Monday, October 11th, 2010—Bar 274

Day 274—Sunday, October 10th, 2010
Boca Chica
Okay, it’s Sunday and that can mean only one thing: Sunday Night Dinner! Tonight I picked a Latin American restaurant called Boca Chica. I was introduced to this place by my friend, LN Sugarman, who I think doesn’t even read this blog, even though I’m going to give her business a plugola right here: SugarMag Publisher Services. I haven’t talked to LN in quite a while, but years ago she had a business dinner here and was kind enough to invite me along. The food is great and its got a nice little bar too, so that’s tonight’s destination.

And we have a guest special guest star tonight, the one and only Sam Gedyman! An actual blood relative of mine. Sam’s my cousin (actually my cousin MaryAnn’s son, so I guess he’s my second cousin, I think...now I’m confused...hi MaryAnn!) and is a talented actor, singer, songwriter, comedy writer, dog-walker and a prince among men and those pretending to be men. He and his partner in comedy crime, Nat Angrick have fromed a comedic duo called Tieam Us and you should check out their videos on YouTube and you can follow them on Twitter, here’s the linkage: Tieam Us on YouTube  and you can follow Tieam Us on Twitter. Okay, on to the bar!

Boca Chica, a colorful and festive fixture on the Lower East Side.

I think I see a familiar fellow at the bar.

Bartender Ivan serves up a beer...

And yes, that familiar face is my cousin, Sam Gedyman. Cheers!

As you can see, it's a full bar and they make a killer margarita as you'll see later.

Limen was enjoying some of the fine food at the bar.

And suddenly...fruit!

Tables line the front wall with a fine view of First Avenue.

A leopard skin banquette sits in the back of the restaurant.

Nightly specials are posted on the mirror above the banquette.

Some of the Latin American kitsch and kaboodle on the wall above the bar.

These lovely women were enjoying cocktails and awaiting their dinner. From left: Andaria, Jessica, Sakinah and Sheba.

A little Grateful Dead art for Joey D.

A view from the front windows.

Meanwhile back at the bar, Sam and Ivan are checking out the menu.

First up, coconut shrimp appetizer.

And then the main course.

I had the Cuban Sandwich and Sam had...well, I'm not sure what Sam had, but it was a giant plate of food. And it was delicious!

And for desert, the killer margaritas. Be forewarned these things are tequila bombs! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Boca Chica has been a favorite Latin American Restaurant and bar on the Lower East side for close to fifteen years now. The restaurant has a relaxing, low-key vibe with brick walls and festive colors. The bar is cozy and the staff are friendly. The cliental is mainly local folks from the neighborhood and regulars at the bar.

There’s no draft beer but they do have a full bar with a decent selection of bottled beers. Some of the signature drinks include house Sangria, Margaritas and Mojitos. If you like shrimp, this is your dream restaurant, there’s eight different shrimp dishes on the menu including: Shrimp, Avocado and Heart Of Palm Salad; Shrimp Chipotle; Shrimp Ajillo and Moqueca De Peixe shrimp and fish in coconut sauce. Other entrees featured are: Skirt Steak Chimichurri; Cuban Sandwich; Burrito Cubano and an Argentina Chopped Steak Sandwich with chimichurri mayo.

Brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4pm.

Boca Chica
13 First Ave. (@ 1st. St.)
212-473-0108

-----------------------

"Misery and Gin," a place I may be at the end of the week. Thanks to Tim Clack for bringing this song up. Cheers!

Friday, October 8th, 2010—Bar 271

Day 271—Thursday, October 7th, 2010
Hop Devil Bar & Grill (Originally headed for The Summit Bar)
I thought I’d switch things up a little bit and hit a cocktail bar for a change of pace. Through the power of my good friend Google, I tripped across a place called The Summit Bar, which looks like a nice, comfortable place amidst the classic dive bars and some of the horrible frat bars in the East Village. The name refers to the Rat Pack, so let’s go see if this place swings, ring-a-ding-ding.

The Summit bar, the port of call for the evening.

It looks nice in here, but it's packed. Not a single seat at the bar to be had and too crowded to do my 365 thing in. I'll try this place again, but now...

Time for a lonely walk in the East Village in search of tonight's bar.

After walking around a bit I stumbled onto this place. I like the devil sign.

And there's seats at the bar. I think we've found tonight's destination.

And the lovely bartender Cecilia pours me a Cooper's Pale Ale, a beer I discovered through our Australian friend and commentator, David Brooks. Cheers, Brooksy!

Here's Julian, who's a waiter at the bar.

A shot of the bar.

They have an impressive amount of draft beers and they change them out every month, bringing in new beers to sample.

There's tables opposite the bar.

And larger, wooden tables line the colorful, back wall which is adorned with beer signs.

There's also a somewhat elevated back room.

The back room has tables and a big screen TV, mainly tuned to sports.

A cool Coney Island sign hangs back here as well.

A view of the bar from the back room.

Here's Roshni, Michael and Kate who were enjoying the evening at Hop Devil.

And here's Kate with Sam up at the bar.

Bob and Jenny were seated next to me at the bar. They're visiting New York from Minnesota.

It was a dollar to change the board in the middle of the bar. The deal is, you pay the dough and you can write whatever you want. Then the price goes up a buck for the next person to change it.

So I got in on the game, see, Motherfucker?

And there it hangs, allow me to enjoy this moment of glory!

The night is winding down and time to head out the door.

And look what I spy on my way out the door! Hey, Daddio! And, Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Hop Devil Grill is a nice, somewhat low-key bar and restaurant with a Tex-Mex atmosphere and menu. The bar is low-lit with an impressive amount of drafts on tap. The staff are friendly and if you’re lucky they’ll share some frittes at the bar with you. The music is played at a conversational level and the crowd is mainly locals looking for a good meal and a chance to try sample some new beers from the massive beer menu.

It’s a full bar, but the emphasis here is beer and tequila. There’s two dozen ever-changing beers on tap that range from craft to imported. The bottled beer selection takes you round the world with choices from Australia to Japan to Belgium to Germany and back to the good old U.S.A. There’s a huge selection of tequila and a decent wine list as well.

The food menu stays true to the Tex-Mex theme with 8 styles of tacos, a variety of gourmet burritos, fajitas and five choices of quesadillas. They also have five kinds of burgers and appetizers including: chicken wings, bbq pulled pork sliders, chili cheese fries and a Coyote Loco Sampler which is guacamole, Colorado bean dip, chili con queso and spinach dip with crispy tortilla chips.

Hop Devil Grill
129 St. Marks Pl. Near Avenue A.
212-533-4468

Wednesday, Sept. 22nd, 2010—Bar 255

Day 255—Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Iggy's Keltic Lounge
Alright, the PayPal donation bell has rung once again and I want to give thanks to Michael McDermott, Sr. who sent in a generous donation of 25 dollars and told me to buy some Alka Seltzer with it. Michael is the father of Mike “Pig Pen” McDermott who I met while visiting the Bohemian Beer Garden in Queens on stop number 232. He’s also the author of a great book that I purchased and suggest you do too. The title is: “Finders Keepers” and you can buy the book right here: “Finders Keepers” at Amazon. Thanks for the donation, Michael!

Okay, tonight is another suggestion from Miami commentator Al Rizo. Al’s made many suggestions and they’ve all been winners. Today he found a bar on the Lower East Side I’ve never heard of called, Iggy’s Keltic Lounge. From the reviews I’ve read it sounds like it’s one part Irish bar, one part punk rock and one part dive bar. Sounds like Al picked another winner, let’s go find out.

This looks like the place, let's check it out.

Here's some of the specials of the night, posted outside.

Nice and dark inside, looks like Al has come through once again!

And bartender Pirate Mike serves up an ice-cold can of Pabst. Arrrgghh! Mike is also an actor and you can check out his resume here: Michael Whitney.

Here's a full shot of the bar.

The beer prices are posted on this board overlooking the bar.

These fellows are perched up at the top of the bar. And note: Tin ceiling!

Let's go check out who these two women are at the end of the bar.

It's the lovely Athena and Jenna who were chilling out and enjoying a drink or two at the end of the bar.

Nicky and Chris were sitting at the front of the bar and liked the 365 bar crawl idea. Cheers, guys!

There's a nice selection on the jukebox including: The Pogues, The Misfits, Joy Division and Chuck Berry.

There's a pirate lounge in the back.

It's a cozy, candle-lit, brick-walled back room.

This guy makes sure the beer is pouring constantly.

I've got a feeling this is Pirate Mike's favorite painting in the bar.

A shot from the end of the candle-lit bar.

Some of the lit-up bottles behind the bar.

Josh, Kristina and Leslie were seated next to me at the bar and posed for the 365 camera. It turns out that Josh and I have a common friend in New York artist, Ryan McGinness.

At the end of the night, Pirate Mike bought me a shot. Cheers and arrrrghh!

And so it's time to head out the door onto Ludlow Street.

Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Iggy’s Keltic Lounge is only about one third an Irish bar. It’s also about one third punk rock bar and one third dive bar. Throw in a skeleton or two for a bit of a pirate feel and you’ve got Iggy’s. Okay, you had to be there, sometimes words fail me. But trust me, Iggy’s is a nice, dark bar with a relaxing and comfortable vibe with friendly bartenders and patrons alike. The horseshoe bar is located in the center with booths off to the front and side and a pirate's lounge in the back with candle-lit tables and brick walls.

They have a full bar with a good selection of bottled beer including: Red Stripe, Magners, Chimay, Duvel and Corona. Happy hour runs daily from 1pm to 9pm with three dollar drafts, two buck cans of Pabsts and four dollar well drinks.

According to the internet rumors, the weekend crowd gets a bit of a frat-hall feel, so I suggest you stop by on a Tuesday night, when Pirate Mike is behind the wheel.

Iggy's Keltic Lounge
132 Ludlow St. (Near Rivington St.)
212-529-2731

-------------------

Bonus Photos

Last Saturday I mentioned the debut of a new online magazine called Grade “A” Fancy. Well they threw a party last night at the Rum House which I visited months ago and is going to be closing soon. I was invited, but sadly I had to work and by the time I was going to be done, I was told the party was going to be over. But just around the same time I got the invitation, I got an email from Lex, who just has discovered the 365 bar crawl and was coming to New York last night to visit with her in-laws. She sent me an email asking if she could join me on the bar crawl and we discovered our schedules wouldn’t allow it, but she did agree to be my stand-in for the Grade “A” Fancy party and take pictures. And so, here they are! Thanks for being my stand in Lex and maybe next time you’re in town we can meet in person. In the mean time, take it away, Lex!

I'm starting at the end of the evening, because this is my favorite picture from the night. Suzanne is a jewelery designer friend of Karen's and Jon. Karen and Jon are the creators of Grade "A" Fancy. After lamenting the demise of places like the Rum House in Times Square, we found this great backdrop for a photo op.

Here’s Gaylord and Nancy at the Rum House.

Suzanne and Karen.

This building has a mention in Grade "A" Fancy - only fitting to get a shot!

Andy gave me a handful of restaurant business cards to me, suggesting places to take my in-laws while we're in the city.

This is Patty the bartender serving a Manhattan to Janie.

And of course the obligatory bathroom mirror shot!

Thanks, Lex, you did a great job of standing in for me at the party and being our 365 corrsepondent! I hope next time you’re in town we can meet for a drink in person. Thanks to Karen and Jon, the creators of Grade “A” Fancy for throwing a wonderful party!

----------------------------

And now a request from Tim Clack: "Friggion' in the Riggin'" by the Sex Pistols (With Ronnie Biggs on lead vocals. I think.)

And Jaws suggest this one, enjoy mateys...arrrghhh!

And cheers and R.I.P. to Malcolm Douglas.