Wednesday, July 28th, 2010—Bar 199

Day 199—Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
The SKINnY
Yesterday Nick Beal left this comment on the latest bar he’s been obsessing over: “hoping bar 200 is the skinny tonight!” Well, Nick, you asked for it, you got it, my friend! But the only problem is that tonight is bar number 199. I seem to remember you saying that you had five bucks on the SKINnY being bar number 200, so it’s time to pony up! The donation button is just over there to the right. Okay, let’s go see what the SKINnY is all about!

Here we are, The SKINnY Lounge on the Lower East Side.

The bar lives up to its name, it sure is skinny in here and there's a full crowd at the bar.

I manage to squeeze into a spot and the cute and friendly bartender Deborah serves up a Pabst tallboy.

They were also giving away free vodka drinks, so here's a double-fisted toast, cheers!

The front area is a lounge with black leather couches and candle-lit tables.

Here's your choice of canned and bottled beers.

The lovely Hannah was seated next to me at the bar and was enjoying the free vodka offerings.

The bar is well stocked and you won't go broke drinking here.

Just one of the many drink specials offered at The SKINnY.

All of a sudden it was really crowded in here and my claustrophobia kicked in.

Jaclyn and Jordan are two of the regulars in the bar. They're friendly people and were very supportive of the 365 bar crawl, cheers to both of you!

The front of the bar has filled up, this place is lively for a Tuesday night.

And on the eighth day God created the disco ball.

Julie and Nikki were more than happy to pose for the 365 camera.

In fact they wanted a second shot as well, here you go gals!

JFortino was enjoying a cocktail at the bar. He's a singer and songwriter and you can check out his work here: JFortino. His choice of eye wear seems to be a little bit influenced by Elton John.

They screen films and have trivia questions on the screen hanging from the ceiling in front.

Meanwhile Deborah's hard at work behind the bar.

This was Mike and Tim's first time in the bar and they happily flash the 365 card. Thanks, guys!

Here's the pool table in the tiny second floor area.

And I leave you with a birds-eye view of the SKINnY in all its glory and action. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
The SKINnY is aptlly named as you’ll see as you enter this narrow, railroad styled saloon. The front is a lounge area equipped with black leather couches pinned up to the red and black walls. The bar is as tall as it is skinny with 20 foot ceilings and a small mezzanine just big enough to house a pool table on a second floor. The wooden bar is in the middle and the bartenders are friendly and the crowd is mainly neighborhood regulars. There’s a small dark back room where more often than not you’ll find couples in the act of drunken public displays of affection. DJ’s blast rock, punk and funk from a second floor booth.

There’s a full bar and while there’s no draft beer there’s a good selection of bottled beer and 16 ounce cans of Pabst. There’s lots of drink specials here including a generous happy hour that runs from 5pm to 9pm, Monday through Saturday with three dollar well drinks, 16 oz. Pabst cans, Bud, and Bud Light and all other beers are four bucks. Thursday’s offer five bucks and under drinks all day and all night. Sunday through Wednesday you can get a 16 ounce Pabst and a shot of your choice for five dollars.

And that’s the skinny on The SKINnY. You happy Nick Beal?

The SKINnY
174 Orchard St (Near Stanton St.)
212-228-3668

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010—Bar 198

Day 198—Monday, July 26th, 2010
119 Bar
Okay, it’s Monday night and I’m going out a little earlier because I have to go to work earlier tomorrow, which means I have to get up really early to get this thing posted. And no, I don’t want any ice with my whine, thank you very much. I’m going to stick close to home and go to the 119 Bar which is located about five minutes from where I live, so I can walk there from work and then be home in minutes flat after my drinking picture taking are done. And yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I should’ve done this on the 119th night, but better late than never. Or early in this case...aw, fuck it, let’s just go.
Here we are, I love the neon in the window.

And the first thing I see when I walk in is a tin ceiling. I've learned in my travels that a tin ceiling always equates to a great bar and this certainly rings true as my evening plays out in here.

And since it's Monday night, there's plenty of seats at the bar. And this picture is misleading due to my flash. This is one of the darkest  rooms I've been in on the bar crawl so far. Commentator Al would be in heaven in this joint.

Bobby's a friendly bartender and picked the tunes for the evening which were blaring out of the speakers in the bar. The music and attitude are 100 percent rock and roll in here.

The front room houses the pool table lit up with the green lights overhead.

A poster for Elvis Costello and the Rude 5 is one of the few wall decorations hanging up.

The couches and chairs in this room are comfortable and well-worn.

This couch could use a fresh coat of duct tape to help keep it together.

Bobby works the bar in the middle room as more people start showing up.

You gottal love the vintage Frank mug shot on the wall.

The booths in the back of the middle room are large and comfortable.

And Ella and William were making good use of one of them.

Here's one of the partners in the bar Tommy Hill with the bouncer/door man Harold. Tommy told me that there was a little sadness in the air in the bar this week as one of the other partners Dennis had died of cancer a few days earlier. Cheers to Dennis, R.I.P.

Here's Tommy with some of his friends, from left: Tommy, Chris, Patrick and Jimmy who's also a partner in the bar. Cheers, guys!

Here's a sunken pleasure pit in the third room.

One more for the road and then...

It's home, sweet home. Told you I lived close by. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
There are four things to do at 119 Bar: Drink, play pool, listen to the rock and roll blaring out of the speakers and drink some more. And these are four very good things to do. The 119 is a rock and roll bar and it’s very dark inside. The bar is split into three sections. When you walk in, you enter the front room, which has a well-used pool table, comfortable, yet falling apart couches that appear to have been bought at a 1973 thrift store, chairs and tables and paneled walls. A lone Elvis Costello poster hangs on the wall and a vintage green chandelier lights the pool table. As you move to the left and enter the middle room you realize that you’re eyes are never going to adjust to the darkness in here and surrender to the darkness. The bar is in here along with comfortable wooden booths on the opposite side of the room. Rock and roll tunes blare in here and the artists are the choices of the bartender. The night I was there I heard the Clash, Iggy Pop, Talking Heads, Rolling Stones and Modern English. The third room in the bar has a sunken area with couches, chairs and a table and the graffiti-laced bathrooms are also in this room. The patrons are local and since it’s right below Irving Plaza, don’t be surprised if the band playing that night is down in the bar after the gig. The Strokes, Kings of Leon and most recently, Ratt have all stopped by for post-show drinks. And Drew Barrymore has visited many times to play pool.

There’s a full bar with a good selection of bottled beer and some of the draft selecctions include: Sam Adams, Blue Moon, Brooklyn Lager and Yuengling. There’s no happy hour, no food, just booze, pool, rock and roll and darkness. And I like it.

119 Bar
119 E. 15th St.  (@Irving Pl.)
212-777-6158

Monday, July 26th, 2010—Bar 197

Day 197—Sunday, July 25th, 2010
P.J. Clarke's
Okay, for those of you who just follow the crawl during the week, you should really check out yesterday’s post. It was a great night out and one of the best so far, here’s the link: Sunday’s post.

Seeing the film “Goodfellas” last night, put me in an old school New York frame of mind, so tonight I thought I’d go to the classic New York tavern, P.J. Clarke’s. It’s one of New York’s most well known bars and some of the former regulars include Frank Sinatra, Jackie O., Nat King Cole and Buddy Holly proposed to Maria Elena Santiago in here in 1958.

I found this great P.J. Clarke’s story from the actor Richard Harris online and here it is: “I adore the hamburgers at P.J. Clarke's. In my drinking days, it was my first stop from the airport. A fellow named Vinny used to be the bartender there, and when I told him I wanted the usual, he lined up six double vodkas. I told an interviewer that once, and he said, ‘That's a lot of bull, that's one of your exaggerated stories!’ I said, ‘call a taxi.’ We walked into P. J. Clarke's, I said, ‘Vinny, my usual.’ And he lined up six double vodkas.”

Ha ha ha! That’s great, I think I’ll stick to beer though and I think I see a cheeseburger in my future!

Okay, we're two blocks away, here we are at 53rd and 3rd. Cheers to Dee Dee Ramone who used to work this block.

There it is, it looks like it's the one after 909. Okay, I'm done with the song puns.

Here it is, the legendary P.J. Clarke's.

The bar's crowded as usual, but I spy a seat I can wiggle into.

And bartender Michael is quick on the draw with an ice cold beer.

Here's some of the draft beer available.

There's a big crowd in here considering it's Sunday night.

As you can see, there's an extensive list of bottled beers available.

Here's Jillian, the lovely hostess for the back dining room.

And here's the back dining room in all its red-checkered table cloth glory.

The raw bar stands opposite the bar.

The whiskey list.

Mark and Can were seated next to me at the bar and had a few suggestions for the bar crawl, I may try one of them tonight.

It's Sunday night and that means Sunday dinner at a bar. Here's my appetizer, homemade potato chips and baked blue cheese dip.

The condiments are set up which can only mean...

Cheeseburger! Bartender Justin serves up the Cadillac Burger.

It truly lives up to its name.

A tasty burger indeed!

A glance out of the window as I leave. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
P.J. Clarke’s is a New York institution. It’s open till four in the morning every day of the week and you’ll find a decent crowd of locals, tourists, business people and construction workers all enjoying the old school ambiance. If you’re lucky to score a stool at the front wooden bar, the bartenders will happily serve you up a beer or a drink that you can choose from one of the chalk board menus hanging up in the back wall of the bar. The bartenders wear white shirts and black ties and are quick with a drink and some of the friendliest servers in town.

P.J. Clarke’s has a full bar and a dining area in the back. The menu includes delicious appetizers such as: Homemade Potato Chips & Baked Blue Cheese Dip, Crisp Parmesan Tater Tots and ‘Hand Picked’ Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. There’s a raw bar that has offerings of, East & West Coast Oysters, Littleneck and Cherrystone Clams, Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, and a Raw Sampler Platter including four oysters, four jumbo shrimp, three littlenecks and three cherrystones. There’s a wide range of entrees including five choices of steak and daily specials, but take my advice and skip them and order the The Cadillac Burger which is smoked country bacon and American cheese and a perfectly cooked burger. Nat King Cole named it and you should eat it if you’re there. The name isn’t a lie.

P.J. Clarke's
915 Third Ave.  (@55th St.)
212-317-1616