Friday, July 9th, 2010—Bar 180

Day 180—Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Rodeo Bar
The blistering heat wave that hit New York has lightened up a bit, it “only” got up to 89 degrees today. All this heat has made me thirsty for a good margarita and I’ve been told they serve up decent ones at a bar called the Rodeo Bar on 27th and 3rd. It’s close enough to walk to and there’s live music every night of the week. So what the fuck? Let’s go!

Lots of neon here at the Rodeo Bar.

It's crowded but I see a little slice of the bar that I'm going to slide into and order a margarita.

And the friendly and super-cute bartender Amy Jo is more than happy to serve one up.

Here's a view from the end of the bar.

Peanuts!

(Which can only lead to) Shells on the floor!

I didn't write down all their names, so we'll just refer to this group as the Rodeo Bar Party People.

And here I am with the aforementioned Party People.

There's neon on the outside and neon on the inside at this roadhouse.

Some of the drink specials available.

Smile, Chris and Steph, you're on 365 camera!

The antler chandelier hangs over the bar.

Texas license plates cover the top of the long wooden bar in the front room.

There's tables for dining and drinking off to the side of the bar and in the back.

Ally and Alex were seated next to me at the bar and I found out they had just moved to New York and this was their first night. Welcome to the city ladies, you're a beautiful and welcome addition!

Amy Jo came round from the bar to pose with Ally and Alex.

The bar has an upstairs lounge area.

And here it is, a comfortable little hideaway.

Here's the room off from the bar where bands play seven nights a week.

And there's another bar in this room done up in true truck stop style.

The Fustics were onstage and they were a great band. They played songs ranging from Johnny Cash, to the Allman Brothers to The Band. Check them out on MySpace here: The Fustics.

And downstairs in the basement, there's ATM service for Joey D. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
When you step into the Rodeo Bar, you leave Manhattan and enter a Honky Tonk atmosphere that would do Texas proud. The atmosphere is pure roadhouse, from the peanut shells on the wooden floor to the indoor neon lights to the bar which is made up of Texas license plates. The bartenders are pretty and friendly and the crowd is a mix of locals and tourists checking out a slice of country in the big city. There’s live music, seven nights a week with no cover charge and the band plays in a separate room allowing for easy conversation in the front bar.

There’s a full bar with an impressive amount of bottled beers and several varieties of margaritas to quench your thirst. The kitchen is open late and the flavors here vary from Mexican, southwestern, barbecue, southern and soul food. It’s a large menu with an impressive appetizer list, a good variety of burgers, sandwiches, fajitas and slow-cooked Texas barbecue. If you’re really hungry try the 24 ounce Rodeo steak and let your inner Elvis loose by topping it off with the Fat Elvis dessert which is a deep fried banana chimichanga with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. There’s drink specials during the Happy Hour which runs from Monday through Saturday, 4pm to 9pm. There’s also a late night Happy Hour, midnight to 2am on Monday through Wednesday. Yeeha!

Rodeo Bar
375 Third Ave. (@27th St.)
212-683-6500

Thursday, July 8th, 2010—Bar 179

Day 179—Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Ipanema (Originally headed for Fedora)

What's that ding-a-ling? No, it's not Chuck Berry, it's the PayPal donation button which has been dormant for a while. And the donation is from the very first person who donated here months ago, Rich "Happy Cappy" Caposino! Rich generously sent in twenty bucks with the stated purpose on the PayPal receipt being, "subliminal begging received." Thanks Happy Cappy, tonight's Blimpie sandwich and beers will be on you!

Today I wandered over to the Half Empty Glass and saw a post entitled, “Fedora” by Fat Al and there was a picture of two fedoras, prominently displayed. For a minute, I thought this hellish heat wave we’re having had driven Fat Al completely barmy and he was writing about hats. But then I saw a picture of a bar and it drew me in. It seems there’s a legendary bar in the West Village called, Fedora. Fat Al was reporting on this post that he saw on Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York  that this place might be one more classic New York bar that is close to closing. I Googled around and I found out Fedora has been at the same location since 1952 and Fedora who owns it still bartends there today. Lets go see if she’s there tonight, this place sounds like a real slice of New York bar history.

Here we are, but the sign's not lit, that's not a good sign.

The door was open so I wandered in and found the legendary and lovely bar hostess, Fedora behind her bar. She was closing the joint early due to the heat and lack of customers.

But she was nice enough to take time to pose for a picture with me and invited me back. The bar crawl will continue with a full report and pictures from Fedora soon. Stay tuned.

And now time for a lonely walk to find another bar for tonight.

(And no, I never get tired of putting this video up.)

Stay! Good boy!

This place looks promising.

It's dark and the bartender is cute, I think we've found bar 179.

Marlies the pretty bartender serves up an ice cold Budweiser.

Larry's a regular who was seated next to me and said I could only take his picture if Marlies was next to him. I agreed whole-heartedly.

There's chairs in the front window for gazing out on 14th Street.

Here's a shot of the bar and Marlies perusing a flyer.

There's also a full bar in the back.

And a pool table is situated back there as well. Tesia is not only a pool player here, she's the manager. She's also a film director and writer, check out her YouTube channel here: Tesia DeCouto.

Jesus and the lovely Melissa were working the back end of the bar.

Here's Melissa with regulars, Gino and Hector.

And on my walk home I saw this sign, a good enough reason as any to bring back this well-worn topic: Fire! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Step down into this dark, neon lit bar and you’ll find a mostly male clientele enjoying drinks and chatting with the friendly and pretty female bartenders who draw them in. The front of the bar is a long narrow space, with a dark wooden bar and stools in the front by the window if you’d rather gaze at 14th Street instead of the women behind the bar. It’s a Spanish-themed tavern and the majority of the patrons are locals from the neighborhood or guys having a drink or three after work. The music ranges from Spanish to reggae to hip-hop and there’s a pool table in the back. There’s also a second full bar in the back reserved for private parties.

It’s a full bar and there’s a long Happy Hour that stretches from noon to 8pm featuring two cocktails for ten bucks. The bar is open from noon to 4am. And the bartenders from Ipanema are lovely, stop by and see for yourself. ¡Aclamaciones!

Ipanema
252 W. 14th St. (between 7th and 8th Ave.)
212-807-0150

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010—Bar 178

Day 178—Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Antarctica
Okay, so we’re in the middle of a blazing heat wave here in the Baked...err...I mean Big Apple. It broke 100 degrees today and I think it’s going to do the same tomorrow. So what better place to go to when it’s hot than Antarctica? Okay, I wish I had the dough (see PayPal button to the right) to go to Antarctica (see PayPal button to the right) but it’s hard enough scraping together cab fare home from some of these places (see PayPal button to the right.) (Okay, the subliminal begging portion of this post is over.)

There’s a bar on the corner of Spring and Hudson in Soho called Antarctica, so of course I have to go there tonight to try and beat this heat. Will it live up to its chilling name? Let’s go see.

Wow, the cabbie actually has his air conditioner cranking full-blast! This is a good sign!

And here we are, Antarctica. I hope it lives up to its name, because it feels like the Sahara desert on this side of the door.

They have benches outside, but no one's going to sit in them on a hot night like tonight.

Aaahh, I'm hit with a blast of air conditioning as I walk in. And due to the fact that we're coming off of a three day weekend and the heat means a slow night at most bars including this one. Which is fine with me, I feel like just chilling out, literally.

And here to help the chilling process with an ice-cold drink is the lovely and friendly bartender, Kim.

It's so hot, I opted out for a beer and got one of their giganzo mixed drinks instead. A 16 ounce vodka and OJ for six bucks, not bad! Cheers!
However if you are in a beer mood, there's a good selection to be had here, check it out.

There's leather-lined banquettes opposite the bar for comfortable seating.

If your name is on this magic board, you drink for free! Sadly the name was Satoko and not Marty. And yes, there was a Satoko that came in that night, according to Kim. She had four pints of Guinness on the house.

Dave and Sean were holding down the end of the bar and having some drinks to beat the heat.

Some of the draft beers available at Antarctica.

There's a pool table in the back.

And a list of rules to follow on the wall. They take their pool playing seriously here! I like number 10 the best.

Ed and Lisa were perched at the bar and loved the 365 bar crawl idea. They said they'd tell a million and ten people. Okay, I'm counting on you!

The best seat in the house, with a nice view of Hudson Street.

The well-worn bar at Antarctica.

And now the bad news, I have to leave and go face the heat again.

But the good news is my tiny little window unit is still cranking out chilled air. Aaahhh! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Antarctica is a bar that lives up to its name in the middle of a heat wave in the Soho section of downtown Manhattan. It was an oasis of cool air and cheap booze and an all around good time. All the ingredients of a top-notch neighborhood bar are here: long wooden bar, friendly bartender, spacious area with tables and banquettes for seating, good jukebox and a pool table. And they take their pool playing seriously here. Rules are posted on the walls and team award plaques are hung nearby. The vibe is friendly and casual and the drinks are priced for a recession-friendly good time.

There’s a large selection of ice-cold (hey it’s Antarctica, what do you expect?) bottled beers available and some of the draft choices include: Stella Artois, Guinness, Brooklyn Lager and Samuel Adams. Mixed drinks are served in 16 ounce pint glasses and are available for between five to seven bucks a pop. Domestic pitchers of beer can be had for 10 bucks apiece and imported pitchers go for fifteen a pitcher.

Every night is “Name Night” at Antarctica. If your name matches the name on the board, you drink for free from 5pm to 11pm, Monday through Friday and 7pm to 1am on Saturday nights. You can check to see the month’s names at their website (listed below.)

Antarctica
287 Hudson St. (@Spring St.)
212-736-1575