All posts by deronc

A review of Downtown Ale House in Downtown Brooklyn

Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

Located at 121 Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn, Downtown Ale House fills a void of almost no bars in this immediate section of town (seriously, why doesn’t Downtown Brooklyn have more bars – it’s the third-highest concentration of office buildings in NYC, don’t these office workers need bars to hit after work?).  Some craft-beer lovers might be a bit disappointed with the beer selection (given the name of the place).  It’s more of a small-but-quality beer selection of about a dozen.  Spaciousness and friendly staff also make Downtown Ale House a good option for the nearby office workers.

A brief wrap-up on NYC Craft Beer Week

Pub Crawl NYC Random Thoughts

We hit several bars that participated in NYC Craft Beer Week, which took place from Friday, February 22 until Sunday, March 3.  In particular, we visited Draught 55 (in Midtown East), Spring Lounge (in NoLita), Guilty Goose (in Chelsea) and Sweet Afton (in Astoria).  Of those four spots, we enjoyed our time at Sweet Afton the most.  The place (same owners as The Wren and Wilfie & Nell’s, to name two other spots) had a small-but-quality craft-beer selection.  Just 10 taps, but a great variety of local and national craft beers.  Spring Lounge hosted a Kelso brewery and Empire brewery tasting event.  We very much enjoy the Kelso IPA and Empire IPA (we are hopheads here at Pub Crawl NYC).  What was your experience with NYC Craft Beer Week?  Please share your thoughts.

A review of Union Gardens in Brooklyn's Carroll Gardens

Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

Located at 270 Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, Union Gardens is mainly a small-sized sports bar.  A dozen high top tables cover 2/3 of the space and there’s a small bar in the back of the space.  Friendly staff and a small-but-quality craft beer selection (mostly in bottles) make this a good spot for the neighborhood.  Definitely stop in next time your bar crawling along Smith Street!

Happy First Saturday of March!

Pub Crawl NYC Announcements, Pub Crawl NYC Random Thoughts

Our favorite non-holiday random calendar day of the year!  The arrival of the First Saturday of March is very meaningful to us at Pub Crawl NYC.  Though the calendar still says winter, March marks the end of the super-cold, long, dark winter months of December, January and February.  Spring is in sight.

And if you’re looking for a pub crawl today, Hoboken, NJ is having its annual St. Patrick’s celebration today.  More details here: http://www.hoboken-bar.net/stpats/

Happy St. Patrick's Month!

Pub Crawl NYC Announcements

It is here once again, our favorite month of the year!  There will be numerous Irish NYC pub crawls around the city.  We’ll provide info on some.  If you would prefer to create your own pub crawl, we can help, free of charge!  We just ask that you visit and “like” our facebook fanpage first, www.facebook.com/pubcrawlnyc. We’ve been to the overwhelming majority of bars in Manhattan and Brooklyn and can share our wealth of knowledge.  Drop us a note.

A review of Marlin Bar in Midtown Manhattan

Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

Inside Tommy Bahama at 551 Fifth Avenue and catering to a mix of tourists and office workers, Marlin Bar has an upscale, pleasant feel to it.  The main bar area (past the spiral staircase leading upstairs to a restaurant) greets patrons and there’s a small lounge area in the back.  Happy hour specials offered from 4 to 6pm.  Small number of tap beers available (including our Brooklyn favorite, Kelso!)

Three random bar thoughts for the weekend

Pub Crawl NYC Random Thoughts

Recently, we had a chance to visit Pennsylvania 6 (at 132 West 31st Street in Manhattan’s Chelsea), Dead Rabbit (at 30 Water Street in Manhattan’s Financial District) and LCL Bar (at 212 East 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan).  All three were good spots; all three had good craft beer selections.  We liked Dead Rabbit the best of the three.  Pennsylvania 6 and LCL were places to drop by if you’re nearby those neighborhoods, but not places to go way out of your way for.

For a piece of very welcomed news, we learned recently that The Paris Cafe will re-0pen sometime later in 2013.  The Paris Cafe is our favorite spot in the South Street Seaport section of Manhattan and was badly damaged during Hurricane Sandy.  The major renovations include moving the bar, which has taken some time.  We are just so happy to know that the Paris will re-open!

Today begins NYC Beer Week!

Pub Crawl Brooklyn's review of The Royal in Manhattan's Greenwich Village

Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

Another upscale sports bar for Union Square and the Village.  This place used to be The Forum, so from that standpoint, The Royal is an upgrade for the 127 Fourth Avenue address.  Still, regular readers know how we feel about the proliferation of upscale sports bars.  The Royal offers dozens of TV panels for sports viewing.  A large bar area greets patrons with a sizeable seating area in the back of the space.  Sixteen beer taps, but most are repeated, so about ten different beers available.  Mostly standard stuff, as is the food menu.

NY State Lawmaker seeks to ban NYC pub crawls

Pub Crawl NYC Random Thoughts

We were dismayed to learn of the following news story: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/02/17/state-lawmaker-seeks-to-ban-pub-crawls/

We’ve written on this topic before.  We doubt that any actual legislation will be passed that bans pub crawls.  Such a law would be too difficult to enforce.  Either way, our questions are these: Why are the calls for bans on NYC bar crawls growing louder of late? Is it because there are more families living in Manhattan versus a generation or two ago? There have been pub crawls in Manhattan for decades, if not centuries. Why is it becoming a quality of life issue only now?

What are your thoughts on this issue?  We want to hear from you!