Saturday, August 21st, 2010—Bar 223

Day 223—Friday, August 20th, 2010

36 West

Okay, last week I cheated a little and didn’t do a real, “full service” bar crawl because I was burnt out beyond belief. And I’m sure it won’t be the last time I do that on a Friday night. But tonight I’m not feeling too bad for a Friday, so I’ll attempt a regular crawl tonight. On Fridays I try to find places that won’t be packed, but will still be a decent bar to drink at. I think I’ve found one tonight, and like Walter’s last night, it’s close by, so that’s even better. New York magazine had this to say about the place, “36 West makes a fine locale while waiting for a train, thanks to the cocktail list.” I’ve been by this place and it’s not that big, but being a cocktail bar, I don’t think it’ll attract a huge crowd on a Friday night. I was a little shocked to find out they’re open till four in the morning, because it seems like it’s more of an after work, happy hour kind of place. Well, we won’t know what kind of place it is till we get there, so it’s off we go.

Okay, here we are at 36th Street, just a couple blocks and we're there.

The only problem here is, if someone doesn't know english, how are they going to read this sign?

Here we are, 36 West.

It looks delightfully quiet for a Friday night. Perfect.

And the lovely Katerina serves up a margarita.

Cheers!

A shot of the marble-topped bar.

Here's the draft beers that are available at 36 West.

There's tables up front for dining.

A big screen TV hangs up high at the bar which is perfect. If you want to watch it, it's there, if not, it's not in your face.

My second drink was a caipirinha jalapeno martini, one of the signature drinks of the bar. Be forewarned though it is really spicy. Truly firewater.

Here's Gabe the owner seated at the end of the bar.

Here's the large selection of bottled beers available at 36 West.

A mirror shot of the bar.

Meanwhile, back at the bar...

I order my final drink of the night, a Corona to put out the fire from that caipirinha martini.

Obligatory bathroom mirror shot! Goodnight, everybody!

Review

36 West is a no frills bar and restaurant. There’s not a lot of gimmicks, but there is friendly bartenders and cliental at the marble-topped bar. The music is played at a conversational level and it’s a nice place to enjoy a relaxing drink. Especially on a Friday night when most bars are madhouses. This place is a nice little, quiet oasis.

There’s a decent selection of bottled and draft beer, but this place specializes in is cocktails. They have five styles of caipirinha drinks, a half dozed kinds of favored martinis, five types of mojitos, four selections of margaritas, five varieties of flavored shots and the partridge in the pear tree is five kinds of exotic drinks including: Banana Split, Mint Chocolate, Macaroon and one titled, Agent Orange. Hmm, I don’t think too many Vietnam veterans will be ordering that last one. There’s a happy hour Monday through Friday from 4pm to 7pm with two for one beers, 6 buck margaritas and half price buffalo wings and zucchini sticks.

Like the bar itself, the menu is small, but nice. Some of the items offered include: jalapeño poppers, buffalo wings, a vegetable burger and a grilled chicken sandwich. One item that sounds extremely tasty is the Skewered Steaks which is marinated beef in citrus juice with mushrooms, onions and peppers and then grilled.

Mondays are Wii Mondays at the bar and Tuesday is karaoke night. You’ve been warned!

36 West

389 Eighth Ave. (Near Eighth Ave.)

212-695-3710

And now, for Clacky! Atomic Dog!

Saturday, May 15th, 2010—Bar 125

Day 125—Friday, May 14th, 2010
Ilili
Okay, there are some nights I’m really looking forward to leaving work and hitting the old bar crawl and meeting people and having a few drinks. There are other nights where I’m a little tired and it feels like a bit of a chore, but usually when I get to the bar that feeling goes away and I have a good time. Then there are the few nights I really don’t feel like doing this at all. Tonight is one of those rare nights. It was a crazy night at work, I have a headache and I have to work Saturday and Sunday and I didn’t even have time to take a dinner break or plan a bar to go to tonight. And yes, I know, I haven’t even entered a bar yet and already I’m filled with whine. Wah, wah, waaaah! And so I’m going to take the walk down Fifth Avenue towards home and stop at the first bar I see. Time to crawl.

Okay, here we are, the corner of 5th and 29th, time to find a bar and get this over with.

Been there, done that.

Ilili restaurant, maybe there's a bar in here, let's check it out.

Leah the lovely hostess assures me that there is and waves me in. (Little known fact that isn't obvious from the photo, Leah is over seven feet tall!)

Whoops, looks like I've wandered into the restaurant area. Looks nice, but I'm walking into bars, not dining areas.

Okay, here we go, this bar looks great. Low-lit and low-key, perfect after a crazy work day like I had.

And bartender Adam has the key to making the crawl something I'm grateful for...

A bottle of Brooklyn Brown. I'm feeling better already and I'm back into bar crawl mode!

There's a lounge area adjacent to the bar. Let's see who these people are.

It's Julie, C.B., Paige and Fred who were relaxing with drinks and enjoying some appetizers on this Friday evening.

Back at the bar a couple has arrived, time to meet them.

It's Katy and Brian. Both are we designers. Katy works for the NY Daily News, which gave the 365 bar crawl decent publicity a bit ago, thanks again to Simone Weichselbaum for writing that feature. Brian works for Huge Ink, check them out here: Huge Ink.

Some of the top shelf liquors at Ilili bar.

Fire! (It never gets old for me!)

I asked Adam what the most popular drink in the bar was and he told me it was the Phoenician Lemonade, which he expertly mixes here.

And it's delicious! I had a good time on the crawl after all! Thanks to Adam and everyone at Ilili for turning my mood around. Okay, I gotta work tomorrow, so time to drink up and go home. Goodnight everybody!

Review
Ilili is an upscale Lebanese restaurant with a Mediterranean menu that is eclectic and sounds like a treat to the taste buds. The restaurant is spacious and modern, but I’m walking into bars, not restaurants, so I spent my time in the bar area, where the full menu is available. the bar is sleek and modern with low lighting creating a romantic and casual mood. The bartenders are friendly and the crowd moves from business people stopping in for happy hour specials to locals enjoying the specialty cocktails and imported beers.

There are seven bottled beers available at the bar imported from Spain, Lebanon and Holland among other continents. If you want to drink local you can sip on a Brooklyn Brown. Some of the specialty cocktails include The Lebanese American made with Massaya Arak, Bourbon, Ginger and Fresh Mint, Sharab Al Toot, a mixture made with Inocente Tequila, Mulberry Syrup and Lime Juice and the delicious Phoenican Lemonade which consists of Citrus Vodka, Orange Liqueur, Mint, Lemon and Orange Blossom Water. Happy Hour runs from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm Monday through Friday with five dollar beers and seven buck cocktails and a small bite menu featuring Hommus, Kabis, Marinated Sardines and Lamb Ribs. The extensive Mediterranean menu features hot, cold and sharing items including: Baba Ghannouj, Falafel, Beef Fried Kibbeh, Veal Sweetbreads and a Lebanese Burger.

In addition to the restaurant and bar, there’s a lounge area and a DJ spins tunes on weekends. A unique bar and dining experience in the Murray Hill area. It turned my bad mood good, so check it out!

Ilili
236 Fifth Ave. (Near 27th St.)
212-683-2929