Saturday, August 21st, 2010—Bar 223

Day 223—Friday, August 20th, 2010

36 West

Okay, last week I cheated a little and didn’t do a real, “full service” bar crawl because I was burnt out beyond belief. And I’m sure it won’t be the last time I do that on a Friday night. But tonight I’m not feeling too bad for a Friday, so I’ll attempt a regular crawl tonight. On Fridays I try to find places that won’t be packed, but will still be a decent bar to drink at. I think I’ve found one tonight, and like Walter’s last night, it’s close by, so that’s even better. New York magazine had this to say about the place, “36 West makes a fine locale while waiting for a train, thanks to the cocktail list.” I’ve been by this place and it’s not that big, but being a cocktail bar, I don’t think it’ll attract a huge crowd on a Friday night. I was a little shocked to find out they’re open till four in the morning, because it seems like it’s more of an after work, happy hour kind of place. Well, we won’t know what kind of place it is till we get there, so it’s off we go.

Okay, here we are at 36th Street, just a couple blocks and we're there.

The only problem here is, if someone doesn't know english, how are they going to read this sign?

Here we are, 36 West.

It looks delightfully quiet for a Friday night. Perfect.

And the lovely Katerina serves up a margarita.

Cheers!

A shot of the marble-topped bar.

Here's the draft beers that are available at 36 West.

There's tables up front for dining.

A big screen TV hangs up high at the bar which is perfect. If you want to watch it, it's there, if not, it's not in your face.

My second drink was a caipirinha jalapeno martini, one of the signature drinks of the bar. Be forewarned though it is really spicy. Truly firewater.

Here's Gabe the owner seated at the end of the bar.

Here's the large selection of bottled beers available at 36 West.

A mirror shot of the bar.

Meanwhile, back at the bar...

I order my final drink of the night, a Corona to put out the fire from that caipirinha martini.

Obligatory bathroom mirror shot! Goodnight, everybody!

Review

36 West is a no frills bar and restaurant. There’s not a lot of gimmicks, but there is friendly bartenders and cliental at the marble-topped bar. The music is played at a conversational level and it’s a nice place to enjoy a relaxing drink. Especially on a Friday night when most bars are madhouses. This place is a nice little, quiet oasis.

There’s a decent selection of bottled and draft beer, but this place specializes in is cocktails. They have five styles of caipirinha drinks, a half dozed kinds of favored martinis, five types of mojitos, four selections of margaritas, five varieties of flavored shots and the partridge in the pear tree is five kinds of exotic drinks including: Banana Split, Mint Chocolate, Macaroon and one titled, Agent Orange. Hmm, I don’t think too many Vietnam veterans will be ordering that last one. There’s a happy hour Monday through Friday from 4pm to 7pm with two for one beers, 6 buck margaritas and half price buffalo wings and zucchini sticks.

Like the bar itself, the menu is small, but nice. Some of the items offered include: jalapeño poppers, buffalo wings, a vegetable burger and a grilled chicken sandwich. One item that sounds extremely tasty is the Skewered Steaks which is marinated beef in citrus juice with mushrooms, onions and peppers and then grilled.

Mondays are Wii Mondays at the bar and Tuesday is karaoke night. You’ve been warned!

36 West

389 Eighth Ave. (Near Eighth Ave.)

212-695-3710

And now, for Clacky! Atomic Dog!