Saturday, November 6th, 2010—Bar 300

Day 300—Friday, November 5th, 2010
McCoys
Tonight’s a special night, it’s the 300th bar I’ve been to in a row. I thought about what kind of bar to go to and as usual kind of waited till the last minute to pick one. I decided on a bar called McCoy's in Hell’s Kitchen. This whole thing is about bars and McCoy’s appears to be just that: A bar. Nothing too special, kind of dark and a nice place to have a beer or four. Plus it’s a pick from 365 commentator Al Rizo and those always seem to be great places. Al is the co-pilot here and he sure can sniff out a great bar. Let’s go see what he sniffed out at McCoy's.

It's Friday night and there wasn't a chance of getting a taxi, so I sucked it up and walked the 21 blocks to McCoys. I passed this deli along the way and it's my kind of place. They have a lotto beer here. (Rimshot.) Plus an ATM shot for Joey D!

Here we are at McCoys bar in the heart of Hell's Kitchen.

The sign outside announcing their happy hour and other specials inside.

There's a trifecta of shamrocks outside on the wall and what I assume is a barrel of fun. Let's go inside.

It's packed inside and really loud. I found one seat at the end of the bar. It's nice and dark in here, another great pick from Al!

Shane was the only bartender on duty and even though he was busier than fuck, he agreed to pose for a photo. You can see the, "let's get this shit over with" look on his face.

Here's my view from my seat at the bar. It was so crowded and noisy I decided to skip the meet and greet photos and just take some shots at the bar and relax somewhat. It's been 300 bars and I feel I can take a little break from socializing for one night.

It's a great bar, but they could ditch these big screen TV's in my opinion.

Wow, people keep streaming in, it's really crowded in here. Oh well, it is Friday night after all.

Vintage black and white photos line the wooden wall opposite the bar.

A shot of the bar with lots of empties on top of it.

Sports pennants and knick-knacks hang over the top of the bar.

A photo of two midget baseball players hang on the wall. I like that.

The backroom has booths and tables and it's packed back here too.

The jukebox is legendary here and has such varied artists as: The Pogues, The Clash, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Warren Zevon and The Kinks among others.

A shot from the other end of the crowded bar.

Back at the bar, I had several beers and thought about all the different nights out I've had on this bar crawl. Tonight I just met Shane, but most nights I meet at least four people and talk to them. Take the average of four (most nights it's more) and that's over 1200 people I've met on this journey so far. Crazy.

300 bars down! Thanks so much for everyone who comes here and checks this out. It really does mean a lot to me. And I truly appreciate all you people that leave a comment, it's added a nice social community touch to the site. Cheers to all of you and goodnight everybody! 65 more to go!

Review
McCoy’s has been on the block in Hell’s Kitchen since the 1800’s and is one of the oldest bars in New York City. The front room is narrow with a long wooden bar taking up most of the space. There’s a window side booth up front and more booths and tables in the back. The jukebox is also in the back room and has one of the most eclectic selections in town. And you can even suggest they add a song to the jukebox here.

There’s a large selection of bottled and draft beers including: Guinness, Brooklyn Lager, Yuengling and their very own McCoy's Irish Ale. Happy hour runs from 4pm till 7pm with four buck beer and shots and various daily specials. The pub grub here includes such offerings as a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, burgers, wings and popcorn shrimp. And the kitchen is open till 4am for all you midnight tokers.

McCoys
http://www.mccoysnyc.com/
768 Ninth Ave. (Near 51st St.)
212-957-8055

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Bonus Photos From Tim Clack In New York City!

365 commentator Tim Clack and his girlfriend/almost wife Shannon are in town and here’s a few of the photos he’s taken during their vacation here along with his captions. Thanks for sending these along Clacky and it’s been fun hanging out with the two of you.

Some bright lights at Times Square.

Robert Cray band at BB King's nightclub.

Physical Graffiti on St Marks Place.

Some big arse buildings!

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Once again, Thanks to my co-pilot Al Rizo for a great suggestion! Al artwork by our own in-house artist, "Boris."

Sunday, July 18th, 2010—Bar 189

Day 189—Saturday, July 17th, 2010
Blarney Stone on Third
Alright, it’s request day today, which I love because It means I don’t have to pick the bar. A while back I got an email from Mark Smimmo suggesting that I stop at the Blarney Stone on Third Avenue. He told me to ask for Caroline whom he said was the best barmaid in the city. And so, it’s off to the Blarney Stone we go. It's just that easy.

It's Saturday, so we'll take a leisurely walk to the place.

Aaaahhhhhhh!

This old school shoe and watch place is a nice antidote for what we last saw.

And after a long, sweaty walk, here we are at the original Blarney Stone bar.

Lots of specials dot the lime green colored entrance.

Okay, to quote the Talking Heads, this must be the place.

Yvonne and Maggie were the two pretty and friendly bartenders on duty.

Caroline wasn't on duty, but she was enjoying drinks at the end of the bar. When I asked if I could take her picture, Caroline said no, but she did ask me to say hi to "Big Mark." So hi from Caroline, "Big Mark." And cheers to the late, great, Andy. "Smirnoff and water, NO FRUIT!" She remembered that Mark and it brought a smile to her face.

And how funny is this, the first person I meet is named Mark as well. This guy has been a regular for close to a year and was like a tour guide for me, introducing me to some of the regulars and showing me how the bar works and how the different areas house different people.

Mark poses with his grandfather, Tommy who's been perched on a barstool here for over 36 years.

Mark explained the division of the bar to me. The front area is the horse betters who bet in the neighboring OTB and watch the results on the TV's in the front of the bar.

The middle of the bar is friendly regulars and as you get to the right end, it gets a little rough. Mark is right about this, I asked a guy at the end of the bar if I could take a picture and it looked like he wanted to punch me in the mouth. I quickly retreated to the middle before my camera got smashed.

Mark told me the tables were mainly filled with tourists and first-timers to the Blarney Stone.

Here's a list of beers available and as you can see, you won't go broke drinking in here.

Alright, it's cheeseburger Saturday night and it's time to eat.

And master chef Julio is happy to grill me up some sliders.

Here he proudly displays the finished product. They look delicious.

And they are, I love cheeseburger Saturday night!

Mark's brother Jeff joins the party.

Jeff's got an ipad and everyone checks out the 365 Bar crawl.

Shit, I forgot to write down this guy's name. He's a great musician and a friend of Mark's. Mark if you're reading this, please leave his name in the comments section and I'll update this. UPDATE: I just got a comment from Pablo that this fine musician's name is Paulivio.

Yvonne serves up a special Blarney shot of whiskey on the house. This thing is huge, equal to about three ounces.

So of course I decide to down it in one gulp.

Bomb's away!

Wow, that was rough! The sliders about slid back the wrong way.

I think I'll survive though.

Feeling better and back to the beer.

Goodnight everybody!

Review
There’s a lot of Blarney bars in Manhattan. There’s Blarney Stones, Blarney Rocks and a Blarney Cove on 14th Street which I plan on visiting in a daytime episode of this bar crawl, but that’s another story and another bar crawl. The Blarney Stone on Third is the original Blarney bar. It’s a definitive working class bar and the crowd is varied and changes with the hours. In the daytime regulars bet at the neighboring OTB parlor and then watch the races on the TV. The bartenders are Irish, pretty and friendly and as nightime draws the crowd includes construction workers, local plumbers, suits from nearby office buildings, tourists and the grizzled regulars who never seem to leave the joint. Christmas lights intermingle with shamrocks over the bar and the beer flows freely.

There’s a good selection of bottled and draft beers and the prices are happy hour styled with pints running between $2.50 to $3.50 all day and all of the night to quote Ray Davies. The steam tables up front feature home-styled meals such as roast turkey and stuffing, baked ham, brisket of beef and meat loaf. All the meals include potato and vegetables and are served up in genuine Styrofoam buckets. There’s a large selection of sandwiches and the cheeseburgers are grilled to perfection before your very eyes.

There’s a lot of pretenders to the Blarney Stone name, but this is the real deal.

Blarney Stone
710 Third Ave (Between 44th and 45th Street)
212-490-0457

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010—Bar 174

Day 174—Friday, July 2nd, 2010
Irish Times
Okay, it’s Friday night and as usual I’m really tired and feel pretty burned out. And, yes, I would like some ice with my whine. Anyway, as I’ve constantly moaned about since I started this 365 Bar Crawl, Fridays are impossible to do my usual thing where I go around and talk to people. The bar is crowded, most people are out in groups, so it’s tough to approach them and the biggest thing is by this time of the week I’m really fucking sick of talking to people! I just want to make like Marcel Marceau, drink my three drinks, take some photos and get the hell out of Dodge. Last week I used quotes from Frank Booth, Dennis Hopper’s great, creepy character in the movie “Blue Velvet” for photo captions and I was going to start using different movies every Friday. The only problem was I couldn’t find another character that worked as good as Frank did. And then I realized, what the fuck, just because I don’t talk to people doesn’t mean I can’t write captions. So the captions are back on Friday’s posts, I just won’t know anyone’s names. And they won’t know mine, sometimes that’s a good thing. Oh and we’re going to Irish Times because it’s about a four minute walk from where I work. Set your stopwatches, you’ll see.

See? Here we are. Okay, let's go in and get this over with...err...have a good time.

Hey, look at this! It's not very crowded at all in here! Plenty of seats at the bar.

And Rijo serves me up an ice cold beer before I even sit down. Looks like I can do this Friday in true Bar Crawl fashion. Hooray for me!

I joined a friendly group of people for a drink who were sitting nearby. From left: Steve, Lauren, me and Amanda.

The TV's and lit up booze bottles make for a nice bar setting.

Large, comfortable wooden booths line the walls opposite the bar.

The long and winding bar.

Some of the beers on draft.

The dining area in the front...

And in the back, plenty of seats in here.

And there's an upstairs.

Let's check it out.

A spacious area with a great view.

A bird's-eye-view of the bar, part one...

And part two.

And something I haven't done for awhile, the obligatory bathroom mirror shot. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Okay, this is a good bar in a bit of a no-man’s land in Manhattan. If you’re going to an event at Madison Square Garden or want a quick drink or three before taking your train back to Jersey, you can’t get much closer than this. There’s always a good chance at getting a seat at the long and winding high polished wooden bar. There’s tables in the front and back for dining and drinking and a spacious seating area upstairs. Sports programs are projected from all of the 15 screens scattered throughout the bar.

There’s a decent selection of bottled beer and a very large selection of brews on tap including: Guinness, Steinlager, Palm Amber Ale and Boston Lager. Irish Times has a large selection of food including such Irish staples as: Irish Beef Stew, Shepherd's Pie, Fish And Chips and an Irish Breakfast that has grilled Irish bacon, sausage, pudding, tomato, eggs and served with french fries. They also have three varieties of burgers and a large selection of sandwiches and salads. There’s nightly drink specials and Happy Hour runs Monday through Friday offering six dollar martinis and cosmos, four buck beers and five dollar well drinks and shots.

Stop by on a Friday night, there’s plenty of seats. For now.

Irish Times
254 West 31st St. (Near 8th Ave.)
212-216-9355