Guy Brighton's New York Guide

Johnny's Bar

90 Greenwich Ave New York, NY 10011-7744 (212) 741-5279. For a couple of years after I first moved here, I used to walk past this place and think, 'that would be a good place to spend all day in.' I kicked myself when I finally ventured in - Johnny's Bar is one of New York's few remaining true dive bars. Visit after midnight to bustle with a crowd of frat boys, drunken blondes, music-hipsters, fire fighters and fairly dodgy looking hustlers. It's tiny but everyone manages to find a stall somewhere. I particularly like the chalkboard that lets you buy a drink for a friend you missed. Cheap and cheerful. A final stop before bed.

Map

Fredericks

8 West 58th St, NY NY 10019. 212 752 6200. If you're a gentleman of a slightly older age who likes to dress smart and mingle with ladies who could be your daughter's age then Fredericks is the place for you. Just across from the ol' Plaza hotel, this place attracts a rather peculiar crowd of champagne charlies and keen blondes.

Somehow I've been twice. The second time the Lady got a bit tipsy on some free wine laid on by the NYC Fashion Party there - she wanted to go home, but I felt so sour by the experience that I refused to let Fredericks be the last place I would have a beer that night.

Met Museum's Martini Bar

Met Museum Cocktail Bar, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, New York, NY 10028 - 212-535-7710 - OK, some great views of tree tops and skyscraper towers but all in all, probably one of the biggest disappointments I have had in my NYC drinking experience. I was expecting some sort of cosmopoltan bar with fancy chairs and high brow hoity toity but what I found was a roof terrace with a little bit of hedging, little seating and one of those mobile bar/snack units.

Do not venture all the way up here (or down) just to go to this bar. Worth only a nosey if the Egyptian room is too busy.

More details

NYC Open Bar Email List

When I first came to New York, I was told that there were so many parties that you could go out every night in this city and drink and eat for free.

Sounded good to me. But, I just didn't know the parties...

But now two fellas called Rob Hitt and Seva Granik from Williamsburg realized the dire need for a centralized and coherent source of openbar listings (because "paying rent and shelling out 7 bucks on a Brooklyn Lager just wasn't working out"). Each week, they'll send out an email with a listing of bars offering free alcohol. Over time, they promise zip-code driven search and sort capabilities too!

MyOpenBar.Com

Salon

505 West St, New York, NY 10014 - (212) 929-4303 - The more I go to Salon the more I get to like this undiscovered gem. Salon comprises of a boudoir-deco styled basement bar/restaurant and a glorious dance hall upstairs with river views open for hire. I hear that this is where the hoity-toity used to go when their ships docked close-by back in the day.

When I first popped by with the Lady we discovered an amazing Latin disco upstairs fully equipped with DJ, dancing Brazilian festival girl on podium, a crowd that would feel at home in Ibiza Town (which is pretty difficult to find in the US).

When the room upstairs is closed the bar downstairs is pretty quiet. Normally there's an owner at the bar wondering why there aren't any customers. Best to bring your own crowd, enjoy the good food and ignore the poor liquor selection. We had a blast when we celebrated a birthday here.

Web

The Stanton Social

99 Stanton Street, NY 10002 - 212 995 0099 - OK, so the Stanton Social is the look of things to come in Lower East Side. Sure, I imagine some of the old locals and the hipsters hate the place but there's no denying that LES is changing. Around the corner the Rivington Hotel now opened - it's tall glass structure juxtaposed against the tenement buildings.

If you're looking for a more upmarket bar in LES this is it. Go upstairs, and yes it's full of Upper East and West Side tourists and yes it don't have an 'edge' but at the same time it's buzzing, busy and a little more fun than Pianos ever was.

And as for the restaurant? Supposedly American/French/Japanese/Sushi/Thai. Take me there!

Balthazar

80 Spring St (& Broadway) - 212 965 1414 - Owned by Keith McNally, Balthazar is the grand sister of Pastis & Schiller's. I've never actually eaten a mean here but what a scene. Busy, buzzy, get a reservation. At night is full of Soho's glamourati during the day it's full of the next generation media moguls making deals and breaking promises.

If you're just visiting for one day or you have some swanky friends coming into town, try Balthazar.

Menu
Other Keith McNally Places

Happy Ending

Happy Ending - 302 Broome Street, New York, NY 10002, (212) 334-9676

Gridskipper have an interesting post about new bar Happy Ending:

This former Chinatown massage parlor turned hip new lounge has converted the private massage rooms where happy endings were a nightly occurrence into semi-private booths. The lounge’s website tells us the booths offer “just the right amount of privacy to engage in a little intimacy…” But rumor has it there is more than a little intimacy to be had at Happy Endings, it’s just a bit more rare than in the old days.

If anyone gets down there before me (and believe me, I'm rushing), please leave a comment about it on this site.

Happy Ending Site

Brass Monkey

Brass Monkey- Little West 12th (btwn Washington & the West Side Highway) - Huge new wood panelled hall created for the enjoyment of a good drink. Large global beer selection. The Brass Monkey is good looking haunt that reminds me of a modern decent Irish/London pub and is a welcome change to the current crop of unimaginative neo-space-age bars around the corner (e.g. Highline).

Right now you can even take your pint outside the front for a cigarette. Very reasonable menu that includes Fish & Chips and Bangers & Mash. I fear that in 2 months this place will be swamped and unbearable like the rest of the area (except the great Passer By). Sept  23 '04

Update Feb 12 2005: Stay away on Saturday nights. The mob is in town. You'll be lining up outside for 30 minutes to enter an over-crowded space filled with folk who venutred far to be here.

Update Feb 17 2005: Thursday nights are busy but maintain the right mood. OK, it's not a 'trendy bar' but it's lively and has a decent pint. The barman even got me a free one on his round!

Update Feb 23 2005: Wednesday nights: perfect for that pint with a coupla mates.

Website

Guy's Diary posts about Brass Monkey
FRI 9th JULY : SHINE BRASS MONKEY SHINE
WEDS 14th JULY: WATCH THE BRASS MONKEYS
WED 11th AUG : GOOD AND BAD IN ONE DAY
THUR 12th AUG : DEFINITION OF A LADS NIGHT OUT
THUR 7th OCT : POPCORN

Stuff's NYC Bars

April's issue of Stuff magazine features two hall-of-fame dive bars in NYC:

Johnny’s Bar at 90 Greenwich Ave. in Manhattan -- The place is so small, you’ll practically be wearing women. Cute, just-out-of-college chicks come to drink the $5 shot-of-Beam-and-bottle-of-Rheingold special from noon to 7 P.M.

Sweet Up’s at 277 Graham Ave. in Brooklyn -- Owner Benjamin Shih demands that his staff pours stiff drinks and encourages binges. "We have obscene levels of hooking up," says Shih.

Via NewYorkology

Welcome To The Johnsons

Welcome To The Johnsons, 123 Rivington Street - A bar that's set up like a suburban house that looks like your student digs when you were 21: a decent size bar with several rocky types hanging out, sticky carpet, dodgy furniture and a pool table out back surrounded by hipster dudes with their silent girls. A good place to start / freak out folk coming into town.

I think they still have Pabst and a shot of whiskey for a $4 special. If not, they should do.

Bars To Go After Welcome To The Johnsons
Check out WTTJ's sister bars on Rivington: 151, Loisada & Belly.

151 Rivington

151 Rivington Street - Decent dark and happening basement bar on Rivington in Lower East Side that packs out about midnight. Think 'rock'. At the weekend a DJ spins from a single turntable at the end of the bar.

Doesn't have a sign on the door. Look out for smokers hanging outside. (Feb 18/04)

UPDATE FEB 11th 05: Still the cool little rocky place that I remember. Avoid drinking too many shots of vodka with your beer.

Places To Go After 151
Check out the fun but trashy drinking den Johnsons at 123 Rivington
Get yourself up to Ludlow or Orchard Street for a bit of a bar crawl

Guy's Diary posts about 151
FRIDAY 16th JANUARY : DOG HOUSE FOR SALE

APT (or Apartment)

APT - 419 West 13th Street - If you can find the anonymous doorway (there's no sign - but often a queue/line) you'll find a great looking two-level bar. Sometimes it has great nights, sometimes it's full of Japanese cool hunters, sometimes full of 'hipsters', and sometimes it's full of drunk over-paid New Yorkers. Feb 18 '04

Update Summer 04: The summer's brought the crowds to the Meat Packing district and you'll find at weekends that this bar is probably unbearable at the moment.

Update Feb 12: A great night watching Norman Jay goes to show APT is a very decent venue, but maybe only one to visit when you know there's somethign special on. (We had to buy tickets - otherwise 'Guest List' looked horrific)

Places to go before APT
 Florent for a modern diner meal
Pastis for a bistro dinner
Ara on 9th for a fine wine
Soho House for a private smug little tipple

Places to go after APT
Passer By to raise your hands in the air and really finish yourself off

Guy's Diary Posts about APT
THURSDAY 22nd JANUARY : CLICK YOUR LEGS TOGETHER

Sat 12th Feb : Norman Jay

Maritime Hotel

88 9th Avenue, 15th Street 212-243-8400 - New bars and restaurants in a hotel that has port holes! Great looking builiding which has become very popular in the last 6 months year and a half. 3+ bars (inc. Hiro, Bottega), 2 restaurants (the Bottega and Japanese Matsuri) and more to come.

The trattoria Bottega has some mighty fine pizza and other menu items are: Tuna on White Beans; Artichokes in White-Truffle Oil; Pappardelle with Rabbit Ragu; Salmon Tartare; Chicken Under a Brick; and Lamb Shank in White Polenta, $19

A recent visit to the Bottega Bar on a Friday Night made me add this warning to this guide: A very tacky, cumbersome crowd visits this place at the weekend!!! Escape the maddening crowds in Meatpacking and get yourself down to Passer By or the Brass Monkey.

If you have to go there check out the bars upstairs and/or Hiro bar.

UPDATE FEB 10: Thursday night in the winter and this place is just quiet enough so you can appreicate what a good looking restaurant and bar this is. Pizza is still very good, the service a little moody - but could be just a one off.

Hotel Website

Subway Stops
A, C, E to 14th St.

Guy's Diary Posts about Maritime:
FRI 6th FEB: LA BOTTEGA OVER THE HEADA
SAT 14th FEB: VALIUM DAY

Employees Only

Employees Only, 510 Hudson Street (btwn Christopher & West 10th) 212-242-3021 - There's a new bar in the West Village and it got such a write up by the Daily Candy it's as if they got paid to do so:

"Introducing Employees Only, a speakeasy-esque (read: subtly decadent) bar and restaurant. It's fronted by a sextet of impeccably pedigreed owners (Maxwell's Plum, Nell's, Odeon, Lucky Strike, Pravda, Match, Pastis, The Park, and Schiller's) who have heard your cries for help. EO is bound to become the new gold standard of the New York Night. Behind the bar, Jason and Dushan are rewriting the book on mixology...in the kitchen, chef Jeremy is seeing to it that your hand-cut steak tartare is as good as it gets this side of Kobe" etc etc

So I went and had a look. Very nice looking place - bit posh for the corner of Christopher and Hudson and maybe that's a good thing: it's far from the maddening crowds and maybe that will keep the place a little less hectic. Quite a scene in there and even though there was girl with a clipboard, it felt welcoming - even with the psychic in the window! Will return.

Haven't checked the food yet - not too sure what to make of that very positive comment....

UPDATE FEB 9th: Checked the bar again on a Tuesday night. Really nice atmosphere, just the right amount of people. The older bar staff and the guy in the hat checking everyone's got a table etc was a nice touch. The Psychic still there, reading her book.

Triple Crown

New Bar Alert - 108 Bedford Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211

I haven;t checked it out yet but it looks kool for skool.

http://www.triplecrownpage.com

Supreme Trading

213 N 8th St, Brooklyn (Btwn Roebling Street & Driggs Ave) 718-218-6538 - Supreme Trading is a 8,000 square feet party spot tucked away in Williamsburg. Nice design, varied. DJs play Thursday through Saturday in a back room that also hosts parties. Reportedly has a billiard room and outdoor smoking garden round but I missed them somehow.

Map

Frogs N Turks

323 West 11th St (btwn Greenwich & Washington) - 212-691-8875 - Turks & Frogs has converted itself from nice little antique shop to great little hide away. A stone throw from the ever popular Spotted Pig. This small, dark and ambient little spot has a bar area and a lounge in the rear serves turkish beer and over 60 types of wine. Great for a date or for that one last glass of red wine you were craving.

Village Voice Review

VON

3 Bleeker Street (and Bowery), East Village/Noho Hip, candle lit bar normally playing chilled urban beats: Long bar to lounge along, cozy tables to rendevous at and another whole room to hang en masse with too!

Easy to get sucked in to Von all night long. Well worth starting an adventure around East Village from here - or rounding off the evening too.

Best bar in town, possibly.

Guy's Diary posts about Von
WED 17th MAR: VON CURRY

Passerby

West 15th near 10th - cool bar with 70s lit-up square tile floor (yes, I know I'm selling it to you already.. ;).

A nice little joint that gets rocking on the late side. Passerby's the best place in the area if you want to have fun but avoid the not so fancy Meatpacking crowds at the weekend. Really hits its peak about 4am on Fridays and Saturdays (the DJs only come on at 12pm) when they shut the doors and turn up the sound. Some evidence of smoking very late night.

Guy's Diary Posts about Passer By
BRIT INVASION - 5th NOVEMBER to 10th NOVEMBER
FRI 16th APR : ABOUT
SUN 9th MAY : MOTHER DAY
FRIDAY 11th JUNE : DEAL THE CARDS
FRI 9th JULY : SHINE BRASS MONKEY SHINE
SAT 6th NOV : PASS HER
SAT 18th DEC : PASS HER BY

The Hole

29 2nd Ave, (Btwn 1st & 2nd Street) (212) 777-9660 - Now here's an interesting bar. It's everything you imagine New York's underground scene to have been like in the 70s or 80s. Dark, dingy, dubbed with graffiti, plastic cups, smoking, meat-market, everyone on party tricks, dressing up wild, long line for the single toilet, guys dressing the same (if different colors), random music, random people. Recommended for that night out in New York's gutter.

NB Some nights are gay nights (1979 on Sundays).

Guy's Diary Posts About The Hole
SAT 15th MAY : THE HOLE NYC

Nu Blu

<62 Avenue C (off 4th Street) 212 979 9925 - An example of the growing trendification of Alphabet City. A single blue light hangs over the anonymous door to the bar of the NuBlu record label.

Cool, eclectic space inside that plays host to poetry readings, gigs and damn fine DJs. Behind a second room where some smoke, is a small garden that backs onto a green unused lot: see more here(?).

Probably worth checking out on the otherside of midnight.

Guy's Diary posts about Nu Blu
SAT 24th JULY : GAME

Check out more info on the bar and their releases here.

Angel

174 Orchard St - 212 780 0313 (off Houston) - Long narrow hang out in the centre of Lower East Side's bar crawl.

One Thursday night I've been here and it's full of a lively crowd, they're offering free beer and we're having a great time. Another Thursday nigth I go there - it's 9.45pm and there are 5 people there....

Worth checking out on the later side of night.

Guy's Diary Posts on Angel
Thurs 18th Dec : Smokin
Thurs 29th Apr : Oasis the desert

Cafe Lika

191 Orchard Street (off Houston) - 212 982 4770 - If you ignore the 'Turkish-Techno' decor in the inside of this spacious restaurant and make your way through to the back, you'll find a medetranian-style courtyard (with fountain/ ignore overshaddowing tenement blocks).

The food is supposed to be great - but great place to hang when the sun shines, smoke cigarettes (courtyard only) and drink Hoegardens.

Where to go after Cafe Lika
Angel bar Across the street or any of the bars on Orchard Street
151 on Rivington

Guy's diary posts on Cafe Lika
THURS 29th APR : OASIS THEN DESERT

The Other Room

<143 Perry Street (& Washington) 212 645 9753 - Dark, candle lit, relaxed, chill beer and wine bar. There are three or four of these dotted around the city (and one in South Beach Miami too!).

If you have no destination, it's a great place to hang out. Or if you're bar hopping in the area - worth a quick Weiss Beer or two en route.

Smokers bench out the front where you can drink in the summer too!

Places to go before or after The Other Room
Spotted Pig for a pint or some gastro-pub food - Greenwich & W11th
West for a river side drink - West Side Highway & W11th

Guy's Diary posts about Other Room
WED 31st MAR : KLEINING UP THE WALLS

Bar & Books

c/o Hudson & Horatio, West Village - It's a bit up its arse, but this small cubby hole looks like a gents club, still has a smoking license, and plays Bond films on the TV. Great turkey club sandwich.

In the winter it can get a little too fumy inside as the cigar crowd puff away - but in the summer, you can lounge on the pavement chairs and sup away.

Still need a local puff?
Try the patio at the Maritime Hotel, 9th Ave
Visit the balcony at Park on 10th Ave
Pop out back after a dance at Cielo, Little West 12th
Eat and fume in the back garden at Paradou, Little West 12th

Where to go before or after Bar & Books
A place to meet if you plan to eat is Bivio across the road.

Angel's Share

<2nd Floor, 8 Stuyvesant St, (9th St & 3rd Ave) 212 598 3041 - A hidden treat: a chilled, dark, Japanese jazz bar. As part of - a crazy idea that recreates the back streets of Tokyo - on the second floor of a building in East Village.

When you walk up the stairs you'll find yourself in a bustling neon and plastic recreation of two street restaurants (Yajirobei and Gyuya). Take a sharp left to the anonymous door in the wall and slip into another world.

Classic bar with uniformed young Japanese staff and rules: no loud talking, no standing. Great martinis, decent cocktails, Japanese bar food and check out the East-meets-West 'fusion' artwork above the bar.

Guy's Diary posts about Angel's Share
THUR 18th FEB: DINNER TIME

The Spotted Pig

c/o Greenwich Street & West 11th Street, New York 212.620.0393- Owner Ken Friedman brings a new bar / restaurant based on the British Gastropub theme based in the heart of the West Village. The Spotted Pig has a great busy atmosphere in a warm and cozy pub. Worth popping by for a drink, a nibble or a full meal. Even after I first wrote about the place, it's still packed every night.

The 'modern menu' food looks superb: gnudi, sea-bass, cod, pork loin, lamb, orchiette, burger with shoestring fries - and also classics from The River Cafe and Otto. The Chocolate Nemesis is the best chocolate cake pudding I have had since Franks. They tell me that the menu will change frequently but regulars include pansotti with roasted pumpkin and goat cheese, bresaola with raw artichokes and arugula, and pork-and-fennel sausage with polenta and broccoli rabe. Do note, if you're vegetarian, the menu is going to be restrictive... The Burger with Roquefort is wonderful may be an acquired taste.

At the bar they have a very good stout at the bar (Beamish) together with Brooklyn Brewery beers. Go on, try the bitter. Or then again, choose from the impressive wine list.

Not exactly a Westbourne but a great Yankee impression of it!

Website

Subway Stops
1, 9 to Christopher St. - Sheridan Sq.; A, C, E to 14th St.

Guy's Diary posts featuring The Spotted Pig
WED 31st MAR : KLEINING UP THE WALLS
SUN 7th MAR: TAKE OFF TO WHERE?

Where To Go For A Drink Before/After
Turks & Frogs
White Horse on Hudson for an American version of 'pub'

Where To Go If You Can't Get In
Delicia

Milk and Honey

134 Eldridge Street, New York, 212 625 3897 - discreet bar deep in Lower East Side where you have to phone in advance to get in: they'll call you back when a booth becomes available. A little up its arse and not quite a speak-easy - it's a narrow bar with booths to sit with your friends (4+) and listen to the jazz and sip the great cocktails ($10).

It doesn't have the bar area I was expecting - so no socialising (alto' the rules don;t allow it). But once I settled in I was happy to listen to the jazz and chat to my friends.

Check the rules in the rest rooms!

Places to go before or after Milk & Honey
151 Rivington for a basement booze
Bars on Orchard Street

Soho House NY

29-35 9th Avenue (and 14th) (212) 627 9800 - Sister of the Private Members Club in London's Soho. I think the true way to enjoy this private club place is to avoid having membership and finding a way to sneak in.....

Here are my favorite activities at Soho House NYC:

Sneaking my friends in at 1am when the member goes home
Blagging it into magazine launch parties to enjoy free vodka on the roof
Playing Boggle on the sun roof with random film execs !???

My impression is that earlier in the week is better - towards the weekend it fills with 'monied' New Yorkers - if you catch my drift.

Web Site
Map

Guy's Diary posts about Soho House NY:
SATURDAY 4th OCTOBER: SOHO HOUSE NYC / SOHO LOUSE
MONDAY 10th NOVEMBER : RECOVERY
WED 17th FEB: GROOVE JET

Other Links Worth Checking
Skinny Dipping At Soho House (Gridskipper)

Bar Tabac

128 Smith St. (Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens) c/o Dean St, 718-923-0918- - great neighborly French bistro with decent size bar and fussbol. Can't go wrong - always a winner when taking visitors out in New York.

Bars to go after Bar Tabac
Try The Boat for a pint of beer or two

Subway Stops
F, G to Bergen St.

Guy Brighton's Diary posts on Bar Tabac:
BRIT INVASION - 5th NOVEMBER to 10th NOVEMBER: TRYING TO REMEMBER THE 5th OF NOVEMBER

Pastis

9th Ave., New York, NY 10014 (c/o Little West 12th) - The classic. Go there anytime but make sure you go there for Brunch and people watching. I'll go anytime for the Hanger Steak. Busy comso crowd / Brit pack.

Pastis Menu
Map
Price range: $$$ ($30-45)

Guy's Diary posts about Pastis
Two significant events

Book Suggestions

Tribeca Grand

2 Avenue Of The Americas, 817 519 6600 - The 203-room Tribeca Grand Hotel is the sibling of the Soho Grand Hotel but who cares: Look out for party night listings - it can rock: Have been to my most 'New York' of parties here. (May need guest list). On quieter nights it's still cool: check the main glam cocktail hotel bar (it's worth a trip just to see the inside of the hotel).

On bigger nights the back room of the bar opens and downstairs a large room for dancing and occasionally some bands.

http://tribeca-grand-hotel.com

Guy's Diary posts on Tribeca Grand
FRI 23rd APR : WEDDING PT 1 - THE REHEARSAL
THUR 18th MAR: PREPARING FOR A NEW YEAR
BRIT INVASION - 5th NOVEMBER to 10th NOVEMBER
FRIDAY 12th SEPTEMBER