Friday, August 27th, 2010—Bar 229

Day 229—Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Holland Cocktail Lounge
Okay, last night sucked ass, so hopefully tonight will be better. I don’t want to have two loser nights in a row, so tonight I’m picking a ringer. Commentator Al Rizo has never steered me wrong on quality, dark, New York, old school bars. Last week he suggested Milano’s which was a winner I went to the other night and he also recommended The Holland Cocktail Lounge. I walked by this bar the other night and it looked perfect. It’s small, dark and has been on the block forever, so let’s prepare to rebound from last night’s disaster.

The signs make it clear: You're at a bar when you enter the Holland Cocktail Lounge.

Okay, now this feels like home! Another great suggestion from Al.

Bartender Steve is a friendly and hospitable host, but he's got a bat, so I behaved myself in this joint.

John was enjoying a drink at the bar and didn't know how to spell "culottes." I happily spelled it out for him and he was somewhat frightened of my obsession on the subject, as he rightfully should have been.

After the spelling lesson, Steve took this photo of me with the wonderful Holland sign blazing in the background.

And speaking of the sign, here it is in all its glory. It's the original sign from when the Holland bar was located in the Holland Welfare Hotel on 42nd Street. The bar was originally opened in 1927.

Another shot of the glorious sign with Steve underneath. Steve has been a bartender in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood for over 22 years.

Interesting picutres, art and newspaper clippings decorate the walls within the Holland Cocktail Lounge.

Here's some of the news clippings.

Any place that has a picture of Eddie Munster on the wall is A-OK in my book.

The ashes of former bartender and regular Charlie O'Connor are in this urn that rests in the Holland signage.

Here's Steve with a Daily News article about Charlie's ashes in the bar. Cheers to Charlie!

Here's regulars Don and Bill at the bar with John.

Don had a list of notable bars to visit he had copied from a book. I've been to most of them, but will check out the one's I've missed in the future.

A shot of Marilyn Monroe hangs next to the bathroom.

A shot of the bar from the far end of the back of the place.

The cash register is a vintage beauty.

The table up in the front is a great spot to have a drink or five and enjoy the people watching on Ninth Avenue.

And a final glance out the window and I'm on my way home. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
The wonderfully tacky orange banners that hang over the building say it all in beautiful bold capital letters: BAR. That’s what the Holiday Cocktail Lounge is, a bar. Nothing more and certainly nothing less. The bar was originally housed in the Holland Welfare Hotel on 42nd Street and moved to this location in 1988. Jazz musician Dexter Gordon lived in the Holland Hotel and was known to amble into the bar in his pajamas and drink his breakfast. These days the older regulars shuffle in at 8am and watch movies on the TV while sipping their am drinks. The original Holiday neon sign hangs gloriously over the small, shotgun spaced bar and select news clippings and artwork decorate the walls. There’s friendly bartenders and groups of regulars change with every passing hour.

The Holland Cocktail Loune has a full bar the drinking is cheap here. It’s a beer and a shot place so don’t expect any fancy cocktail offerings. There’s no food, but there is a 2 Brothers pizza joint on the corner and you’re welcome to bring in a dollar slice to sop up some of the suds. It’s the perfect bar food for this historical Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood joint. Cheers!

Holland Cocktail Lounge
532 Ninth Ave. (Near 39th St.)
212-502-4609

Thursday, July 15th, 2010—Bar 186

Day 186—Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Coppersmith's (Originally headed for J. Macs.)
Alright, tonight’s bar is another one that I owe a hat tip to Fat Al over at the fine blog, The Half Empty Glass. On Monday he wrote a nice post about my visit to Fedora’s bar last Sunday. In his post he wrote about a bar in Hell’s Kitchen called J.Mac's that has the last cigarette machine in town. Okay, that’s a must-stop for this 365 crawl, smoke 'em if you got ‘em and if you don’t got ‘em you can get ‘em soon.

Okay, sometimes things get weird on the old bar crawl and tonight is one of them. I walked into J. Mac’s and it was a little crazy in there. There were only about five people in there, but they were all screaming and making lots of noise and appeared to be pretty fucked up. I approached the bar and the bartender looked a little weary as I started to tell her about my website. She looked at my camera, threw her hands up in the air and said, “No, you can’t do this in here tonight and that’s all I’m going to say. Don’t ask me anything else.” I told her I understood and  jokingly said that I didn’t want to get my legs broken to which she replied, “That’s good.” And there was no humor in her voice. People, as a seasoned bar crawler you learn when someone tells you it’s a smart move not to want to get your legs broken and there’s no humor attached to it, you thank the person and move on. She did tell me I could try again on another night and I’m just senseless enough to try, so stay tuned. Now it’s off to another bar while I can still walk.

And so a another lonely walk begins on the crawl.

Motherfucker, it's really no-man's land out here and I'm hotter than shit.

Help me Jesus! I haven't been that bad...okay, I have, but for fuck's sake, cut me a break here, I'm sweating my ass off.

This is the best you got, Jesus? Fuck this, I'm not drinking in a Holiday Inn!

Self-portrait of a sweaty and angry bar crawler.

Okay, we're at 54th and 9th, I've passed some bars but they've all been too crowded and noisy to do my bar crawl thing in.

And a block later I find this oasis in Hell's Kitchen.

The air is cool inside and the bar is long with lots of seats, welcome to tonight's bar everyone!

And it's a fun joint with friendly patrons and pretty bartenders. From left: Maire, Heather, the 365 goofball and Paula.

A longshot of the bar, upfront are large open French doors which really give the place a nice open feeling.

2 fer Tuesday specials.

The lovely Paula serves up another Corona with a fresh lime.

There's a large selection of drafts available here.

The bare bulbs hanging from the tin ceiling are a nice touch and add to the friendly mood of the bar.

Adrian, Tara and Halley were having fun at the end of the bar.

Paula hard at work...

And hard at partying with Heather at the other end of the bar. Cheers, ladies!

Maire and Louise were enjoying wine from the extensive wine list at Coppersmiths.

Seated next to me were, Paris, Joseph and Julie.

And a little ATM action for Joey D. downstairs next to the bathroom. This can only mean one thing...

Obligatory bathroom shot! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Coppersmiths is a nice neighborhood hangout. Upfront, French doors open up and give the front area a nice porch feeling with an excellent view of Ninth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen in all its glory. There’s tall mahogany tables up front leading to the long polished bar in the middle. The bar has eleven TV’s with sports on them, jerseys and sports memorabilia hang on the exposed brick walls. Bare light bulbs dangle from the tin ceilings and the bartenders are friendly, fun and pretty.

The bar has a large draft and bottled beer selection including, Hoegaarden, Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn Lager and Labatts Blue on tap. Bottled beers include: Amstel Light, Heineken, Corona, Sam Adams Light and Magners. They have a large menu including varied appetizers, five syles of burgers, pasta and such entrees as: Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf, Rosemary Chicken, Grilled Pork Chops and Chicken Pot Pie. There’s nightly drink specials and on Sunday for 25 bucks it’s all you can drink (Budweiser, Bud Light or Coors drafts) with an order of wings thrown in for good measure.

Copersmith’s is a bar that is friendly and fun, but doesn’t merge into crazyville. It’s a good hang.

Coppersmith's
793 Ninth Ave. (Near 53rd St.)
212-957-2994