

Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Despite the name being The Four-Faced Liar, the only deception going on here is the size of the pints—they’re twenty ounces, a fib I can live and drink with. The name of the Irish pub refers to a four-faced clock from a church steeple in Cork, Ireland, birthplace of owner/manager Conor O'Sullivan. The clocks were notorious for not keeping the correct time, hence the nickname from the locals of the “four-faced liar.” At the bar’s website it states that their goal is to give the feel of an Irish “local” and in my opinion, they’ve pulled it off. There’s a cozy wooden horseshoe bar up front and lots of leather and wooden nooks and crannies to sit and nurse a Guinness at in the front room. The back room has more tables and a dart board and a foosball table.

The beer selections rotate here, but some of your choices on draft right now are: Blue Moon, Brooklyn Lager, Yuengling and of course Guinness. The bottled beer selection includes: Magners, Red Stripe, Rolling Rock and Heineken. But if you have a Frank Booth mindset, you might want to go with a can of Pabst which will cost you just three bucks. They also have a good selection of single malt and blended whiskies behind the bar. Happy hour runs daily, from 2pm to 8pm with a dollar off all drinks.

The bar hosts poetry readings on Sunday afternoons and there’s a variety of board games to play at the bar or tables as well as chess and backgammon sets.

The Four-Faced Liar
165 W. 4th St. (Near Sixth Ave.)
212-206-8959

Monday, November 22nd, 2010—Bar 316

Day 316—Sunday, November 21st, 2010
The Brooklyneer

Okay, so some people opened up  a Brooklyn-styled bar in Manhattan. Basically the idea was to sell some food and drink that are somewhat unique to Brooklyn. And part of the bar is constructed using wood made from Coney Island’s boardwalk. I like that, especially since the nimrods in charge out there are going to rip it up and replace it with cement. So this didn’t seem like a big deal to me when I read about it on Grub Street. But then I read a comment someone left that said: “This is extremely ridiculous. If people want products from Brooklyn why can't they take the subway there?” I didn’t really understand that train of thought, no pun intended. It’s like saying, “If you want to eat Chinese food, why don’t you take a plane ride to China.”

Well since then, there’s been all kinds of things written about the Brooklyneer. Most of it is nicely summed up at this post at Grub Street: Brooklyneer at Grub Street. Most of the comments (mine included) didn’t really understand what the uproar is all about. I mean it’s locally owned and they’re serving food and drink from Brooklyn vendors in Manhattan. Is that so horrible? It’s a hell of a lot better than a T.G.I. Friday’s moving in to that space. The owner chimed in with a comment on Grub Street and I think it speaks volumes, here’s the part of his comment I like the best: “It's a bar people. Let's not over think this one.”

My comment is right below and I wrote: “I like pickles, I like beer, I like hot dogs, I'm going to go check it out and give it a chance.” So that’s exactly what I’m going to do right now.

I think this is the place, but there's no sign outside.

Okay, this gives it away, let's go have a look inside.

Wow, very nice inside, let's snag a seat at the bar.

They have Little Kings in here! I haven't had one of these since high school. I ordered two so bartender Dylan wouldn't have to keep running to get me another one so often.

A double-dose of Little Kings. Cheers!

The bottles are lit up behind the bar.

Lamps hang over the bar and illuminate it. Notice the wooden ceiling, I think this is the first bar I've been to that's had a wooden ceiling.

Billy, one of the owners of the bar came up to say hello. He said the opening's been going great.

And here's Aron, another owner of the Brooklyneer.

A shot of the bar from my perch.

There's a candle lit wooden railing and stools up front with a nice view of Houston Street.

There's a painting of the Brooklyn Bridge on the wall opposite the bar.

There's a woodsy nook in the back with tables and a seating area. Even the wallpaper is imported from Brooklyn. It's from Flavor Paper.

A shot from the other end of the bar.

The wood used to build the bar is from the Coney Island boardwalk.

And here's the man responsible for all the wood in the bar, Brian. He built a good chunk of this place and you can check out his company here: Gotham Forest Products.

Dylan is busy back at the bar.

This couple just came in and sat down, let's go say hi.

It's Kevin and Mirabel, really nice people and they were very supportive of the 365 bar crawl idea. Okay, at this point I was starvin' like Marvin, but sadly for now, The Brooklyneer's kitchen is closed on Sunday. But luckily...

There's a King Wok right around the corner.

And look, I'm welcome here. Hot damn.

Obligatory shot of me waiting for my food in a Chinese restaurant mirror.

Chicken wings and an egg roll doused in hot sauce. An almost perfect Sunday dinner, but sadly they don't serve beer here.

Burp. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
The Brooklyneer brings a taste of Brooklyn to Manhattan. The bar is dark and candle lit and the emphasis is on wood in here. In fact the long, wooden bar is made from wood from the Coney Island boardwalk, which is a nice touch. The bartenders and cliental are friendly and it’s a nice, cozy place to sit and enjoy some Brooklyn beers and food.

There’s a full bar available and plenty of local brews available. Some of the drafts include: Brookyn Lager, Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, Coney Island Lager and The Brooklyneer Lager. They also have a good selection of bottles as well some of them offered are: Little Kings Cream Ale, Session Premium Lager, Abita Turbo Dog and Victory Hop Devil.

The menu isn’t huge, but what they offer looks mighty tasty. Some items offered include: Ovenly Old Bay Peanuts, Ovenly Bacon Carmel Corn, a pulled pork slider, a pastrami style portobello slider and The Brooklyneer Dog, which is made from bacon-cheeseburger sausage from Brooklyn butcher, The Meat Hook and topped with DPCC’s sweet tomato chutney, My Friends jalapeno IPA mustard, organic bacon and shredded lettuce on a potato roll. They also offer deviled eggs and three styles of pickle platters. (Just remember, that for now, the kitchen is open six days a week and closed on Sundays.)

If the idea of a Brooklyn bar in Manhattan disgusts you, there’s one simple solution, it’s called the subway. As one of the owners said, “It’s a bar people. Let’s not over think this one.”

The Brooklyneer
220 W. Houston St. (Between Sixth Ave. and Varick)
646-692-4916