Tuesday, June 29th, 2010—Bar 170

Day 170—Monday, June 28th, 2010
Lilly O'Brien's
Okay, tonight’s bar is a suggestion from one third of the Baltimore Bar Crawlers, Gene, who’s deployed with the Air Force Reserve in Afghanistan right now and hasn’t had a beer in quite awhile. Gene suggested I go to Lilly O’Brien's on a Monday, because he says there’s a Will Ferrell look-alike bartender there that he chatted with when he and the other two thirds of the BBC (Terry and Smoopy) were last in town and they joined the 365 crawl for a few nights.

The Baltimore Bar Crawlers! From left: Gene, Smoopy and Terry, cheers, guys!
Now, I’m curious to see if this guy really looks like Will Ferrell, because while I don’t doubt Gene, they were going to over 79 bars every day and drinking an averaged of 3,416 beers between the three of them on a daily basis. And Smoopy would throw in a couple dozen vodka drinks as well, So, let’s go see if Gene’s vision was impaired or not.

Here we are, Lilly O'Brien's. Let's go look for Will.

The bar looks nice. Now let's see if we can find Will.

And here he is, the hair's a little shorter, but Gene was right, definitely a separated at birth moment. Will's real name is Brian and he's a super-friendly bartender and he vividly remembered Gene, Smoopy and Terry. He said to say hi to all of them, so hi from Brian, Baltimore Bar Crawlers! He also said he hears the Will Farrell thing all the time, in fact someone had just made the comment about an hour ago. And I had to find out his favorite Will Farrell movie and he said it was, "Talladega Nights."

It's been a while, so here we go with the traditional, "Wearin' of the Guinness."

This table up front has a nice street-side view.

Just some of the many beers available on tap.

Greg and Dorollo were enjoying beers at the far end of the bar.

There's large wooden booths in the back dining area.

And there's tables as well for your dining pleasure.

The walls are decorated with sports photos and memorablia.

Here's a sigend Muhammed Ali boxing glove.

And a signed pair of the boxing great's trunks.

Marcus poses with his beer at the front of the bar. Cheers!

Brian minds the till at the bar.

Here's Paul, Lisa and Steve who were getting ready to put "Thunder Road" on the jukebox. "Bruuuuce!"

Adrian works down the street at KD Connelly's right down the street. Adrian invited me to bring the bar crawl there, so I'll be stopping by soon. Stay tuned!

And some wise words posted up at the bar at Lilly O'Briens. Thanks for the hospitality and good times, Brian! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Lilly O’Brien's is a step above a lot of the “cookie-cutter” Irish bars that inhabit Manhattan. A long wooden bar is set up in the front of the spacious bar with tables up front and a large dining area in the back with more tables and large wooden booths for comfortable seating. The walls are wooden and exposed brick and the decor is sports memorbilia and beer bric-a-brac adorning the walls and shelves. The bartenders are professional and friendly and the clientele is a lively mix of business people from the area, construction workers and tourists stopping in from one of the many hotels in the area having a pint of Guinness and enjoying a New York local bar. First-timers are treated like regulars and the regulars don’t mind seeing newbies coming into the Irish pub.

There’s a large selection of beers on tap, including: Guinness (naturally), Delerium, Harp and Killians. Bottled beers offered here include: Red Stripe, Magners, Rolling Rock and Sierra Nevada. And your fourth beer is always on the house. The kitchen closes late, 2am, Sunday through Wednesday and 4am, Thursday through Saturday. Lilly’s has a large menu and of course there’s a nice selection of Irish eats including: Shepherd`s Pie, Bangers and Mash, Beer Battered Fish & Chips and a Full Irish Breakfast. There’s also your standard pub grub from burgers to wings to chicken wings, but there’s a few surprises to be found on the menu including: Chicken Caruso, Cuban BBQ Panini, Steak Tip Bits and Jumbo Lobster Ravioli. In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner service, delivery is available.

Lilly’s opens up early at 10am, so it’’s your go-to spot if you get fired or laid off in the morning. And here’s to the Baltimore Bar Crawlers, Gene, Smoopy and Terry! Cheers guys, hurry home Gene and I look forward to all of you joining the crawl when you can! Cheers!

Lilly O'Briens
67 Murray St. (@W. Broadway)
212-732-1592

April, 2nd 2010—Bar 82

Day 82—Thursday, April 1st
Galway Hooker

Last night I met Peter Maloney at the Pine Tree Lodge. Peter was sitting next to me with his friend Kevin at the bar and they were fine bar neighbors to tip a few back with.

Kevin and Peter from the Pine Tree Lodge.

They were both encouraging and supportive of the 365 day bar crawl and today Peter has donated twenty bucks with this stated purpose: “Good luck on your journey Marty and come back to The Lodge anytime!!” Thanks a lot, Peter, that’s very generous of you and when we meet next I’ll buy you one back. Cheers, my friend!

Mike “Sully” Sullivan was a legendary barowner in my hometown of Peoria. I found out that he died a couple days ago after a battle with cancer. Writer Phil Luciano wrote a great tribute to him in the Peoria Journal Star and you can read it here: Raise Your Glass To Sully’s Spirited Life.

Mike "Sully" Sullivan

Sully was a great guy who loved to talk, drink and smoke and he was a great barkeeper. Back in my reckless youth when I was living in an Animal House type of pad with my friends Moon and Chris, we used to go to Sully’s river-front bar. Now back in those days we were...um...how can I put this in a subtle way...uhh...we were out of our fucking gourds on booze and other things I won’t mention because Moon and Chris have respectable jobs these days. Someday I’ve got to try and find one of those. Anyway, one thing we drank a lot of back in those crazy-ass days was straight gin. We would get wild-eyed nuts on gin (and the aforementioned, “other things”) and then cause all kinds of trouble. One time Chris and I turned everything in our shambles of a house upside down and were seriously considering hanging meat from the ceiling. I don’t know why, it was just one of those nights. We didn’t have a lot of money for bars back then, but when we did, 9 times out of 10 we would get thrown out for doing something crazy. There was a bar called The Gazebo which banned me for life. Apparently they didn’t like the way I trashed their DJ booth.

Anyway, this is all leading up to Sully and his river-front bar. This was a popular place and there was always a lot of people in there. For some reason whenever we would buy a shot of gin, we’d throw the empty shot glass at a wall and try to break it. Naturally this didn’t please bar owner Sully and you’d assume he would’ve thrown us out like every other tavern in Peoria had done. But Sully was a great bar man and figured out a solution: Plastic shot glasses. That’s right, he instructed his bartenders that we were to be served our shots in plastic shot glasses he had gotten, rather than throw us out of his tavern. We thought this was so funny we stopped causing trouble in there out of respect for Sully. The one barkeep that refused to throw us out!

So tonight I pay tribute to Sully by heading out to an Irish bar and having a Guinness or six in his honor. To Sully!

The Galway Hooker, Sully would've liked this Irish joint.

Gary and Zack were watching the door. I knew I had to behave in here or these two would toss me out on my ear!

It's really nice in here, but the music is playing loud. I'll just take photos, no way to do a meet and greet tonight, which is somewhat fitting, seeing as it's a tribute to Sully.

Natathaniel serves up the first Guinness of the evening.

To Sully. The one tavern owner who never tossed me out.

It's a crowded night at the Galway Hooker.

Comfortable banquettes and sailing pictures line the walls opposite the bar.

The front of the bar is decked out like a ship of booze.

The bar goes on for quite a stretch, making for ample seating for all those who enter the Galway Hooker.

Gavin is the other bartender on duty. Cheers to Gavin!

The back room has tables, chairs and more sailing portraits.

Just a few of the many drafts to be had at the Galway Hooker.

I almost forgot there's a second floor here too.

And it's just as packed up here as well.

Here's a bird's eye view of the first floor bar. Sully would've loved the joint!

To Sully! (Normally I would never ask for anyone to leave a comment here. I appreciate those that do, but I also appreciate those that want to be a silent reader and don't feel like leaving a comment. But today, in honor of Sully, if you could just leave a simple comment saying, "To Sully," below in the comments section, it would be greatly appreciated as a tribute to the man who never tossed me out of his tavern. Thanks.)

Review

To the uneducated, (like me) the name sounds like an Irish prostiture, but in actuality a Galway Hooker is an Irish sailing boat used in Galway Bay off the coast of Ireland. Size definitely matters to this Hooker, because the bar is huge. It’s two floors and has over 10,000 square feet in it to knock back a perfectly pouted pint of Guinness. The walls are dark and covered in sailing photos and maps of Ireland, the bar is huge and the patrons and bartenders are friendly. There’s plenty of room to have a seat at the bar as it stretches the entire length of the large quarters on the first floor. And if that’s not enough there’s another full bar on the second floor.

There’s a vast selection of beers to be had here, 30 brands of bottled beer and 30 drafts are available to conquer the thirstiest of thirsts. The Happy Hour runs from 3 to 7 pm Monday through Friday with five buck beers, house liquor and wine. Some of the house cocktails include The Galway Buzz, a Lychee Martini and The Irish Hooker. Check the events page on their website for a live music schedule. They have a full menu with lunch, weekend brunch and entrees including: Irish Beef Stew, Bangers and Mash, Shepherds Pie and an All Day Irish Breakfast. And there’s 14 plasma TV’s for your sports viewing pleasure.

Galway Hooker
7 E. 36th St. (Between Fifth & Madison Ave.)
212-725-2353

March 22nd, 2010—Bar 71

Day 71—Sunday, March 21st
McFadden’s (Orginally headed for Calico Jack’s)

First off I want to thank Heather Weimer for this generous donation:

Total amount: $10.00 USD
Contributor: Heather Weimer

Thanks Heather, that was a nice surprise and a generous donation!

Another announcement I want to make is that soon we will have 365 Bar t-shirts available. Resident artist "Boris" has come up with this genius logo for the shirts, check it out:

Great work, "Boris!" I'll let everyone know when the shirts are available. And if you need artwork for your website, band CD, book cover or anything else, "Boris" is available for freelance work, just send me an email and I'll pass it along to "Boris."

Alright, it’s Sunday and I had to work on this supposed day of rest. But that’s okay as I can use the extra cash on the crawl. We haven’t been to a Mexican bar yet and I’m thirsty for a margarita or four and maybe some Mexican grub for my Sunday dinner. I found a place called Calico Jack’s via the wonderful Murph.guide.com that’s supposed to be good and it’s not that far from where I work. So I’m going to punch out and hoof it over there and you’re all welcome to join me. ¡Permítanos hit el camino, motherfuckers!

Here we are: Calico Jack's! I'm ready for a margarita, let's go inside.

Son of a fucking bitch! The door's locked! It's not open on Sunday's. Fuck! Oh well, when life hands you lemons, trade them in for grapefruit and improvise!

Luckily, right next door is McFadden's. They probably don't serve tacos, but I'm sure they have beer.

It's a nice bar and plenty of seats on this early Sunday evening.

And there's not one, but two super-cute and friendly bartenders to serve the beer up. Mary's on the left and Gia's on the right. I need to get behind the bar and get a picture with these two.

Luckily Dane was seated at the end of the bar and it turns out that in addtion to being a lawyer, he has a passion for photography, so he was happy to take the photo.

And here I am with Mary and Gia, thanks for the photo, Dane!

There's a large selection of beer available.

Here's just a few of the draft beers McFadden's has to offer.

And here's the lovely Scarlett who's a waitress at McFadden's.

Renée, Dane's beautiful wife joins the party. They were two fun people to hang out with and said they may join me on the crawl in the future.

Here's Mary in action, she's quick with a beer and a smile, a great bartender!

Josh and Jessie were holding down the other end of the bar and enjoying a few cocktails.

Scarlett and Gia pose in one of the large banquettes opposite the bar.

It's Sunday night and that means I'm having dinner in the bar. Tonight it's a cheeseburger and fries and it was delicious!

Condiments!

Fire! (I never get tired of this, but I'm sure everyone else is, sorry!)

Dane and Renée's dinner arrives as I'm getting ready to go. Looks great, doesn't it?

Thanks to Heather's generous donation I splurged and took a cab home. Thanks again Heather!

This was on the corner of the block. I took it as a sign to get home! Goodnight everybody!

Review

There’s an Irish oasis just a few blocks eastward from the Time’s Square commercial madness called McFadden’s. The bar is long and behind it are friendly and attractive bartenders who are quick with a drink and make you feel at home, even if it’s your first visit to the saloon. Driectly behind the bar are comfortable green leather banquettes and there’s a dining room and tables in the back if you’ve come for a proper dinner. DJ’s spin music some evening’s and weekends making for a fun and lively party atmosphere. There’s also several large HD TV’s to catch the weekend sporting events.

There’s nightly drink specials at McFadden’s and on Tuesday’s draft beers go for a dollar. Threre’s a full bar with a good selection of draft and bottled beers and a nice wine list. They also have a large menu with food ranging from standard pub grub like chicken wings, potato skins and chicken fingers to more exotic items like spicy jumbo shrimp teriyaki, cajun halibut and warm goat cheese and portobello. Bartender Mary recommends the cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. She told me they’re, “Really, really delicious and having sampled the cheeseburger, I wholeheartedly agree!

McFadden’s is a fun place and they’re open on Sunday’s! Take that Calico Jack’s!

McFadden’s
800 2nd Ave (@42nd St.)
212-986-1515