A Free Shot for Everyone at Slattery’s Midtown Pub

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, our Happy Hour Correspondent posts 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.

Ever since moving to an Irish neighborhood in Queens, Irish pubs have become very dear to me. They’re a place where I feel at home, I know I’ll get a good laugh, and the drinks flow promptly and without pretense. I noticed that Mamacita included Slattery’s Midtown Pub (36th btw. 5th and Madison) in a list of bars showing the World Cup in 2010, and that made me happy since I watch a lot of football (soccer). But the pub hadn’t received a review from Midtown Lunch. I thought I’d use that as an excuse take the opportunity to check it out.

I went at about 5:30 on a Tuesday. The place wasn’t very full, but remember, this was a Tuesday. I looked over and saw a younger guy with either a cougar or his mom, and other nondescript folks were scattered about. All the while, there’s house/techno music pumping out of the speakers that conjures up memories of the year 2001, while a financial news program was broadcasting from every single one of the TVs. Strange combo.

The bartender was aloof conversationally but attentive to service. The happy hour specials were $4 domestic drafts, $6 imports, and $6 selected cocktails running from 3:00 – 7:00, so if you get out of work early you might head here. IPA is my favorite beer, and they had Goose Island which I love, so I splurged for the $6 imports. The brew was nice and cold. The beers on tap were the usual suspects, and the full beer menu can be found on their website by clicking on menu, then beer. There’s no direct link because it’s a flash site.

Besides the specials, an interesting perk at Slattery’s is that everyone (that’s over 21 I suppose) gets a “shot of the day” with their first drink. They’re not kidding around! The shot of the day can be anything; it’s their choice. You never know what it is. But they give it to you right when you get there. I’m not a shot taking kind of girl, but my fella joined me that night and he had one. It was green, and according to him, sweet, and “nice-tasting”.

But Slattery’s greatest asset, in my opinion, is their Buffalo wings. I’ve tasted many many plates of wings in my life. These are among the best I’ve had in Midtown thus far. Although borderline expensive at $9.95, you get 10 goldilocks sized wings — not so big that you can’t fit them in your mouth, but not too small either. They were naked with no breading and perfectly cooked. There’s a choice of mild, medium or hot, and I got HOT! The sauce was incredibly good. It was nice and spicy but not out of control, eye-watering hot. Although it was hard to tell with the heat, I could taste an undertone of butter. The celery and carrots were fresh and the blue cheese was good enough to make me happy.

Also on the menu were the curry chips, which are basically french fries with curry sauce on the side. I first tried curry chips in England from a Chinese takeaway; Indian flavors permeate the cuisine of the whole country. But what I really love are the curry chips smothered with curry sauce AND cheddar cheese, and you can only find this in NYC Irish pubs as far as I know. Yes, it sounds like an unusual combination, but it’s really amazing. Next time you’re at an Irish pub, check the menu for curry chips and cheese, and if it’s not there, ask. If there is a curry dish on the menu, the sauce will be there, and so will the cheese. Slattery’s version (without cheese) was pretty good.

So, to sum up, it’s kind of an odd atmosphere, at least on a Tuesday. But if you’re a B-wing lover and you like random shots, stop on by.

The + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

  • Free shots? I’ll go anywhere to find something for free!
  • I love me some B-Wings, and these wings are fanfuckintastic.
  • I’m not what you would call a conversationalist, so the staff’s disinterest suits me just fine.

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • Thanks for my free shot, but now that I’m sobering up I don’t see too many amazing drink deals.
  • I’m a little thrown off by the atmosphere. House music on the speakers and ticker tape on the screens?

Slattery’s Midtown Pub, 8 E 26th Street, 212-683-6444

8 Comments

  • Goose Island is an import?

  • Can we please add to the minuses “$1 per Buffalo wing?”

    Seriously, a buck a wing?!

  • Nice write-up. Wish it were closer to Penn Sta.

  • “a younger guy with either a cougar or his mom” — great line!

  • Steve, you’re right to call out that Goose Island really isn’t an import, but just a more expensive beer than Bud, Miller, Coors, etc.

    MJP, I would add that to the minuses if the wings weren’t worthy, but they were. Stay tuned this week for a story about a *real* $1 per wing ripoff.

    Thanks as always for your comments, folks! Let me know if there are any good bar Buffalo wings I should try.

    • Since you like good-but-pricey, you ought to head to Blind Tiger. Love the bar to death, but some of the food prices are way out of whack.

      If I’m near Slattery’s, I walk across the street to Ginger Man. A $6 happy-hour pint (at best 16oz, more likely 14) at Slattery’s versus a typically-$7, 20-ounce Imperial pint of something tasty at Ginger Man all day long? At 5:30 you’d almost certainly get a seat, too.

  • Good place to watch football.
    Not too impressed by the non-specials.

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