Friday, February 26th, 2010—Bar 47

Day 47—Thursday, February 25th
Trailer Park Lounge

You’d think a trailer park in Manhattan would be as hard to find as a drive-in movie, but there’s one on 23rd street and it’s loaded with booze, kitsch and mountains of kaboodle. The Trailer Park Lounge is an ode to white-trash, tin can dwelling and a slice of our culture that’s fine with French-kissing their younger sister. So put on your best trucker hat and pack a wad of chewin’ tobacky in your jaw and let’s head over to 23rd street and the Trailer Park Lounge!

Another fucking snowstorm! Oh well, at least it's only seven blocks away.

And here we are, the Trailer Park Lounge. Let's get inside away from this goddamn mess outside!

Wow, a nice crowd in spite of the weather out there.

Chris the bartender serves me up my first Pabst of the evening. Drunk chicks dig him!

Now it's time for my patented point at the Pabst can pose. Cheers!

The beer is chilled in this lovely bathtub.

One of the prized possesion's in the bar is the Penthouse X-rated tape of Tonya Harding's wedding night.

A sampling of some of the vintage kitsch on display.

Mead was sitting next to me at the bar. He's a regular here and pointed out a couple of things to me, like...

The pregnant woman atop the bar who's nursing a Pabst and a cigarette. And dig those pink flamingo slippers!

Mead also pointed out this hidden gem, an Elvis Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It's got a layer of banana on underneath the peanut butter.

These two fellows, both named Chris are enjoying some of the comfort food at Trailer Park Lounge.

You gotta love the hula dancer lamp! I'd like to take all this stuff home to my apartment!

The Elvis lamp really lights up the tiki bar.

Megan and Soyoung were relaxing in the booth at the front room of the bar.

Here's the back room of the bar.

And seated back there was Stephanie and Cristina. I call this shot, "Two Women and a Tater Tot."

The walls are jam-packed with fun signage and vintage knick-knacks.

Tinsel and yard lamps adorn the ceiling.

I'm going to let the Elvis lamp have the last word. "Goodnight everybody...and thank ya, thank ya very much!" Okay, that's all, Elvis has left the trailer park.

Review

Trailer Park Lounge is a combination trailer, truck stop, tiki bar and a vintage thrift shop all rolled up into one fun package. The decor is equal parts Elvis and pink flamingo style with a dash of Hee Haw thrown in for good measure. One wall is an actual side of a trailer, the bar is done up tiki style and there’s plenty of booths and lawn chairs strewn about the joint to get comfortable in.

There’s a daily Happy Hour featuring three dollar cans of beer and drafts and five dollar margaritas. You get one free mug of beer with a sandwich between noon and 4 pm, with subsequent drinks charged at Happy Hour prices. Monday and Tuesday the Trailer Park Lounge features a $7.49 burger and beer special all night long. In additon to the burgers, you can munch on sloppy joe’s, BLT’s, mac and cheese and tater tots. For dessert you can satisfy your sweet tooth with an authentic Moon Pie.

The margarita is their signature drink and there are four other specialty cocktails in addition to a full bar. Bottled beers include Budweiser, Heinekin and Corona. Pabst and Rheingold are available in cans and there’s Rolling Rock, Miller Lite and Sam Adams on draft.

They also sell Trailer Park t-shirts and if you fill one out like the woman below, let me know the next time you’re going to be at the bar and the drinks will be on me.

Trailer Park Lounge
271 W 23rd St. (between Seventh and Eighth Ave.)
212-463-8000

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010—Bar 24

Day 24—Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010—Third and Long

Okay, let’s hope for a better night than last night. Tonight I’m taking a suggestion from my co-worker, Johnny “On The Spot” Pernicaro. John told me about a bar called Third & Long that’s not far from work and said I should check it out. And I’m going to, this way if it sucks we can blame John! If you know of a bar in New York you’d like me to go to, or even if you don’t live here and you’ve seen some bar or tavern on the internet you’re curious about, just let me know and I’ll go there and check it out. Don’t thank me, it’s what I’m here for!

Okay, let’s put on our spikes and sliiiiide over to Third & Long.

Here we are, Third & Long. It's snowing outside so we actually can slide into the joint!

Monday's and Tuesday's they feature one dollar mugs of Bud and Bud light, all night long.

Nice crowd in here and I spy one empty seat at the bar.

And with lightening speed, bartender Frank serves up an ice cold can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Frank's two brothers opened this bar in 1991 and Frank's worked here in one capacity or another since he was 14-years-old.

I happily accept the beer...hey, who's that guy behind me trying to steal my thunder?

It turns out he's part of this friendly trio of Third & Long regulars. From left, Russell, Lee Ann and Eddie.

There's different nightly specials every night of the week.

A clean and well-stocked bar.

There's tables and chairs in the back.

And tucked away in the very far back corner I found this party enjoying the one dollar mugs of Bud. From left: Almudena, Almudena (that's right, they're both named Almudena!), Luisa and Asis. Cheers and beers!

Two of the feartured Craft Brews. Now if I only knew what a Craft Brew was I'd be all set.

Seated right nest to me were these friendly partiers, Christie, Alyssa, Sam, Scott and Manny.

Lionel displays the 365 card, while Freddy (right) and Harry (left) display their beer. Cheers, guys!

Third & Long mirror on the wall, where's the best obligatory miiror shot of all?

Why, in the bathroom mirror of course!

Holy shitballs, it's still snowing! I'm going to splurge and get a cab home. Goodnight everybody!

Review

There’s a slew of bars on Third Avenue in the Murray Hill area, but the signature bar there has got to be Third & Long. It bills itself as the elder statesmen of the bars on the Avenue and when you visit this tavern, you’ll see they live up to this boast.

If you’re a sports fan, you’ll love this place. Lots of high definition TV’s and there’s a game on from the time they open till the time they close. If you’re not a sports fan, but are a fan of beers and friendly neighborhood bars you’ll also love this place. There’s 16 beers on tap and they have a selection of 26 different bottled beer all at decent prices. In addition to the TV’s  and large brew selection, there’s a state of the art digital jukebox with tunes running the gamut from Nirvana to Fergie to The Notorious B.I.G. to Frank Sinatra. The bartenders are friendly and treat first-timers like life-long regulars, it’s a genuine neighborhood feel-good bar in the heart of Manhattan.

There’s daily drink specials including one buck Bud and Bud Light drafts Monday and Tuesday from 4pm to closing and they offer cans of PBR for three bucks all day, all night, seven days a week. So if you’re pocketbook’s hurting and you need some inexpensive booze for relief, slide into Third & Long. Every night’s a home run in this joint!

UPDATE (2:00pm): Third & Long is not onlly a great bar, but they have a great blog as well and we just got posted and linked there, check it out here: Third & Long Post. The link to the blog is below, but you can click here as well: Third & Long Blog. Thanks for the shoutout Third & Long!

Third & Long
Third & Long Blog
523 Third Avenue (@ 35th St.)
212.447.5711