Midtown Lunch

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 our one and only Happy Hour Correspondent Mamacita (yes, the commenters managed to scare off our other contributor) hits up the Bull Moose, the perfect place for “a fat man looking for fried cheap eats.” Now that sounds like somebody I know…

At first glance the Bull Moose Saloon seems like a nondescript sports bar that happens to be owned by the same people behind Dave’s Tavern. As you enter to your left there are a few TV screens on the wall above the bar and a billiard table to your right. Little cafeteria tables stretch out in front of a kitchen that serves up all things fried and fatty (calm down Zach we’ll get to that.) But the big surprise comes when you walk upstairs and find a forlorn cocktail room with tables and tall glass windows offering a gorgeous view of… well… nothing really, mostly the side of the building across the street, and of course a large horned moose mounted on the wall. To add to the discord, the men’s room is at the main bar floor and the women’s room is upstairs and decorated with a striking shabby-chic antique vanity with a gilded Victorian mirror. The Bull is definitely a BYOA establishment: Bring Your Own Atmosphere. But what it lacks in ambiance it compensates in cheap beer and food.

Read more »

Seeing as how today is technically *like* a Friday, and the night before Thanksgiving is one of the greatest drinking nights of the year- we figured it would be a good day for one of Mamacita’s Happy Hour posts. Unfortunately, when we checked in with her- all we got was an earful of misery. Here’s her most recent happy hour encounter…

It seems fitting that in light of yesterday’s House of Brews grievances we continue today our pre-Thanksgiving hate-a-thon with a tale of woe that all started out with my search for a happy hour with a “free buffet” (I know Zach’s ears just perked up…) I had caught word that Channel 4 Restaurant and Bar 48th St (btw. 5+6th) had a weekly complimentary buffet during happy hour. A quick look at their website did not exactly thrill me (“Channel 4 is back to serving lunch, dinner and cocktails to NBC’s high-profile executives and on-air talent, as well as keeping up with the constant buzz in and around Rockefeller Center”) but when free buffet is involved, I’m willing to put up with some nonsense.

Leary of wasting my time, I called and asked if the buffet was in fact being served. Reassured that it was, I set forth with a thirsty liver and grumbling gut, ready to rub elbows with NBC celebrities.

Read more »

Recently we added a Friday afternoon “Midtown Happy Hour” column, which now means we have a whole new list of places to complain about. Last friday’s review of House of Brews sparked this crazy story:

“Be wary of this place. I went there after work with my girlfriend about a year ago and the waitress scammed us. The bill came to $170. We were just drinking beer. No food. No exotic $18 a bottle beers. I questioned the waitress and said there’s no way we drank this amount of beer. She said that I drank most of them because my girlfriend only had about 4 pints. So I said, “you mean to tell me that I had between 15-20 pints of beer in 2 hours? and I’m still upright and having this conversation with you?”. She said the bill was correct because the bartender doesn’t give her beers unless she enters them in the system. I’m not sure how that justifies it…it only justified her entering extra beer on our tab to give to the group of 8 guys at a table in the back she was fawning over for free. The manager came over and said the computer system is correct and that’s what the bill was. We’ve never been back and never will go back.”

Ouch. What’s more likely? Completely trashed Midtown Lunch’er or waitress scam? You can decide for yourself… and of course, if you have a grievance to air- feel free to email it to zach@midtownlunch.com

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe the site should have a happy hour column. Every Friday we 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. For this week’s recommendation we’re back to Profiled Midtown Lunch’er Kate.

This week I thought I’d cover a real beer lover’s bar, as that is what I drink 98% of the time. The House of Brews boasts 80 beers, domestic and imports, in a list that takes up two pages of the menu. I came here a few weeks ago for a quick beer with my coworkers and decided I needed to come back a second time to really peruse the menu. It’s a fair assortment; however, the trouble with bars that have a good selection of anything is you tend to pay for the variety. Yet at the House of Brews, prices are not too steep and their happy hour deal covers everything- so you don’t need to curtail your beer choice. But just as a warning, it does run a little more expensive than the dives we normally post about.

Read more »

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 goes to a dive surrounded by $1 pizza and cheap hot dogs…

Dave’s Tavern inhabits the armpit that lies between the Lincoln Tunnel and Port Authority- but if you’re in the neighborhood, and looking to for a cheap drink with some entertaining locals, you’ve found your dingy oasis. As I crossed the threshold of Dave’s I was welcomed by the crunch of peanut shells discarded on the floor, like a casual honky-tonk bar. An enameled metal bin chock full of peanuts was perched atop a table against the North wall. Above it hung a mounted boar’s head that seemed to watch over the bar’s clientele. As I readied to take a picture of this sharp tusked beast, a silver-haired man walked in and said to me “You’re taking a picture of that boar? You know I shot that boar!” Then he turned towards the bar and joined his friends. You can obviously learn a story or two from the guys here. There is a real sense that everyone here knows each other, yet an outsider slugging a drink is welcomed into the conversation. You have the usual range of liquors and domestic beers with $1 off drinks during happy hour, 4 to 7pm. In the back there’s a pool table to pass the time and some booths that are good for groups.

Read more »

Got this bad news about Jimmy’s Corner, one of the Midtown Happy Hours we posted about a few weeks ago:

“Thanks to some idiots, You can’t bring food into Jimmy’s any more because they were abusing Jimmy’s hospitality. Apparently Virgil’s would get so packed that you couldn’t even eat at Virgil’s bar, so people would order take-out, then go over to Jimmy’s and pig out on barbecue while using the JC facilities and only ordering a soda or asking for free water, which was wasting the JC crew’s time for almost no money (How much do you tip on free water?). They’ve since rescinded their policy of allowing food, with no exceptions. Thanks to the idiots for abusing the system and causing Jimmy’s fans to pay the price. It’s only $3 for a bud or $4 for whiskey/bourbon on the rocks, and you can’t throw them some real money?”

Another reason to hate tourists. And Times Square. And Virgil’s. And Times Square jerks who eat at Virgil’s.

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe the site should have a happy hour column. Every Friday we 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. For this week’s recommendation we’re back to Profiled Midtown Lunch’er Kate.

This week we travel to the second floor of a hotel to find one of the more intimate bars I’ve seen. It’s the Upstairs Bar in The Hotel at Times Square, dubbed ‘the biggest little bar’ on their inconspicuous sandwich board outside the main entrance. It was initially that sandwich board that attracted me, boasting a happy hour that included $3 drafts, $5 cosmos, and $5 house wine. So yesterday after work and before dinner I ventured up a curved set of black marble steps to this tiny midtown oasis.

Read more »

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 goes to an ancient Midtown bar that has seen better days…

A look into the history of Smith’s Bar shows it has been in business for over 6 decades. That’s 11 presidencies. The historic façade has the rich neon beauty of New York in the 50s. Glowing vibrantly, its florescent sign dominates the corner of 8th Avenue and W. 44th Street. Alas the Dubya years were not kind to this bar and it changed ownership to a company that also owns the upscale lounges: Social, Social@Dunwoodie, Kanvas and Latitude. Smith’s new website informs us, “You haven’t been to New York until you’ve been to Smith’s.” As you know the Internet never lies. So as I’ve been living here for a while now it’s apparently time for me to stop in to confirm my residency!

Read more »

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 Friday 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. For this week’s recommendation we turn to Profiled Midtown Lunch’er Kate who still seems to be turning in slightly blurry photos… although I suppose it’s just proof that she’s doing her job.

Traditional, with twist of the unusual, seems to be the running theme for Midtown Lunch happy hour. You know, bar (check). Bar stools (check). Weird Australian twist (why not). For this week’s Midtown Happy Hour, I grabbed my friend Matt (again), and we went to The Australian. I know what you’re thinking, because I thought it too… midtown theme bar, expensive drinks, bartenders in tank tops and pictures of Crocodile Dundee on the wall. Eek, but no. What we did find was a big beautiful bar with cheap drinks and tasty bites.

Read more »

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!!!!!).

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.)

Read more »