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| McGee's Pub, West 55th Street |
That's not to say that everyone who secretly yearns for a bit of New York would ever actually want to live here. After all, a piece of New York is way different than the whole shebang, and god knows I wouldn't have worked up the gumption to move here if opportunity hadn't have come knocking, despite my little dream. (Or how much I'm enjoying the city now that I'm here actually here.)
But a dream I did have. A small vision of what New York City could offer me. A reason beyond all others to quest after this indomitable city, to aspire to one day exist in this bustling metropolis.
I want to find the bar, dammit.
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| The Yurt at Milgis, Cardiff |
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| Fox & Goose, Sacramento |
Ladies and gentleman, I've been trying to find this bar since before I started drinking. Once I finally did imbibe for the first time, the search only became more desperate. See, there's a show called "How I Met Your Mother." And on this show there is a bar called McClaren's.
And McClaren's is freaking awesome.
There's cool bartenders who will let the regulars throw pencils into ceiling, go wandering throughout the city while totally smashed with the bar number's written on their arm in case they get lost, and keep open late into the eve so their buddies can get laid. McClaren's has food. It has booths. It's never crowded, there's never an annoying band playing in the background (good bands are okay), and everyone within its hallowed walls always has a drink in hand, regardless of how expensive you know they (and the fifteen proceeding drinks) cost.
McClaren's is the bar of bars.
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| Madam Organ, DC |
They were too expensive. (I'm poor.) Only had beer/wine/a bad selection of beer/couldn't make a good Old Fashioned or Tom Collins. (A girl's gotta have her standards.) Had too much dancing. (I have all the rhythm of a particularly morose rock.) Required driving. (Who wants to sober-up before heading home?) Were inconveniently located in another state/country. (And people wouldn't let me take them with me when I left.)
Alas, none of them were perfect, but they were all close enough that I took heart. Somewhere out there, I knew, the bar was waiting.
But, even the most determined of us get worn down during times of strife. I had just about given up and decided to settle for the perfectly good (but not perfectly perfect) bars I had found about my small corner of the universe when a miraculous thing happened.
I found out I would be moving to New York City. The real city that the fictional McClaren's called home. (See McGee's - pictured above.)
Hope sprang forth from within my feeble, nearly shattered beer-loving soul, and I dared to believe once more that my future might hold within it the bar. In a place where there's about sixteen bars on every block, and where there would be more if there was only enough space (there isn't), surely the bar of my heart is out in this city somewhere.
Three months in, and I can't lie, I'm a little suspicious.
Of course, I haven't even made a dent in visiting all of the bars to be offered here, but the search has been a difficult one, filled with many trials (bad bars), tribulations (hangovers), and cocktails (figuring out which subway to take in order to get home is a hilarious process at 2 AM after your sixth drink, let me tell you). But through it all, I've managed to maintain my optimism. Even if they aren't perfect, there are more than a few brilliant gems out here.
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| Sunny's Bar, Red Hook |
The Good: Open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, this is the bar of bars, so awesome that it only needs three nights in business to keep running. Why? Because it's awesome. (Pay attention. Come on.) Good beer, cheap options for us poor folk, and homemade whiskey cider for those cold fall and winter nights. There's also live music every night, including an informal jam session with a bunch of old-timers in the back-room. An outside/inside smoking room, a random combination of hipsters and locals, a bartender who doesn't fool around when you say, "As strong as you can, please," totally unpretentious, and probably the best atmosphere I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy during a bar experience.
The Problem: Sunny's in a little sea-side town in Brooklyn called Red Hook. It's an awesome place. It has a lot of fishing, fiercely protective locals, and an IKEA. The problem with Red Hook? It takes me two trains and a bus to get there, for a grand total of a two hour commute on a good night, and a two and a half hour commute if the bus is being slow. Even when I'm coming from work in Midtown Manhattan, it still takes me and hour and a half. And the trip only gets longer if we stay until closing at 4 AM. (Which we don't, but we could!) Brilliant, amazing, but too damn far away.
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| The Quays, Astoria |
The Good: The Quays is what I call a "classy dive." It isn't sketchy (although a lot of people who go to classy bars call it that), it's cheap, and it's a pub. These are all brilliant things in my book. I've only been twice, but each time there was live music that was surprisingly good and Irishy. (I say 'surprisingly' because usually when someone's trying to sing in an Irish-like fashion it always comes off as screeching to me...) There's no food, but they let you order in, and there's an unwritten policy that if you order two drinks, the third one is free. (If the bartender likes you, that is. Luckily, a particular bartender is bestest buds with one of my housemates, so more booze for me.) And finally, The Quays is a very manageable fifteen minute walk from my house. What's not to love?
The Problem: I live about 40 minutes away from everyone I know (who I don't live with), and while they're plenty happy to hear about this place, the more wintery it gets the less and less likely it becomes that anyone's going to summon up the energy to make it over here. Lord knows I can't blame them for it, but it does leave me in a bit of a pickle. I'm against drinking alone in general, but drinking alone at a pub? I'm Irish, but I don't need to fit the stereotype that precisely, thank you very much.
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| Destination Bar, Alphabet City |
The Good: I like this bar. It's a little pretentious and there are a ton of enlightened young people wandering about being smug while obscure whiny music plays in the background (which, unlike Irish screeching, I like a lot more than I should), but there's something comfy about it. It's probably the random seating they have all about and the weird shit that's populating the nooks and crannies of the place. It doesn't hurt that the bartenders know how to make their cocktails and they have a pretty damn decent beer selection. They also have munchies available, which I haven't tried yet (although I am a frequent visitor at the Papaya Dog next to the subway station... because I am that classy), and a billion other bars within walking distance if it gets too crowded. They're more expensive than I usually like ($10 cocktails - *wince*), but they have a great half-off everything happy-hour, and at only three stops away from my work, they're definitely within a reasonable distance. Good atmosphere, good location, good surrounding food. What's not to love?
The Problem: No one I've taken here has liked it all that much. It's not like I've brought a bus-load of people around or anything, but still. Going to a bar is a bonding, group experience. And as good as any bar may be, it doesn't replace the people who will let you throw up in their bathtub and only mock you a little bit about it the next day. My people don't like my bar, and if my people don't like my bar, it can't be the bar.
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| The Holiday Cocktail Lounge, East Village |
4) The Holiday Cocktail Lounge
The Good: First, as you can probably tell from the picture (and that I couldn't tell at the time, since it was night, and I was cold, and all I wanted was happy hour), The Holiday Lounge is a dive bar. It's not a bad dive bar, but... Well. Okay. It's pretty bad. But it isn't disgusting, which is an important distinction to me. (Aside - I love dive bars, but if I feel like I'm going to get a disease from using the toilet, I'm going to have to leave.) The Holiday Lounge is cheap and in the middle of the East Village, so you can really go anywhere from here. It's got some nice booths set up that you can nab if you get there before 10 PM, it's not far from the office, and it isn't in the least bit pretentious. It's got a good selection of everything alcoholic (and musical), the people who go there seem to be the young, struggling sorts intent on having a good time without ruining everyone else's, and the staff is nice.
The Problem: They can't make cocktails. Not even a good Gin and Tonic. And this, in the world of Myranda, is a crime that cannot, alas, be forgiven.
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| The Lexington Social, East Harlem |
The Good: The Lexington Social is by where my friends live, and I'm around often enough that having an awesome bar to go to in the area is just practical. For the most part, everything there is too expensive, but if you arrive early in the evening before they've had too many customers, they've got a $2 deal on the cheaper beer (PBR, of course), and even if I can't afford it, they have a huge selection of liquor that the bartender seems to know what to do with. If nothing else, this would make a good hang-out spot, or a pre-gaming site for nights of adventure. But...
The Problem: The Lexington Social has got to be the most awkward bar I've ever set foot into. I think they were trying to go for an intimate feeling, but the dark, small space just comes off as uncomfortable. Especially when you realize that you and your friend are the only people in the bar. Plus the bartender. Who probably doesn't like you very much. Which you know because he's glaring at you because he wants to go home. Speaking of, they close incredibly early, and are frequently out of stock on their cheaper brews. Did I mention that the bartender probably doesn't like us?
Anyway. I just thought I'd let you all know of my findings. When I get another good list of bars filed away (or *gasp* if I find the bar), I'll make another bar post. Because I like them, and if anyone happens to be in New York (on a budget), I could be of use! And usefulness is something I've only dreamed of obtaining! Plus, it's the holidays, and if that's not a time to look a bit more closely at your local bars, I don't know when is.
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