Wednesday, July 21st, 2010—Bar 192

Day 192—Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Upstairs Bar (2nd Floor of the Hotel @ Times Square)
First off, I want to thank Sandeep Chouskey who gave me a shout-out in his new blog called, Sleepless In New York. He just started the blog and you can check it out here: Sleepless in New York. Thanks Sandeep and good luck with your blog.

Okay, my camera is all charged up and hopefully won’t fail me tonight. Last night at the Holiday, David who was sitting next to me told me about a little, somewhat unknown bar in Times Square. He said it’s a tiny bar, but very cool. It’s located on the 2nd floor at the Hotel @ Times Square hotel. I found a review on it and it looks like a cool little place . So that’s tonight’s destination, camera don’t fail me now.

Okay, here's the hotel, let's find the bar.

Signpost: Upstairs Bar is one floor away.

Here we are.

I'm not even in the door and I like it already.

It looks super-friendly in here and there's a seat at the bar waiting to be snagged.

Seconds after the snagging, super-cute and friendly bartender Kira serves up an ice-cold Corona.

Here's my little area at the bar where I'm perched.

Kira's two lovely friends were seated next to me, here they are with Kira. From left: Kira, Emily and Ellice.

Barry and Shawn were seated on the other side of me. This place was like drinking in a fun little dorm room.

And speaking of drinking, cheers!

Here's Kira at work.

A Red Stag machine, I've never seen one of these, a first on the bar crawl.

One of the walls is covered with tiny little pictures of the tiny little bar.

Here's a list of some of the cocktails and specialty shots available at the bar.

James and Wil were visiting from Sydney, Australia. Two nice guys, who continue to bond the 365 Bar Crawl to my mates in Australia.

Here's the cozy back room of the bar, let's see who these guys are.

It's Ken and Bill who are friends from way back in their college days.

Here's Frank, the hospitable owner of the bar posing with Kira.

Frank's a great host and minutes after he arrived he was pouring out shots for the house.

Kira, Frank, Ellice and Emily toast a shot together.

As do this group who's gathered at the tables behind the bar.

They're in town from North Dakota and they are (from left:) Matthew, Michelle, Tara, Mark, Rochel and Leigh. And the jerkoff pointing at them like an idiot is me.

And now it's time for my shot. Thanks to Kira, Frank and everybody at the bar for a great time on the old crawl. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Sometimes old expressions ring true. In this case that expression would be that good things come in small packages. The Upstairs Bar calls itself “The Biggest Little Bar” and they don’t lie. The Upstairs Bar is certainly are a David, battling some of the city’s Goliath gastropubs, behemoth bars and towering taverns and in my opinion, they beat them all. Climb up the black marble stairs in this boutique hotel and you’ll discover a tiny, little gem of a bar. The bar itself is a small L-shaped bar that can seat five people. There’s tables behind it and a cozy room in the back with a booth and a couple more tables. Kira the bartender is one of the friendliest bartenders in town and if you’re there when Frank the owner is there, the odds are the house will get a free shot. This place is located on the second floor in this hotel in Times Square, but it feels more like you’re drinking in the basement of someone’s house when you were in high school and there parents were away. The crowd changes every half an hour due to the hotel cliental, so there’s an ever-changing mix of people to talk to, and this place seems to magically put everyone in a good mood.

The happy hour here runs from 5pm to 7pm, but you can score three buck drafts and five dollar glasses of wine from the time it opens which is 5pm to closing time which varies, but usually is around one in the morning. There’s no food available, but considering the mood and atmosphere, I’m sure they would have no problem with you bringing in takeout. Just be prepared to share, it’s that kind of place. Stop by Upstairs, it’s got a downstairs attitude and a great bar in an area of town that desperately needs one.

Upstairs Bar
Hotel @ Times Square
59 W 46th St. (Between 5th and 6th St.)
2nd Floor
212-719-2300 (ext. 1419)