Midtown Happy Hour: Jimmy’s Corner (w/ a Side of Margon)

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week we’ll post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap. This week Mamacita checks in with a look at Jimmy’s. They don’t have any food (boooo!) but they’re right near Margon (yea!!!!!).

Midtown Happy Hour: Jimmy's Corner

Lurking behind the neon glow and glitz of Times Square there is a humble slender bar called Jimmy’s Corner. Opened in 1971 by pugilist James Lee Glen to help fund his gym, 39 years later it still stands carrying with it the vestiges of a life immersed in the love of boxing. Coloring, and covering, every wall is photos of boxing giants with one in particular at front and center: a picture of Muhammad Ali with Jimmy at his side (photo after the jump.)

Midtown Happy Hour: Jimmy's Corner

Jimmy’s is a true sports bar. There’s a TV screen in every direction and signs posted behind the bar even warning that political talk is not allowed. Be prepared if you’re coming here on a game night as you’ll be lucky to squeeze past the door, because Jimmy’s is not a hidden secret to the local work crew. This is all for obvious reasons. The bar is welcoming and prices are very reasonable, especially when you consider that you’re practically straddling the crawling, tourist-ridden beast that is Times Square. A pint of Sam Adams and a Jameson came to $8 and most beers and good, not bottom shelf, drinks follow that form.

Midtown Happy Hour: Jimmy's Corner

Along with the great boxing nostalgia there is also an impressive jukebox filled with a classic mix of 40s, 50s, R&B and soul. On a quiet weekend afternoon while downing good bourbon I was treated to Al Green, Sammy Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Barry White (ooh yeah baby). Unfortunately Jimmy’s Corner doesn’t have any grub for under $10 and that’s because Jimmy’s doesn’t serve any food. The upside of this is you can bring whatever you want to the bar. I chose to share a heaping plate of oxtail with red beans and white rice from Margon (on 46th btw. 6+7th). It was so good I practically licked the container clean!

Midtown Happy Hour: Jimmy's Corner

Jimmy’s Corner has redeemed my faith in that a small ‘salt of the earth’ bar can make it through all these years despite the changing face of Manhattan and all due to patience, a reverence for the past and perseverance.

And now for a boozey +/-

THE +

  • A perfect place to run away from the hustle and bustle of Times Square
  • Great place to catch a game and make friends with fellow sports fans
  • Cheap drinks
  • Impressive Jukebox

THE –

  • Can get utterly packed to the gills on a game night
  • Not a place to grab a fancy cocktail
  • You really have to be into the nostalgia surrounding the bar, otherwise it’s just a cramped old man bar
  • No food, so you’ll have to do a little leg work if your hungry

Jimmy’s Corner, 140 W 44th St (btw. B’way+6th), 212-221-9510

Post and Photos by Mamacita.

15 Comments

  • Eats Oxtail… drinks irish whiskey and a not bad american beer…and can quote brit comedies.

    Move over Liv.

  • Hey, Jimmy’s usual has free party mix–that counts as food in my book!!!!!! Jimmy’s rules!!!!! And Jimmy (if that’s his real name) is always great to talk to about all sports, not just boxing, despite the fact it’s his bread and butter…I always go there to talk shop before I place any vegas bets!

  • After you’re finished at Jimmy’s, you can go a few doors over and visit the best lil’ whorehouse in Times Square.

  • This place never has the big boxing matches on their televisions. They didn’t even show the Margarito/Cotto fight.

  • Leave Jimmy’s Alone. Last thing I need is more trouble getting a seat at the bar.

    Okay okay. If you must go, treat Mike, Swani, and Marta well. The drinks are cheap but that doesnt mean you should cheap out on the tips :)

  • um…donde es la whorehouse, for those not in the know? 47th street, sure, but 44th?

  • Used to love this bar, but had 2 bad experiences recently (both in June in a 2 week spanw) so will not go back.

    1) Was with 2 other friends and waiting for 4th so we sat down in a 4 seat table and drinking. The waiter told us that if 4 people come in the looking for a seat we would have to leave the table.

    2) Sitting at a table with a bunch of guys and we ordered a bunch of drinks and there was a lot of tip money on the table, a friend ordered a round of shots and charged it, but only left a small amount of tip on the card since we were all going to handle the tip and the waitress commented on the tip and gave us such attitude, when there was already $20 or so on the table – it was uncalled for.

  • I use to love this bar but recently the older lady who bar tends has been getting on my nerves. I was in there recently with friends (four of us) and both times she made us all get up from our seats to move down one seat for one guy! I can understand her motive but she was just rude about it telling us to move and not just simply asking us.

  • Jason, thats Swanee’s job. First off she’s jimmy’s wife, not just a bartender. Secondly, the guy was probably too shy himself to ask people to move. Lastly if a person is standing behind the seats while a friend is seated and they’re drinking, it makes it awkward for people to have to pass.

    If that’s the worst thing you can complain about any bar, that’s pretty good. Then again, you’re a regular yet you don’t know the name of the “older lady” so I’m not surprised you’re complaining :)

  • Adam, a little condescending, a little bit. Eh, a little bit…

  • Anything that Jimmy’s wife tells me to do i’ll do. Shes always really nice to me. Also, Jimmy owns the building thats why its still there. He sold off part of it years ago, i heard thats why its kinda cramped now.

  • UPDATE: You can’t bring food into Jimmy’s any more. Some idiots were abusing their hospitality. Virgil’s would get so packed that you couldn’t even eat at the bar, so people would order take-out, then go over to jimmy’s, pig out on barbecue while using JC facilities and only order a soda or asking for free water, wasting their time for almost no money. They’ve since rescinded their policy of allowing food, with no exceptions. Thanks idiots for abusing the system. It was only $3 for a bud or $4 for whiskey/bourbon on the rocks, and you can’t through them some real money?

  • Man, that’s fucked up. I bet they were tourists, or just plain idiots.

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