Beer Garden Growing

Grub Street Beer Garden roundup!

Beer Here

Thrillist uncovers the greatest google mashup of all time- beermenus.com. Search by neighborhood, bar or individual beer! Just to prove it works, I did a search for my favorite hard-to-find beer, Tripel Karmeliet and found 9 bars pouring the magical beverage. The site lists size of the bottle, if its on draft, and the price. AMAZING!

For the Big Drinkers

Citysearch has a roundup of bars selling gigantic cocktails. The drinks include the Volcano Blast at Otto's Shrunken Head, Swamp Water at Brother Jimmy's, Mixed Drinks in pint glasses at Finnerty's, Fishbowl Cocktails at Porky's, Shaker Cocktails at Pete's Candy Store, and 96 Ounces of Beer at Mudville 9. I have hazy memories of a big flaming drink at Waikiki Wally's, the connected next-door-neighbor karaoke bar to Lucky Cheng's and a higher end giant cocktail at the Campbell Apartment, the Prohibition Punch (recipe here).

Delivery to your Door

New York offers the ultimate convenience with everything you could ever want within a block. But if you're too lazy to even leave your home. Gothamist covers some of your best delivery options. Besides the obvious seamlessweb for restaurant delivery, they highlight Wakozi a delivery service that seems to specialize in liquor store delivery and allows you to peruse inventory, and maxdelivery which has an impressive array of stores ranging from supermarkets and drug stores to dvd's and including some New York specialty store favorites such as Murray's cheese shop, Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery, and Sullivan Street Bread Bakery. Throw in freshdirect if you actually feel like doing some cooking, and you're all set!

Now you never need to leave home.

First Rooftop Roundup of the Year

This one might be jumping the gun a little, but I like the way they think. Gridskipper's NYC rooftop bar roundup . I'll fill out the list with the rest of my recommendations later in the year so as not to be a tease.

Gourmet Free Bar Snacks Roundup

Grub Street has a roundup of free bar snacks of a slightly higher standing than the cheese and crackers at McSorley's or the hot dogs at Rudy's.

Behind Closed Doors

Gridskipper covers New York's "semi-private nightlife scene". So far I've only made it past the doors (phone booth?) of PDT, which was pretty awesome, so I can only hope the others live up to the hype.

Wine on a Dime

Citysearch provides a roundup of cheap places to drink wine, you wino.

McSorley's Turns 154

Last weekend McSorley's Ale House, the oldest Irish tavern in NYC turned 154. It was established in 1854! unbelievable.

Chasing the Green Fairy in New York

Carrie points us to a Citysearch roundup of bars that take their Absinthe serving seriously. So if you want to sip it the way Van Gogh, Hemingway and Toulouse-Lautrec did, check out these bars.

Free Food Roundup, Finally!

Zagats comes out with a full list of bars that offer free food with your purchase of a drink. Full list below:

Alligator Lounge: This Williamsburg dive is one of the original free-pizza-with-every-drink bars (along with siblings the Crocodile Lounge and the late Capone's). That’s right, order a pint of beer or other alcoholic beverage, and you get a free pizza – not a slice, but a personal pie. Only the cheese pizza is complimentary, but at $2 a topping, it’s still a good value.
dell’anima: This new West Village cocktail lounge features an afternoon apertivo hour, when you can snack on free Italian vittles like olives and salads while sipping Dale DeGroff–designed cocktails (Thursday–Saturday, 4–6 PM).
Ditch Plains: Named for a Long Island surfing spot, chef Marc Murphy’s Greenwich Village ode to seafood shacks gives saltwater taffy to diners as a parting gift to help keep the seashore vibe alive.
Hank’s Saloon: Enjoy free barbecue at this dive bar in Boerum Hill where there is live entertainment every day of the week. Sunday night is barbecue night – no cover charge, no nothing (Sundays, around 10 PM).
Home: This welcoming American eatery has been giving free chocolate-chip cookies to its customers since it opened in the Village 15 years ago.
Il Giglio: After being seated at this TriBeCa Tuscan, diners are served free appetizers, including marinated zucchini, bruschetta and cheese, to start the meal off right.
Ithaka: Diners expect a free dessert at this Greek Upper Eastsider – and they don't leave disappointed thanks to the gratis loukoumades, best described as Greek-style doughnuts, made with flour, yeast, honey and a little cinnamon.
Mermaid Inn: Neither the Upper West Side nor the East Village location of this seafood restaurant has a dessert menu. Instead, complimentary pudding is served at the end of each meal.
The Modern: During the holidays, Danny Meyer's French–New American in the MoMA gives homemade Stollen, a traditional German fruitcake, to customers to take home. Sadly, there is no such parting gift when dining at the museum's less expensive and less formal Bar Room.
Rodeo Bar: This Southern-themed bar in Gramercy has a free nacho and wing buffet during its daily four-hour happy hour (4–8 PM).
Rudy’s Bar: The drinks are cheap at this Hell’s Kitchen dive, which makes the free hot dog you get with every one all the better.
Telepan: After a meal at this New American near Lincoln Center, every diner receives a free macaroon. Nothing too big, but a sweet treat nonetheless.
The Thirsty Scholar: In addition to great drink deals, this East Village Irish bar offers a free buffet during happy hour. The menu varies, but always includes a pasta dish, a chicken dish and a vegetarian dish, as well as bread (weekdays, 5–8 PM).

Let's go Bowling Dude

The Daily News does a round up of New York bowling alleys upon the opening of the new alley, The Gutter in Brooklyn last weekend. The Gutter, co-owned by Paul Kermizian, owner of video-game arcade laiden bar Barcade, offers up small-batch brewed beers and artisanal beef jerky while you roll. Check out more info and pictures from gothamist here. I've only bowled at Bowlmor in the city simply because I'm lazy, but this new alley might be worth checking out. Bowlmor has a $22 all you can bowl "Monday Night Strikes" deal including shoe rental that's always fun.

Tequila and Whiskey with a Beer Chaser

Epicurious has a great article about fine tequila, its making and origins. You can try some of these fine tequilas at these NYC tequila bars and more mapped out by gridskipper here.
Dos Caminos - over 100 tequilas
Maya - over 100 tequilas
Agave - over 60 tequilas
Rosa Mexicana
Mesa Grill they even have their own tequila guide
La Esquina - over 100 tequilas (though currently closed for lack of a permit to operate from their basement location)



Gridskipper also does an article about beer breweries in New York City, along with wineries and alcohol distillers.


I was surprised there was no mention of Hudson Manhattan Rye Whiskey by Tuthilltown Spirits, which is the first rye whiskey legally made in New York since prohibition according to coolhunting. I suppose its not exactly in Manhattan. It is interesting to note that New York was once well known for its Rye whiskeys as demonstrated by the naming of its most common cocktail the “Manhattan”, but has not produced Rye in over 70 years. The New York Times covers Rye’s history and current revival here.