Tuesday, June 1st, 2010—Bar 142
Day 142—Monday, May 31st, 2010
Cake Shop
Okay, my bar-crawling friends Tim and Colleen are still in town and there’s two things they definitely wanted to try when they were here in New York City: pizza and a real genuine New York deli. Well, last night we had the pizza at Lombardi’s and tonight I’m taking them to a New York deli institution, Katz’s Deli. Katz’s Deli has been a fixture on the Lower East Side since 1888 and its sandwiches and food are legendary in their size and taste. And I found a bar to go to for dessert right around the corner called Cake Shop. It’s a bar that serves pastries, sells records and has a full bar in the basement. I might just move in there!
Here we are at the legendary deli where Harry Met Sally.
Lots of movies have used Katz's Deli as a location, but the most famous is this scene from "When Harry Met Sally."
The place is always packed and today is no exception.
Ordering is a little tricky, because you have to order different items at different stations.
We finally figured it out though, and here's my hard salami sandwich with mustard on fresh rye bread.
Tim and Colleen split a reuben and we all split a huge order of cole slaw. The meal was delicious!
Here I am trying to make a dent in the gigantic sandwich.
Okay, that's all for Katz's Deli, on to the bar.
Cake Shop is right down the street on Ludlow, so we were there within minutes.
Brittany Lee was the lovely and charming bartender on duty for the evening.
Cheers!
The board in the back of the bar shows different beers, wines and teas available along with four sandwiches named after rock stars with a first name of "Mick." Sadly there's not a Mick Shrimpton, but hopefully it will be added soon.
Upon learning it was Tim and Colleen's 20th wedding anniversary, Brittany promptly poured out shots for all of us. She's a great bartender and made the night a lot of fun.
Okay, it's that time of night to leave Tim and Colleen at the bar and start my bar crawl thing.
And the first people I crawl into are Sean, Priscilla and Charles who were enjoying drinks at a table just beyond the bar.
Pamela was at the bar talking about bartending with Brittany Lee.
Cupcakes!
Cake!
The art in the bar is cool, but I have to admit that some of it scared me a little.
There's free wi-fi available in the bar.
Dani and Jules were enjoying drinks and agreed to pose for the 365 camera.
Patrick sports a cool vintage Led Zeppelin t-shirt. Check out his vintage clothing here: Chapel.
Joe raised his Rolling Rock to toast the 365 Bar Crawl. Joe works in public relations and is a great guy. We had a nice conversation and drinks with him.
There's used records for sale here, let's check some of them out.
There's a varied selection from Duran Duran to...
Neil Diamond, to...
My favorites, Silly Wizard. I think Mick Shrimpton drummed for them.
There's another full bar downstairs and band's play here seven night's a week.
Tonight the band, Moonmen On The Moon, Man are playing five sets in honor of Cake Shop's fifth anniversary this month.
The band played a great set. They reminded me of The Ramones with a bit more thrash.
And the upcoming schedule can be seen in the bathroom while doing your business. There's always more than one thing going on at this great bar! Goodnight everybody!
Review
If the Cake Shop Bar was a human, it would definitely be diagnosed with multiple personalities. The upstairs bar features not only a full bar with a wide selection of drinks and beers, but there’s pastries and delicious baked goods, coffee, sandwiches and used records for sale. It’s like everything you’d ever want in one fun location. The upstairs bar has fun artwork and knick knacks hanging on the paneled walls and the Christmas lights give it a festive atmosphere. The bartenders are friendly and fun characters and the patrons are mainly people from the neighborhood looking to satisfy their sweet tooths along with a shot or two for good measure. There’s also free wi-fi. Walk down the stairs and you’ll find a darker bar with a church pew, leather cubes to lounge on and a small bandstand where bands crank out music seven nights a week. There’s occasional spoken word performances as well as film screenings and DJ’s spinning an eclectic range of tunes.
Both bars are fully stocked and some of the bottled beers incuding: Red Stripe, Blue Moon, Amstel Light and Corona. They have a decent wine list and Craft Beers are also available. In addition to the pastries they offer four sandwiches and a large selection of hot teas and coffee. Happy Hour runs from 5pm to 8pm with two-for-one beer and wine.
If you can’t find what you want at Cake Shop, get a check-up, cause you must be dead from the neck up!
Cake Shop
152 Ludlow St. (Near Stanton St.)
212-253-0036
19 Comments
Reader Comments (19)
Now thats a real chamelion of a bar. And to call it Cake Shop sounds sweet. Looks like the kind of place to hang out from friday nite til monday morning and just go from one room to the next, great idea. I have a brother in Cardiff by the sea (San Diego) who owns a barber shop that also kinda morphs into a record store with an area in back where a local band practices. No cake in barbershop though.
Cool bar and excellent happy hour! I actually own two of the three vinyls you featured, but I'll leave it to you to guess which ones. Still have to go to Katz's some day. Every time I walk past, there's a line out the door. Sure does smell good, though. Which is more than I can say for Mick Shrimpton.
@Biff: LMFAO! Good one about Mick S! I've been to Katz's Deli and it's a real New York treat! I gotta check out Cake Shop next time I'm in town, looks very cool! I love it they have live music every night. And cake! And Brittany!
Brittany is hot!
very hot...
score for the hot babes on martys tour of bars!
the pics on the wall really freaked me out and had to scroll faster!
beer and cake is my fave dessert:)
What a great place!
All that and live music too!
I love Brittany Lee's style!
If she is NOT modeling somewhere, she should be.
Speaking of modeling...
Getting ready to add some more designs and merch to the store.
Stay tuned.
We need to plan a big bash for the 6 month milestone here.
Like a "Flat Stanley" type journey of photos people can send in wearing their 365 attire.
I know my 365 shirt attracts attention.
("Hey I have BEEN to that guy's site!")
The farther this crawl goes the more amazing it becomes.
By years end it will have connected an amazing amount of people worldwide.
@"Boris": I'm wearing my shirt tonight, Daddio! Great work with the 365 shop!
The place next door is called "The Living Room" and is a very similar bar, minus the pastries. Great little bar upfront, music in the back room and a piano room upstairs.
@nyteacher: I'll check it out soon, thanks for the tip!
Looking for a four star old school deli in Minnesota? Rotsa Ruck, dude. I'd love a chance to try something from Kat's. Brittany is easy on the eyes but those tatts tend to indicate that she could throw you out the door head first if you started cutting up rough or something like that. I wouldn't want to make her mad!
if i had know you were the area i would have recommended spitzers or skinny. $3.00 pabst (16oz) is a steal at skinny. no i'm not plugging sushi samba today. but i am plugging skinny. http://theskinnybarlounge.com/current/. see heather she's a cutie.
let me get this straight...if i ever get anything that way...an unbeliveable hard salami sndwich...a red stripe...deliveried by a "looker"-marty you lucky mf...then what appears to be a shot of jameson and some old vynal....another classic on the "crawl"...KOC
rr
How's the cholesterol after that salami sandwich? That looked like hard work!
I've had to jump back to the site and comment because i've been unable to stop reading random Spinal Tap trivia.
Poor old Mick. He ended up as a green globule on his drum stool. I think he deserves his own sandwich at the cakeshop.
R.I.P (Rock. In. Pieces)
@Tim: I don't even want to know what my cholesterol is right now. I just had a salad for dinner, so hopefully that will counter-balance things! The Cake Shop should have a shrimp sandwich for Mick.
I want cake!
WHAT A GREAT SPOT !!!
I can't go a day with out checking you out ... is it some sort of voodoo curse? or addiction?
time to start spreading the joy.... great find that CAKE SHOP...
I need more cake...
Brittany Lee is a very beautiful woman !!! wow! She rocks!!!!!!!
Very cool bar! and oh! I had my first cupcake a couple of week ago, It was delicious!! I confess... That's the only american food I liked until now. I suck! I know! LOL
Looks like an entire day's and evening's entertainment in one place! (The Mick Ronson looks delish!)
I love that vintage Led Zeppelin t-shirt! But that doll on top of a shelf in one of the photos is DEFINITELY creepy!
Cake Shop looks like a really fun place to visit. What a cool place!
Happy 20th wedding anniversary Tim and Colleen!!
I am loving the crawl Marty!
Great Job!!