Best wishes for 2014. Our New Year’s Resolution: More NYC bar crawls this year!
Category Archives: Pub Crawl NYC Random Thoughts
Pondering the end of 2012 in NYC bar terms
So, here we are on the last day of the year 2012. Looking back, it was quite a year for us in terms of number of bars visited. We visited nearly 80 newly opened bars in Manhattan, nearly 40 newly-opened spots in Brooklyn and over a dozen of that type in Queens. And, of course, we returned to many of our favorites and not-so-favorites over that same time period. Perhaps our favorite new bar opening of 2012 was New York Beer Company. We’ve written about that spot a few times already in this space. If you’re a craft-beer fan and you haven’t been there yet, then start 2013 off right and go to New York Beer Company.
An update on the South Street Seaport bars
As a follow-up to our post from earlier this month, it sounds as though numerous South Street Seaport bars, particularly the ones along Front Street (Stella, Nelson Blue, Bin 220, Keg 229), will be closed for several more months. According to local community leaders, some of the historic buildings housing these Front Street bars will be under Restricted Use until March/April of 2013. Only at that time can the whole scale renovations begin. In the meantime, you can enjoy libations in that area at Jeremy’s Ale House and Meade’s, the two bars in the area that re-opened within a few weeks after Hurricane Sandy.
The weekend in pub crawling
We had a solid NYC pub crawling weekend. Checked out several spots on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, including Two Bit’s Retro Arcade and Fig 19. We’ll have brief reviews on both spots forthcoming. We’re gonna continue bar hopping this week, as this will be our last week of bar crawling before we take our annual Christmas break. We anticipate visiting some recently opened spots in the East Village and The Windsor in Midtown South, (yet another) upscale sports bar in the Gansevoort Hotel on Park Avenue. As always, we’ll keep you informed on our progress.
If you're looking for a NYC pub crawl this weekend
There’s the “not bar crawl” called Santa Con NYC, starting early on Saturday, December 15. If it’s anything like previous years, it will be a good time.
Saying farewell to one NYC bar and hello to a new one
Last week, we got word that The Hairy Monk had closed, following a dispute with its landlord (aren’t these disputes happening an awful lot of late? We digress — full DNAinfo story here). The Hairy Monk was a solid spot for Third Avenue NYC sports bar crawl (and, if you’re a Boston fan, one of the few spots for the Boston-friendly NYC pub crawl). We had been to Hairy Monk several times over the years. Good bar food and a decent tap beer selection. The bar will be missed.
When one bar closes, there’s another one that opens. In this particular instance, we are talking about a new spot on the Lower East Side called Two Bit’s Retro Arcade, now open at 153 Essex Street (read the full story DNA info here). The spot is supposed to have 1980s video games for a quarter play, along with craft beer and wine. If this formula sounds familiar, it’s because you’re likely a big fan of Barcade in Brooklyn. We love Barcade and if Two Bit’s can replicate what Barcade has done, then we will be very happy. In addition, Two Bit’s has the potential to replace the one of the two spots on the LES craft beer NYC pub crawl that closed approximately a year ago.
What are your thoughts on the closing of Hairy Monk and the opening of Two Bit’s. Please leave us a comment!
Happy December 5th!
Today marks the 79th anniversary of the end of Prohibition. On this date in 1933, Utah became the 36th U.S. state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution (achieving the required 75% of states to approve the amendment). This ratification overturned the 18th Amendment, which outlawed alcohol in the United States. So, how will you be marking the anniversary today? Leave us a comment to let us know!
The status of some South Street Seaport bars five weeks after Sandy
A few weeks go, we reported that most of the South Street Seaport bars were still closed for business in the Sandy aftermath. We took another visit there recently and are unhappy to report that not much has improved. Of the bars closed three weeks ago, Heartland Brewery, Fresh Salt, Stella, Keg 229, Bin 220, Nelson Blue and the Paris Cafe, all remain closed and most entrances to those bars indicate “Restricted Use Only”. A couple of photos below.
If you know a more detailed status of any of the bars listed above, please drop us a note.
Only one more month of bar crawling in 2012
Hard to believe that today is the last day of November. The year 2012 has flown by, seemingly, just like many other recent years. NYC has seen some great new bars open up this year, particularly some additions to the Hell’s Kitchen Beer Bar Crawl, including Beer Authority at 300 West 40th Street and New York Beer Company at 321 West 44th Street. If you enjoy quality beer, you need to visit these two spots. Here’s hoping a few more quality beer spots open for business in the month of December.
New bars we need to visit
Several new spots have either just opened for business or are about to open. We look forward to bar hopping/pub crawling to these new spots. Two in Manhattan’s Lower East Side have caught our attention: Subject at 188 Suffolk and Todd’s Mill at 162 Orchard. Another spot, Dolan’s, at 533 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen wasn’t on any of our usual sources; we just passed by it the other day. That’s our favorite way of learning about recently-opened establishments! As always, we’ll provide brief reviews of these (and other) spots in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned.