Saturday, April 3rd, 2010—Bar 83

Day 83—Friday, April 2nd
12:31 Bar

Okay, I’ve written about this before, but for me, Friday and Saturday nights are the worst nights known to man and woman to go to a bar, especially in New York. It’s crowded, loud, hard to get a drink and if you’re going out late like I do, it’s filled with drunken happy hour idiots that should’ve left hours ago. I thought I had fixed the situation somewhat by going to hotel bars on Saturday nights, if I had no other plans. But that still left Friday. So now I’ve decided to shift the hotel night to Friday and I have a brand new Saturday theme to debut tomorrow. What’s the new Saturday theme? Well, you’ll have to wait and see, because we’ve got a hotel bar to go to for now.

I found a bar that’s fairly closeby where I work called the 12:31 bar in the Hotel Chandler. The name comes from its location: 12 E. 31st St. From what I read it’s a cozy little bar that doesn’t get too crowded, so it sounds perfect. Let’s go see if it is.

Here it is, the 12:31 at the Hotel Chandler.

Friday night and plenty of seats at the bar, that's what I like to see!

The friendly bartender Shimul serves up a bottle of Original Sin cider.

And here I sample the cider. Note to self: don't ever drink this cider again! I switched to Amstel Light after I drained this one, a little too sweet for my tastes.

Hey there's someone else at the end of the bar.

It's Marco and Veronika who were enjoying drinks and bar snacks. Hey, where's my snacks?

They're right here, free bar snacks! Woo and hoo!

Behind the bar are banquettes and tables to relax and enjoy your drinks.

Which is exactly what Daniel and Catalina were doing. Daniel was visiting from Columbia and Catalina is from Venezuela. Welcome to New York and cheers!

The blue lighting, dark wooden walls and paintings make for an elegant surrounding in the bar.

The bar in all its glory.

Here's LIam, who just got in from London. He smartly made a pit stop at the bar after unpacking.

Obligatory bathroom mirror shot! Goodnight everybody!

Review

The 12:31 bar is a cozy, little hideaway located in the Hotel Chandler on E. 31st St. It’s an intimate and elegant atmosphere with the space being about as large as two and a half New York studio apartments. The blue lighting and dark wood walls set the mood. The patrons are a fun mix of friendly tourists staying at the hotel and if you’re a local like me, it’s fun to recommend different spots and discuss the city with them. The crowd is a bit more local from six to nine when the after-work crowd stops by.

12:31 has a generous six hour Happy Hour Monday through Friday featuring three dollar beers, five buck house wines and drinks ranging from six to eight dollars. The bar features a few speciality cocktails including: a Caramel Appletini, a Pink Floyd inspired drink called, Comfortably Numb and Long Island Iced Tea. They also offer standard bar fare on the menu featuring: Mozzerlla Sticks, Chicken Fingers, Cheese Fries and a Cuban Sandwich. There’s a large screen TV and rumor has it that ocassionally belly dancers are brought in for entertainment.

The bar has a laid back atmosphere where you can usually snag a seat at the bar, even on a Friday night, which in my book is a good thing.

12:31 Bar
12 E. 31st St. (@ Madison Ave.)
646-218-4422