Thursday, January 14, 2010—Bar 4

Day Four—Wednesday, January 13th—O’Reilly’s Pub

I went back to work tonight, so I thought I’d go to O'Reilly's for tonight's bar, a little Irish Pub nearby where I work. I’ve been in this bar many times and it’s always been packed with toursists. It must be in a guidebook or something, because while it’s a nice bar, it’s not exactly on the beaten path for tourists. I’ll ask the bartender when I get there. The first three bars were local joints and I didn’t see a tourist in any of them. So it’ll be interesting to see how out-of-towners react to yours fooly...I mean, yours truly. Okay, let me punch the clock (and let me mention how I fucking hate time clocks, they suck donkey dicks on a bed of rice as sour as Jay Leno’s cancelled puckering asshole...whatever that means...I really don’t like time clocks)...

...And we’re off!

And here we are, I've always liked their neon sign, a beacon of hope in the cold dark night.

I found the first patron outside smoking. His name is Sylvestor and he's from West Africa and happened into O'Reilly's because he's staying in the hotel down the road.

There's a lively crowd inside the bar tonight.

I decide to get into the Irish mood by ordering a pint of Guiness from bartender T.J. Higgins.

And here it is in al its glory! A drinkable work of art!

A fun group of people were partying nearby and they are (from left): Dennis, Ethan (notice the devil eyes on Ethan, they'll come back to haunt me), Jeff and Jasmine (definitely the prettiest of the group!)

Here I preform the age-old Irish tradition of the "Wearing of the Guiness on the Noggin'." Notice the devil eyes of Ethan behind me!

A list of the large beer selection that awaits you at O'Reilly's.

A lonely, lonely booth. Sob.

Here's Sabrina (no relation to the teenage witch), Julz and Taina. Sabrina's from New York, Taina's a Finnish friend of Sabrina's from Orange County, California and Julz is visiting from Australlia. When asked what Julz did for a living he told me, "I pick up women." I need to party with this guy and take notes!

Some of the nightly food specials at O'Reilly's.

Ketchup!

In honor of last night's bar, I double down on the Budweiser's. And look behind me, it's the Devil Eye's of Ethan! Aaaah!

The crowd stays lively despite the wee hours of the night.

Here's the birthday party for Matt Brucato (Matt's all the way to the right.) He turned 21 tonight! Welcome to the land of the hangover, Matt!

T.J. at work amidst the river of booze that awaits you at O'Reilly's.

It's 1:30 in the morning and love is definitely in the air at O'Reilly's! Jasmine and Hernando are quite the loving couple. Cheers to you both!

O'Reilly's regulars, Brian and Martin. Brian suggested several bars for the 365 tour, including Carlow East, where he says if he's not there by 2pm he gets a text message from the manager.

This couple claims their name's are Antoine and Cleopatra, but the way Cleopatra laughed about the whole thing makes me doubt the validity of their names. But they were a fun couple to have a drink with.

And now time for the nightly bathroom break.

Another really clean toilet, so far it's been four out of four for a clean bar toilet. Very nice!

Hey...how'd that get there? (Special thanks to Frankie Headbanger for technical assistance!)

Obligatory bathroom mirror shot.

Review

O’Reilly’s is one of many Irish pubs in Manhattan and it’s one of the finer ones. The bartenders and waiteresses are friendly and the crowd is usually lively and the Guiness flows freely here. There’s also a full menu including traditional Irish fare such as fish and chips and shepherds pie, but they also have non-Irish items including grilled filet of salmon, shrimp scampi and stuffed filet of sole. Check out the website (below) to see the entire menu.

Of course they have Guiness on tap along with a bevy of other assorted beers on tap and bottled beers and of course a full bar. O’Reilly’s has a lively after work happy hour, stop by and if T.J. is working ask for one of his legendary Lady Mojo shots. It’ll bring you the luck of the Irish! Too rah loo rah loo. (P.S. Double Down Bartender Jenna Leigh sent in a picture of one of her paintings last night, scroll down and check out the update here: Jenna Leigh painting.)

O'Reilly's Pub & Restaurant
54 West 31st Street,
212-684-4244

Wednesday, January 13, 2010—Bar 3

Day Three, Tuesday January 12th—Double Down Saloon

Okay, day three. Only 362 more to go. My liver just hicupped. Tonight I’m going to the Double Down Saloon. This was suggested by one half of last night's cutest couple from the Parkside Lounge, Eric Danville, pictured below.

I’ve heard of this place and I just checked out their website and one of their specialty drinks is called, “Ass Juice.” The bar’s motto is “Shut up and Drink.” So it should be an interesting evening!

Here we are and yeah, I know this is a shitty photo, but it was freezing out and I wanted to get inside and start drinking!

The bar was crowded and I got the last seat. Woo hoo!

One of the few rules in this joint is, "You puke, you clean!" Fair enough!

Allow me to introduce the first bartender of the evening, the lovely Jenna Leigh. In addition to being a super fun and fabulous looking bartender, Jenna Leigh also paints.

Update! Jenna Leigh just sent me one of her paintings (below), it's titled "Kerosene" and it's very cool! Great work Jenna Leigh, thanks for sending it in!

The Double Down is home of the fabled Ass Juice. As much as I was afraid to find out what this fabled drink was, I knew I had to sample it.

And Jenna Leigh was more than happy to pour me a shot of the fabled drink. I asked a question I never thought I'd ask in my life and the question was, "What is Ass Juice?" Jenna Leigh told me it was a secret, but told me a crucial ingredient is, "The blood of our enemies." Yikes!

And you know what? It wasn't too bad. For Ass Juice, that is!

 There's tons of drink specials at the Double Down, check them out.

These three were holding down the end of the bar, from left, Andre, Money and Stef.

Dany was visiting from Switzerland and said the Double Down was always on his to-do list when he comes to New York. Dany's a bartender in Switzerland, so he knows his shit when it comes to bars!

The front room of the Double Down.

I can live with this motto!

Okay, I'm stalkng Jenna Leigh with my camera, you got a problem with that?

 Great selections on the jukebox ranging from the Bobby Teens to Iggy Pop to the Clash, the Dead Milkmen and even Louis Prima.

No Hippies!

Here's the infamous Punk Rock Pony. After my shot of Ass Juice I was afraid to get on this thing, I wasn't in the mood to clean up my own puke.

The bar starts to pack up as the evening wears on.

The lovely and vivacious Alison was the other bartender on duty.

Maxy gets ready to break a game of pool, once I stop taking her picture.

Another drink special at Double Down is the Bacon Martini. Alison serves me one complete with Slim Jim swizzle stick.

Here's a close up of the bacon-infused vodka. And yes, the bacon is cooked and people have been known to eat it.

Here's my lame attempt at a pig face as I drink the Bacon Martini. As far as the drink goes, let's just say it's an acquired taste.

He's a Broker and she's a Para-Legal going to Law School. I present the Double Down's official Power Couple, David and Jessica.

Pinball!

Here I am with Jennifer and Meg. Jennifer (A.K.A. Ms. JennCity) is a musician and DJ, check out her websites: Suicide City and her MySpace page.

 Alison serves up the final Budweiser of the evening which leads to...

Bathroom break!

A surprisingly clean toilet for a punk rock joint!

Lots of graffiti on the walls, but no mirror for my obligatory bathroom shot. Drats!

Huh, I wonder what asshole wrote that graffiti on top of the toilet?

Review

In the ‘70s the word “Gonzo” was given birth. Legend has it that Boston Globe editor Bill Cardoso first used it to describe the writing style of Hunter S. Thompson. In the mid-ninties “Gonzo Porn” was the newest form of porno. And now thanks to Double Down Saloon, New York has its very own Gonzo Saloon!

It’s Gonzo meets Punk Rock as you enter the doors of the Double Down Saloon on Avenue A in the East Village of New York. It’s the home of the fabled “Ass Juice” and the saloon’s motto is “Shut Up and Drink!” The only rule is: “You puke, you clean!” which is fair enough. The bartenders are friendly and fun and the clientle are a mix of punk rock regulars and first timers checking the place out.

There’s daily drink specials, the best punk rock/garage juke box in town, a backyard smoking patio, a pool table, cool murals on the walls and even a sticker-riddled punk rock pony to ride. So quit moaning about C.B.G.B.’s closing and get your ass over to the Double Down Saloon. They bill themselves as “The Happiest Place On Earth” and after a few Budweisers, a shot of Ass Juice and a salty Bacon Martini, I have to agree!

Double Down Saloon
Double Down MySpace Page
Double Down Radio Show
14 Avenue A (@Houston St.)
212-982-0543

Tuesday, January 12, 2010—Bar 2

Day Two—Monday, January 11th—Parkside Lounge

Alright, I’m a little hungover from last night, but you know what they say when you fall off your bike...actually I have no idea what they say when you fall off your bike, I just know that the best cure for a hangover is more booze. I’ve been meaning to go to the Parkside Lounge ever since my friend Alex Tirpack started bartending there over a year ago, so now is as good as time as any to make the trip. And awaaaay we go!

Tonight it wasn't as cold as last night so I walked down Broadway and eastward on Houston till I arrived at the sea of neon announcing I had made it to the Parkside Lounge.

A river of booze awaits you at the Parkside Lounge.

And there to drink all things bottled and Budweiser is me!

Joining me in the swillfest is Parkside Lounge regular Rich Fahrer. Rich is a data analyst for CDM Connect (I hope that's the right name of the business, after only one drink my notes were a little garbled) and can drink a bottle of beer in 2.6 seconds. Really, I timed him.

This is Jodi, the manager of the Parkside Lounge. I pressed her for dirt on Alex, and while conceding he's a good bartender did confess that, "he's a dirty hippie." You read it here first, people! Take that Page 6!

Bill is another Parkside regular who told me the cheap drinks and ESPN are what lures him in.

And now for the cutest couple of the evening...Eric Danville and Victoria! It was announced at this photo session that they are oficially boyfriend and girlfriend. I blessed them with my third bottle of Budweiser and let them be in their romantic end of the bar. (Eric, by the way is a New York bar afficionado who recommended tonight's bar. Stay tuned for that, tomorrow!)

Foosball!

Dan Mackay is another regular at Parkside Lounge. He's an iron worker who's working right down the street, which makes the Parkside an easy after work stop.

Some of the many beers to be had, both bottled and draft.

Life, it's more than a cereal and a board game, it used to be a magazine as shown here on the walls of the Parkside Lounge.

I thought I'd check out the pool game brewing in the back of the bar.

Sadly, I blinded this fellow with my flash and he missed the shot. Sorry!

Two hand models from the Home Shopping Network were there to illustrate the highlights of the game.

Time for the nightly bathroom break.

One of the cleanest toilets in a bar I've ever seen!

And the sink is loaded with ice in case you need to freshen your drink up.

Sadly there was no mirror for my obligatory bathroom shot, but I did notice this graffiti on the sign over the toilet. Hmmm, I wonder what wise-ass left that there?

Cocktail watiress Celida demostrates the fine art of when life hands you lemons, put them in a tray and stuff them into other people's drinks.

Trip Henderson's Whistlin' Wolves were the featured band of the evening in the spacious back room and they put on a great show.

While Brian Brannigan isn't a regular, he is a professional guitarist with great tales of meeting Waddy Wachtel, seeing Little Feat and a fan of the late John Hartford, who I met at Peoria Steamboat Days. A long story, which I shared with Brian, but I'm not going to share it with you. You should've been there. Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!

Bartender Emily (check out her band's MySpace page: Action City Blackout) performs her version of the Golden Globes at the Parkside Lounge. And the winner for the best writer/journalist/bartender/dirty hippie goes to...

Alex Tirpack! He'd like to thank all the little people who made this and his midget dick joke possible.

This is Christorpher Lee (no relation to the horror star) one of the owners (along with Karen) of the Parkside Lounge. When asked to dish the dirt on Alex, Christpher said he was a big fan of Alex, but when pressed did admit that he thought Alex was also a dirty hippie, in addition to being a great bartender. In addition to running the Parkside Lounge Alex is an actor here in NYC and has not one but two websites, check them out: Sparkplug Productions and Christopher Lee NYC.

Christopher told me that the Parkside Lounge has the best Bloody Mary in the world and the key to this is the special ingredients of pickled string beans and peppers. He says it's the ultimate and tastiest hangover cure to be found. Check it out some hungover Sunday.

Speaking of pickled, I was on my ninth or tenth beer and the writing was not on the wall, but on the sidewalk outside that my night was over. Goodnight everybody! And special thanks to Alex and the whole crew and crowd at Parkside Lounge, a splendid and fun time was had and I'll be back. You've been warned!

Review

The Parkside Lounge is a legendary Lower East Side hangout located in a part of New York that still feels like New York. It’s equal parts old school meets new school cool and definitely a smorgasbord of characters (on either side of the bar), fun, live music and a wide menu of cheap but good and potent drinks and a large selection of bottled and draft beers.

You can’t miss the bar on the corner of Houston and Attorney, due to the fact that it has the largest neon sign in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Once inside you’ll find a large bar, comfortable booths, a pool table, TV, foosball and a couple of video games for your perusal and playing adventures. The clientele ranges from neighborhood regulars to first timers drawn in from the hypnotic neon sign outside. It’s a fun mix of people and the bartenders and waitresses are some of the friendliest and fun in town. The night I was there a high-spirited joke telling-session between customers and staff provided big belly laughs in between many bottles of Budweiser.

There’s music and comedy every night of the week in the spacious back room. The music ranges from rock ‘n’ roll to country to acoustic and, well, just about any genre. Check Parkside’s MySpace page (below) for the schedule. Along with the music comedy is thrown into the mix some nights.  Most night’s there’s no cover charge for the music/comedy, which along with the cheap drinks to be had, makes the Parkside Lounge the perfect bar for these economically challenging times.

And be sure to try the Parkside’s specialty Bloody Mary. A patron recently told bartender Emily that the Parkside Lounge’s Bloody Mary, “changed his life.”

Parkside Lounge
Parkside MySpace Page
Parkside on Twitter
317 E. Houston (corner of Houston and Attorney)
212-674-9308