Category Archives: Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

A visit to Ainsworth Park in Manhattan and a brief thought on upscale sports bars

October 5, 2012Pub Crawl NYC Random Thoughts, Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

The folks from Ainsworth and 121 Fulton have opened up a third location. This one at 111 East 18th Street, just north of Union Square. Larger than the first two locations, Ainsworth Park offer a long dining area with dozens of TV screens lining both sides of the room for your sports watching pleasure. There’s a small bar area just past the entrance and a small lounge area just to the right of the entrance. Ainsworth Park’s food menu is similar to the other two locations. The beer selection is decent, but this spot won’t be placed on any craft-beer focused pub crawls.

But what really stood out for us was the velvet rope (and the bathroom attendants). As one Pub Crawl NYC participant noted, “no sports bar should have a velvet rope”. We agree. The velvet ropes were out and it was only 4pm. It was broad daylight! And even if it were night time, the place is A SPORTS BAR! No, we didn’t have a problem getting in and neither did other patrons dressed more casually than we were. Still, it’s the principle. In general, is this upscale sports bar theme only in Manhattan? When did it start? Was it with Jay-Z’s 40/40 club in 2003? Please share your thoughts.

Bar hopping in Kew Gardens, Queens

October 3, 2012Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

On a recent weekday afternoon, Pub Crawl NYC ventured to Kew Gardens to see what watering holes that section of Queens offered. Below are two we enjoyed.

The Kew Club, located at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Lefferts Blvd. A combo of a neighborhood and sports bar.

Austin’s Ale House located on Austin Street next to the Kew Gardens LIRR station. Also a combo neighborhood and sports bar. Austin’s offers wider selection of tap beers than The Kew Club.

: One of two dining areas at Austin’s

Bar crawling in Chicago

September 26, 2012Pub Crawl Brooklyn Road Trips, Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

Pub Crawl NYC recently visited Chicago. Here are some of the bar hopping highlights from our trip to the Windy City.

Berghoff – German restaurant with a large bar area. A mix of house brews and some imports. Solid spot with good food, but since it’s located in The Loop, it closes at 9pm most nights

Elephant & Castle – the chain English-style pub. Even though it’s a chain, we like this place because it does not have a location in NYC, and therefore don’t get to it too often. Tap beers are a mix of standard imports and macro brews, but there area a few local beers featured as well.

Poag Mahone’s – Irish Pub that offers nearly two dozen tap beers. This place offers a better mix of local and regional craft beers than Elephant & Castle. Unfortunately, due to its location in The Loop, Poag’s also closes rather early.

O’Neil’s on Wells – Dive-y sports bar that also offers pizza-by-the-slice.

A visit to The Malt House in Manhattan's Greenwich Village

September 19, 2012Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

A new addition to the Greenwich Village beer NYC bar crawl has just opened at 206 Thompson Street (just north of Bleecker Street). Replacing an Italian restaurant at this address, The Malt House comes to you from two bar owners who used to be part of the ownership group of nearby Amity Hall and The Half Pint (translation: The Malt House will be a great beer bar for years to come!). 24 tap beers available, mostly focusing on American craft beer. Dozens of other bottled/canned craftbeers available. The food menu was not complete yet, so we’ll have to return at a later date for that. The space is divided into two, the main bar area and a seating area (see photos below). The Malt House has the potential to become our favorite place to include on a pub crawl in that particular area of Greenwich Village!

What are your thoughts on Malt House? We want to hear from you!

Pub Crawl NYC visits Manhattan Proper in Tribeca

September 17, 2012Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

Located at 6 Murray Street in Manhattan, Manhattan Proper takes over from many previous occupants of this address (including Nathan Hale’s, KD Connelly’s and Copper Barrel over the last decade). The theme at this address continues evolving (from dive bar to semi-dive/beer bar to purported gastropub/sports bar, a la the Ainsworth/121 Fulton). We visited too early to taste the food menu (kitchen was not yet open), so we’ll need to return for that. Since the previous incarnation (Copper Barrel), the layout is similar, but the look/feel is fairly different. Gone is the large beer selection (still eight beers on tap, but the bottled beer selection leaves something to be desired), still spacious seating in the back half of the space. The half-dozen large, flatscreen TVs remain, so this is still a good spot to watch the game. Pub Crawl NYC hopes that Manhattan Proper can distinguish itself from its previous incarnations, but the location (at the nexus of Tribeca, Civic Center and the Financial District) will present a challenge.

What are your thoughts on Manhattan Proper?

A visit to Pod 39 Hotel Rooftop Bar in Manhattan's Murray Hill

September 14, 2012Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

Located at 145 East 39th Street (just east of Lexington Avenue), the Pod 39 Hotel recently opened a rooftop bar. 17 stories above east 39th street, this rooftop spot offers good views east, south and west (alas, most of the Chrysler building just to the north, except for the spire, is blocked). The bar offers specialty cocktails, along with five tap beers and six bottled/canned beers. The physical bar is located in the center of the space, with small tables along the establishment’s perimeter. During our visit, the bartenders seemed extremely overwhelmed as numerous patrons waited several minutes at the bar for their drinks. Perhaps the bar was understaffed, but the place was not supercrowded either. If this waiting time for drinks is not a usual occurrence, then we recommend Pod 39 as a place to stop by for a drink; perhaps even as an addition to the Midtown East rooftop bar crawl.

A view southwest toward the Empire State Building.

Pub Crawl NYC visits the New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, CO

September 13, 2012Pub Crawl Brooklyn Road Trips, Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

At Pub Crawl NYC, we love visiting breweries. Really, what more fun is there to learn about the brewing process, the history of a brewery and the best part, of course, is the beer sampling! After visiting Sam Adams and Mayflower earlier this summer, we went west to Colorado and visited New Belgium, makers of Fat Tire and other delicious brews. The tour at New Belgium lasts for 90 minutes (definitely the longest brewery tour we’ve experienced) and we got to see many aspects of the operation. Even though New Belgium is the third largest craft-brewery in the United States (behind Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada), New Belgium does all of its brewing in Fort Collins (New Belgium is now constructing a new brewing facility in Asheville, NC, which will serve the East Coast primarily, but it may not be completely up and running until 2015).

What stood out at New Belgium (aside from the quality beer samples!) was the focus that the brewery had on its employee working environment and its environmentally-friendly power usage. On the first point, New Belgium is consistently ranked as a top place to work in the U.S. New Belgium is a privately-owned company (specifically, an ESOP – Employee Stock owned plan) and has a unique Brewing Purpose Statement. Concerning its environmental policy, New Belgium uses renewable energy and recycles water, among other environmental successes.

Below are some pictures from our visit.

The main tasting room, just inside the front door.

The beers offered for sampling when we visited.

The bicycle theme was visible all over the brewery.

A visit to the Arthur Avenue section of the Bronx

September 12, 2012Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

After a solid Italian meal at Zero Otto Nove, Pub Crawl NYC visited two drinking establishments nearby.

Mugz’s (pronounced Mugzees), located at 2476 Arthur Avenue, is a college dive bar for nearby Fordham University students. For those well past their college days, if you want to feel old, you can go here. Seriously, aside from us and the bartender, there was no patron here over the age of 22.

How at the Moon Bar & grill had a slight Carribbean theme going on. A neighborhood/sports bar. Still attracted the college crowd, but the clientele here is more diverse in age than at Mugz’s.

What are your thoughts on these two places? We want to hear from you!

A few spots in Greenpoint and Williamsburg sections of Brooklyn

September 7, 2012Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

After our time in Sunnyside was completed, we continued southwest along west Greenpoint Avenue, across the Newtown Creek into Brooklyn and hit three spots in Greenpoint and East Williamsburg.

Pencil Factory, located at 142 Franklin Street. Solid spot, part of the gentrification of the northern section of Greenpoint. 12 mostly-quality tap beers offered. Worth a visit the next time you’re nearby.

After Greenpoint, we moved over the East Williamsburg to visit two recently opened establishments, The Tradesman and Post No Bills, both located within steps of the Montrose Avenue L-train stop.

The Tradesman, a fairly-recently opened spot located at 222 Bushwick Avenue. Chill vibe and 12 quality tap beers. Sizeable outdoor space in the back.

Post No Bills, located at 253 Bushwick Avenue. This bar was not on our radar at all. We happened to notice it when we first cam out of the L-train enroute to The Tradesman. Post No Bills is long and narrow, with a small seating area in back. Only two tap beers here, so we enjoyed part of the 18 bottled/canned beer selection.

What do you think of these spots? Please share your thoughts.

Bar hopping on a weekday afternoon in Sunnyside, Queens

September 5, 2012Pub Crawl NYC Reviewsderonc

Pub Crawl NYC enjoys hanging out in Sunnyside. It had been a while, so on a recent weekday afternoon, we ventured over there to hit some spots along Queens Blvd and Greenpoint Avenue. Below are the highlights:

Molly Blooms at 43-13 Queens Blvd, this location is the old Flynn’s Inn. Molly Blooms has a Victorian theme going. Small outdoor area in the back. 12 tap beers and 18 bottled beers offered. Fairly simple bar food menu.

McGuiness’s at 44-23 Queens Blvd. A comfortable neighborhood corner bar. Six tap beers. As the name suggests, it’s an Irish bar.

Bliss Street Station at 47-02 Greenpoint Avenue. Another Irish pub offering six tap beers and decent pub grub. Fairly sizeable dining area also.

Greenpoint Lounge at 43-22 Greenpoint Avenue. Probably the diviest of the five pubs we visited this day. Long bar area followed by a pool table toward the back and a small outdoor area in the back.

Bantry Bay Public House at 3301 Greenpoint Avenue. From the looks of the outside, it looks dive-y, but rather pleasant on the inside with both a sizeable bar and dining areas. I’m unsure if this section of Queens is still Sunnyside or Long Island City. Perhaps it’s on the border. If you have any thoughts on this debate, please share!

Good times await in Sunnyside’s bars, definitely worth a trip if you are looking for something slightly different. Please share your thoughts on this excursion.