Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010—Bar 297
Day 297—Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Milady's
Okay, Aaron left today and is headed back to Chicago and tomorrow Biff and her entourage are taking off. But we’ve got one hell of a sendoff night planned. One of my favorite writers is David Sedaris and he’s appearing tonight at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem. And Biff not only scored tickets, she got 14th row tickets! So hopefully I can take pictures in there and document part of his show. Before the show we’re going to Sylvia’s restaurant for a delicious dinner. Then after the show we’re going to one of Biff’s favorite bars (she asked if I would wait to go there till she got here, so of course I did) Milady’s in Soho and I think we’re going to meet 365 Aussie commentator Tim Clack and his girlfriend/almost wife Shannon. Sounds like one hell of a night, huh? Well let’s go see how it turned out.
Okay, after a long cab ride, we're here uptown at Sylvia's restaurant.
Inside I'm reunited with Andrew who I met when I did the bar crawl in here. Andrew's the lead singer for the fine band Stereoboro and you can check them out on Faceook right here: Stereoboro.
Earnest was our friendly waiter for the evening.
And he took a shot of us gathered round the table. I, of course, am in full jerkoff mode.
After dinner we made our way over to the Apollo Theater for the David Sedaris show.
Here's the crowd outside waiting to get in. I wish I could show you photos from the inside and from the show, but they have lots of rules for taking photos inside. Some of them include that you have to be wearing two left wingtipped shoes, you have to have been born in the month of March and in the year 1937 with a mole on your left butt cheek and you need to have a tattoo of Jacob Fuchsberg located somewhere near your right ankle. It was just too confusing for me, so I guess if you want to see the inside of the Apollo and photos from a David Sedaris show, I suggest that you get your own fucking tickets! Okay, I feel better. The show was great, thanks for the ticket, Bifferoonie! And now, it's off to the bar.
And by the magic of the internet, here we are at Milady's bar.
Some of the nightly food specials are listed outside on this sign.
It's kind of crowded in here, I wonder if 365 commentator Tim "Clacky" Clack is in the house?
And as I amble up to the bar, here he is in all his one-fingered saluting glory! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Tim Clack!
So I order up a round from the lovely bartender Alyce...
And deliver them to our table. From left: The aforementioned Tim Clack, Shannon, Janie, Biff and Paul. And now I had to depart to go do my 365 thing.
There's tables opposite the bar for drinking and dining.
And there's a pool table at the end of the bar.
And here's the man who's shot I ruined with my flash, Eric with the lovely Suzanne.
A neon sign hangs over the bar.
Here's a list of the beers available at the bar.
Here's Tim posing with our waitress Simone, who's smile lit up our table.
And I can't let Clacky have all the fun, here's me and Simone. Simone was really cool and a great waitress.
Meanwhile back at the bar, Alyce is taking care of business.
Noel and Joshua were chilling out at the end of the bar.
And the parting shot from Milady's. To Biff and her crew! Have a safe trip home. And be looking for Clacky showing up along the bar crawl in the next couple of weeks, along with the Baltimore Bar Crawlers A.K.A. The BBC! Stay tuned and goodnight, everybody!
Review
Well, it’s quite a rude awakening today. It’s early, I’m hungover and I have to go back to work. The horror, the horror! I’m running late and I don’t have time to write a review, so here’s one from New York magazine, which branded Milady's as a critics pick.
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At Milady's, rent control pensioners paying $300 a month rub shoulders with yuppies paying $3,000 for the same apartment. But the only factionalism is between the dining contingent, which takes up most of the postage stamp-sized space, and drinkers clinging to the bar. The place feels like a condensed version of the pool table/jukebox/poker-machine joints that still thrive in the outer boroughs. The unavoidable TV sets switch from AMC by day to ESPN at night, as the crowd shifts from young and old to young and younger. As the evening wears on, classic rock cranks up, territorial pool regulars close ranks and you feel as if you're at a Staten Island cop bar plunked down in Soho. — Bruce Bennett
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Thanks to Biff, Paul, Aaron, Janie and Chrissy for joining me on the crawl, I had a blast! And I look forward to hoisting a few more with my Aussie mates, Tim Clack, his lovely girlfriend/wife Shannon and Colin. Cheers to you all! And suddenly...work. Fuck!
Milady's
160 Prince St. (@Thompson St.)
212-226-9340
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Bonus Urinal Photos!
Jon Hammer who along with Karen McBurnie publishes the fine Grade “A” Fancy online publication, recently attended the 100th birthday party of the giganzo urinals at Old Town Bar. I couldn’t make it, but luckily Jon did and he sent along these photos and captions. I wish I could’ve made it, but time is just whizzing by. (Rimshot.) Take it away Jon and thanks for sending in this jurinal. You and Karen need to join up on the bar crawl soon!
So the urinal celebration at Old Town was pretty packed, but I managed to snap a few pix. Starting with the poster for the event on the door: Post-It note: Being touted as "can't miss" event. Har!
Here are the birthday boys, festooned with balloons and flowers.
Very festive, but it was just another working day for our heroes.
Obligatory mirror in the bathroom shot.
My posse for the evening, Shane, Paul Friederike, Robert, Janie and Grade "A" Karen. There was a huge crowd, fans of both the Old Town and really big urinals, there were speeches and there was beer. All in all, a fine night to commemorate a century of leak-taking.
2 References
Reader Comments (21)
Sort of a generic looking place, rather small but nice. Great to see all the friends there. Hello to Biff again and to Tim Clack and Shannon,,,wish I was there also. A special hello to the lovely Alyce, a very sexy looking lady. Sylvia's I imagine was wonderful (anyone order the Chicken n Waffles?). Only in NY would a bar celebrate 100 year old urinals,,,,hilarious stuff. Great pics too.
Milady's has food? Golly. It's been a while. Milady's was our bar to hit when Fanelli's was too crowded...which was most of the time.
See you for drinks, very soon, I hope, Marty.
@Al: We did sample the chciken and waffles along with meatloaf, macaroni and cheese and greens, a great meal and a great night out! And thanks again to Jon for the urinal pictures, I wish I could've made that party!
@Grade "A" Karen: I look forward to having drinks with yourself and Jon soon!
Wow, another monster post! David Sedaris rules, I would've loved to have seen that show, too bad you couldn't take pictures. Good to see Clacky on the crawl! you've had a real party going lately, great stuff! Loved the bonus urinal photos!
Sorry you are hungover and late for work Marty. You know Wednesdays are always tough...they sure are not any fun for me.
Miladys looks like a very fun bar indeed. I hope that you, Biff and the crew enjoyed the David Sedaris show. Have a safe trip home Biff and crew.
" I wish I could’ve made it, but time is just whizzing by." LOL!! Good one Marty!
Interesting unrinal photos...lol. Thank you Jon and Karen! I like your publication very much!
@Tiki Bar Susie: Glad the whizz line gave you a larf! Biff says, "Hi!"
Awesome night out. Not sure if Marty mentioned it but Milady's has a 4th beer free deal which works for me because I love drinking booze and hate paying for it....especially Corona. We ate a meal at a small Italian place just down the road from Milady's and we could barely walk after it so Milady's was convenient for us. Whats with the portion sizes of food here in there states?!
Cheers to Marty and Biff, Janie and Paul for having us!
@365: We've gotta do this again some time!
Hail, hail, the gangs all here...looks like one hell of a night out, Marty! Oh, the stories those 100 year old urinals could tell...question is, would you really want to hear them? Could be a good idea for a character in a book you would be uniquely qualified to write...the main character being a 100 year old urinal in an old school N.Y.C. bar telling tale after tale about the famous and the infamous that have pissed on him...
@Tim Clack: Great meeting and boozing it up with you and Shannon! We will be doing it again, just let me know when you're ready.
@Jaws: I might just have to do that, maybe it'll make its way in the 365 book!
P.S.-Hasn't somebody done something like that already?
This is just awesome!
This crawl really does take a life of its own..
I loved seeing Biffie and Clackie:)
both seriously nice and good lucking partners in crawl:)
i'm so jealous, i love david sedaris! boo on the apollo for not letting you take pictures. it's been fun to see biff and tim clack in person on your crawl!
Party !! Clacky made it ! The BBC will be stumbling into town next Thursday, 11 November .... :)
@GENE: Looking forward to seeing the BBC in action again! I'll send you an email soon.
@MARTY:
I'm looking forward to rejoining the crawl ! The 365 thing is in it's later stages ... and I'll be proud to be a part of it again ... especially after my 128 day "dry" period this summer :(
We're all going to miss 365 when it's gone in January :(
Can't you make it a 3,650 crawl ?
@GENE: The blog will live on after 365 bars, just a little different as far as content wise goes.
Fuck , I banged my head in the darkroom , where am I ?
Very jealous about the Sedaris show! So many visitors, so much fun. Glad you've had some company for your crawl. Not even sure what to comment about the urinals...
@Jason: Where the fuck have you been?
@kari: The David Sedaris show was unbelievable. He was even funnier than his books. See him if you can!
Boy, those are some big urinals! I'll bet the Olsen twins could stand up in there (and maybe they have). In any event, I love the balloons and flowers. Nice touch. And thanks for saving Milady's for me. It's a great bar.
@Biff: I wouldn't have gone without you! It was a great night.