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