Thursday, September 2nd, 2010—Bar 235
Day 235—Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
BillyMark's West
Shit, I’m fucking still at work! and it’s almost 1:30 in the goddamn morning. So I need a place that’s open late and close by. And luckily, through suggestions from two people this week, I have the answer. Both Mark Smimmo, who you met Sunday on my outing to Queen’s Bohemia Beer Hall and Garden, and Fat Al who is one half of the fine blog, The Half Empty Glass both suggested that I check out BillyMark’s West. I checked it out and it’s only three blocks from where I work. So it’s time to clock out and get over to BillyMark’s West before I collapse from exhaustion.
Okay, it's 1:30 in the morning and here we are at 29th and Seventh. Two blocks away from BillyMarks.
And here we are. I"m ready for a drink!
There's more people in here than I thought would be here at this early hour. But there's plenty of seats at the long wooden bar.
BillyMark's is named after the two brothers that own the joint, Billy and Mark and here's half of the team: Billy. Billy's a friendly guy and treats you like a regular from the moment you order a drink.
Here's Randy and Candice who were seated next to me at the bar. Randy's a regular and told me what I realized when I walked in, that BillyMark's is "the real deal."
Here's a great shot of the Beatles behind the bar. Linda McCartney took this photo back when she was Linda Eastman.
More great vintage pictures behind the lit-up bar.
There's large wooden booths opposite the bar.
These lights illuminate the classic photos that adorn the walls. Check out Elvis.
Here's the beer selection, which also doubles as the obligatory barroom mirror shot.
Some of the regulars hanging out in the middle of the bar.
Billy at work behind the bar.
Lots of drinks have been consumed here tonight and here's proof.
A long shot of my beer and the bar.
There's a dartboard in a nook at the front of the bar.
The jukebox here is great and the varied artist's on it include: Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, The Sex Pistols, Queen, The Isley Brothers and New York's very own Dictators.
At the end of the evening Billy gave me a shot on the house. A great barkeep and bar indeed!
And at three in the morning, it's time to call it a night. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Rather than review BillyMark’s great watering hole, I thought I’d let one of the owners tell you about the history. Here’s something that Billy wrote about the bar that I found on their website.
“In summer of 1997, my brother Mark and I were sitting in his yard talking about our original BillyMarks Bar on College Point Boulevard by Shea Stadium in Queens. It was a good size bar -- 35 feet long -- pool table, arcade games, and a slamming juke box. And the crowd! What a mixture of people. We thought about how it would be great to open a bar like the original one, but in Manhattan. Just a regular place with great music, inexpensive drinks, a pool table and no theme -- a place where the crowd dictates the atmosphere.
Shortly after, we start checking out locations for this brainstorm, but nothing got us really excited. Then we come across this ad in the New York Times classifieds about a bar for sale. So we go check this joint out, and let me tell you, what a nightmare. Everything was off: the people; it was dirty; the corner of 29th and Ninth. What? Where? Ninth Avenue? Who goes there? But the one thing it had -- that no other place had we looked at had -- was the exact same dimensions as the first BillyMarks. It was like a time warp, as though someone airlifted the bar in Queens and laid it on 29th Street.
Now we're hooked, and started thinking that if we do this, clean up the joint, change the music, put up some posters and put in a pool table, this place would have the makings of a great bar.
Even with that inspiration, my brother and I never thought it would have become this! Just an easy, great place to hang, with a bunch of fun bartenders who will talk about anything from ancient history to modern music and a crowd that can run from artist to postal worker to political journalist within the span of three bar stools.
So come to BillyMarks before the clubs or concerts at the Garden for a tune up, or hang with the regulars and pretty soon you'll have a new nickname and you'll be part of the crowd.”
Stop by BillyMark’s West, a true slice of old school New York saloonery.
BillyMark's West
332 Ninth Ave. (@ 29th St.)
212-629-0118
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