528 replies to this topic

[Wilfrid1]

I was at McHales last night.

You just missed us.

[Wilfrid1]

On a more serious note, I noticed the other day that Smith's has a sign outside announcing live music. This was the slightly-edgier-than-required dive across the street from McHale's. I must look in to see what has been wrought.

I can report that, as of last weekend, The Wakamba Bar was unchanged: Waikiki decoration, Latino ownership, servers in hot pants, really creepy customers.

[Stone]

I was at McHales last night.

You just missed us.

By that much...

Is Rudy's still around, on Ninth Ave?

[Wilfrid1]

Pretty sure it is. And still smells great.

[omnivorette]

I was at McHales last night.

You just missed us.

[Steve R.]

I think that if we continue to have "one last drink" at each of the places that we hear is closing, we can manage to keep quite a buzz going thru the holiday season. Not sure Blind Tiger serves burgers (at least not as good as McHales) but would be willing to sacrifice another evening to find out.

[Abbylovi]

I'm pretty sure they don't serve food.

[Lex]

I went to McHale's last night with a friend. According to our waitress their closing date has been extended through the end of January. She also said that she heard the new landlord is asking for rent through the end of March. Perhaps demolition is being delayed and the landlord is trying to squeeze every last penny out of the old building.

I was impressed by the professionalism of the staff. They genuinely like working there and are resisting taking other jobs.

[StephanieL]

Not sure Blind Tiger serves burgers (at least not as good as McHales) but would be willing to sacrifice another evening to find out.

They don't, but it's OK to bring food in.

[Rail Paul]

Stuck my head into McHale's Friday night. Going full blast at 6pm, bar was packed and the dining room had a 40 minute wait.

At least they're going out in style...

[Stone]

I ate at McHales again last night. Two burgers in two days.

Argh.

Apparently the close date has been pushed back into the new year, I think they said it may be as late as March. They're taking a petition to have the building's owner reserve space for McHales to come back. Who knows.

[Abbylovi]

A gaggle of us journeyed over to the Blind Tiger to savor its last days. We feasted on free hot dogs and chips provided by Rose.

**I started with a Ridgeway Bad Elf. It was fairly bland, I suspect that they get most of their bar sales as a result of the beer's name. I'd never sampled Ridgeway's Santa's Butt so I hit that next. It didn't take long for me to grow tired of Santa's Butt, a flabby beer if you ask me, so I moved on to Stone's IPA.


** You are correct in thinking that we spent about 15 minutes or more making lewd Santa's Butt jokes.

[Wilfrid1]

I was thinking this morning that we should list the bars of New York which really need to be protected. Although I am always sad when a bar closes to be replaced by a business which retails something other than alcohol, there are plenty of bars which would not, of themselves, be missed.

I will start the ball rolling with some calls which seem to me obvious:

McSorley's
The Bridge Cafe (to the extent it is a bar, anyway)
Pete's Tavern
The Old Town Bar
The Holiday Cocktail Lounge*
The Holland Bar*
Smith's*
The Three Jolly Pigeons (Bay Ridge)
Chumley's
The Lion's Head, even though it keeps changing its damn name.
The Seville Lounge (Harlem)
The Landmark Tavern (just saved from extinction)

Any more?



*These are ones I am particularly nervous about losing.

[omnivorette]

I had a Dogfishhead 90 min IPA on tap - love that stuff. Then I went with a Ridgeway Warm Welcome, and finished with a Ridgeway Lump of Coal.

Yes, aside from the Dogfishhead, which I already know and love - I did pick the other two because of the names.

I liked the Lump of Coal - a stout. Warm Welcome was fine, nothing to write home about - a medium sorta ale.

What a fucking bummer about Blind Tiger.

(dkstar1, are you reading this? What service problems? You go to the bar, you order your beer, you sit down)

[Wilfrid1]

Yes, a bit of a difference of opinion on Chowhound.