Thursday, May 13th, 2010—Bar 123
Day 123—Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
The Globe
Ding, ding, ding, the PayPal donation buzzer has sounded again and my nearly empty pockets are glad! Ray Rogers from Bridgeport, CT sent in a generous donation of 15 dollars with this stated purpose: “Here’s a couple bucks for the crawl. Keep on crawlin.' “ Thanks Ray, and a crawling I will go!
Two nights in a row in a cab to the East Village, a dark bar and its sign caught my eye on 23rd St. It looks like a little joint and the red neon sign says, “The Globe.” For some reason it intrigues me and that is the reason that tonight we head to The Globe. To the Batmobile...oh, fuck, I just remembered I haven’t had a drivers license for 17 years now. To the cab!
Here we are at The Globe, I love the red neon sign outside, let's see what it's like inside.
Wow, it's a lot bigger inside than I thought and there's a spot at the bar with my name on it.
Bryant the friendly bartender serves up a perfectly poured pint of Guinness which can only lead to...
...The traditional wearin' of the Guinness on the head. Woo hoo!
In addition to the Guinness, here's some of the other beers on tap at The Globe.
The bar is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Here's some booths that lead to the back room.
In the back there's two additional bars. Here's one...
And here's the other. Lots of places to sit in The Globe.
Back up at the front bar I met Eric. Sometimes you meet people, take their photo and move on, and sometimes you have a great conversation with them. With Eric I had a great conversation and we swapped stories. I've got some epic stories from my past and so does Eric. I won't go into detail but some of the subjects touched on in the story-telling were,getting arrested, police, movies, illegal immigrants, the Boone County Jail, drinking, airports, getting your foot run over by a taxi, traveling etiquette and strangling a cab driver. I won't say who's topics belong to who, but it was a great conversation. Great chatting with you, Eric!
Michelle and Maria were enjoying drinks and the Wednesday night at The Globe.
Jim and Janine were at a table in the back and wished me luck with the 365 bar crawl.
Mark and Ally were getting cozy on the leather couch in the back near the fireplace.
Here's another angle of the front bar...hey, who's this guy muscling into the photo?
It turns out it's Earl, who's there with his parents, Leonard and Dolores. Bartender Bryant joined in on the photo and on the far right is the group's friend, Maurice.
After the photo, they bought me a bottle of Budweiser and I offered to buy a shot to any of them that were interested. Maurice and Bryant took me up on the offer and away we go. Cheers and goodnight everybody!
Review
From the outside The Globe bar looks like a small dark bar with it’s red neon sign lighting the doorway. Upon entrance though, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find a decent bar and tables in the front and then a lounge area in the back complete with couches, tables, a fireplace and not one, but two bars in the back. The front bar is where the action is, the regulars hang out here and the bartenders are friendly and are not averse to downing a shot with you. The back of the bar is more lounge-like and there’s a black leather couch in front of a faux fireplace for a more intimate chat or a display of public affection.
There’s a full bar here with a good selection of bottled and draft beers including a perfectly poured pint of Guinness. Two plasma TV’s hang over the bar and the kitchen serves up your standard pub grub featuring burgers, wings and chili. Happy hour is daily from 4pm to 7pm with one buck off drinks.
This Irish-themed bar used to be a working brothel back in the 1800’s, so it’s a genuine chunk of New York City history. So stop by and have a drink to the working girls of the past and The Globe’s friendly hospitality of the present.
The Globe
158 E. 23rd St. (Near Third Ave.)
212-477-6161
9 Comments
Reader Comments (9)
Scenes from the Movie "Cotton Club" were shot in this bar in 1984 when it was called (I think) The 23rd Street Bar & Grill. As I recall they used it because it looked like a bar that could have existed in the 1920's. Actually, it does go back quite a ways, in fact for a while (haven't been there in several years) you could see the original name, Kluebe's (sp?) in the glass signage out front.
Gotta love that neon sign! I watched Cotton Club years ago and now need to watch it again and look for the bar sences. Thanks for the heads up, Ken K.
Looks like a nice, friendly little joint, Marty. And I bet the story about the strangled cabbie involved a Somalian driver. A lot of them are getting shot and strangled here in Minnesota. Apparently, customer service is something they never heard of back in Somalia, along with the English language.
I spent New Year's Eve here and had a great time. A real nice looking bar.
Used to be a brothel, eh? Check out the globes at the Globe! Looks like a great place, filled with just the right amount of kitsch. I've never seen "Cotton Club," but when I do, I'll have a nice bit of trivia to offer!
i love their neon sign! now i have to watch cotton club too.
What is the deal with the dude in the trench coat ?
I love the sign, too. I also love those "ferny" looking trees they always plant in urban downtown areas. And when the leaves fall in the autumn, they look like little pieces of Special K (the cereal, not the drug).
Where was I?? Oh yeah--that looks like a really cool place. The patrons seem really nice. And how cute is that bartender?? (Did I just type that out loud?)
The Globe!! Wow, what a cool looking place that is! Great choice Marty!!
I cannot believe that the building has been around since the 1800s. Amazing!
I love it for sure and the people look so sweet and they are having fun I can tell.
Eric looks like such a nice fellow and how wonderful it is that Earl was enjoying the evening with his parents, Leonard and Dolores. Bartender Bryant is cute and serves up a nice drink.
Thank you for letting us tag along with you around......The Globe