Reviews

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

New York Bar

New York Bar.
I have been here (yes, I'm sitting here at the bar now) three times now and haven't been very impressed.
The facility itself is quite nice actually, much bigger than it looks from the outside. The bar is in the center of the room which I like because that creates plenty of spaces at which I can park my narrow ass. There are several puffy couches and tall bistro tables. There is also a more private loft in which they have placed a couple of eight-tops. Murals of city abstracts stretch from floor to ceiling.
There's always a HCWBMA behind the bar though they seem to be strictly ornamental. Each time I have been here the bar has been all but empty but I still find myself looking for the bartender when my glass runs dry. This HCWBMA (Molly) seems to be more attentive however so I'll avoid the two-hundred word bashing I had originally planned for New York Bar.**EDIT** I never had to go looking for Molly, even once there were twenty people there I only ran dry one time.
I kinda like this place to be honest, at least I want to. For you, dear reader, I will try to divide into pros and cons the attributes of this strip mall bar.

Pros:
Nice facility.. somewhere you wouldn't mind meeting business contacts for a beer.
Good selection of Alcohol (if you take it neat)
Bartenders are pretty easy on the eyes.
Clientele is comprised of mostly grown, educated people.
Decent beer selection and several pretty good varieties of red and white wine.
**EDIT** By the time I left women outnumbered men five to one. (This was a fluke for sure)

Cons:
Prices are a bit high to make this a haunt (too bad, it's on my drive home) **EDIT** My tab this time was far too small considering we had seven Stellas. I will have to go again to be sure it's not a fluke.
While they have a good selection of alcohol for mixed drinks, the bartenders are hired based solely on what they look like. These girls had no idea what a vodka collins is!
The music isn't the best.. It's like someone downloaded "Top 1000 Bar Songs" on bittorrent.
No beer on tap. I hate that! I nice place like this should have no fewer than four: two domestics and two fine imports.
The folks in here aren't here to visit as far as I can tell. You'll need to bring conversation with you or plan to entertain yourself.

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm kinda on the fence about this joint. If I come here a few more times I'll edit my post. Please provide your comments to help me decide! Thanks y'all...
***EDIT***
As it stands today I do recommend New York Bar. However, without Molly behind the bar this establishment loses many of the qualities that gained them my recommendation. If she moves on I sure hope ownership either hires an accomplished bartender or provides more adequate training. Bartending is a craft folks; just like being an electrician or a chef. You can't continue to just shove your people behind the bar and say "you, mix some drinks". If you simply can't provide professional training then you should at the very least keep a copy of Mr. Boston Bartender's Guide behind the bar.
***The Latest***
Molly has moved on to a new career in some sort of real estate (apartment brokering maybe?). Good luck Molly, you will be missed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i recently went to New York Bar on a Saturday Night. Great Live Band. Nice Crowd. Bar Staff & Door Man seem a little to young for this crowd. Place was packed and the 2 peeps behind the bar were both tending to the same side of the bar. Then the door man ending up geting in a fight and before you knew it Cops were there. Love to go back when Staff MATURES!!!

Anonymous said...

bartending is not that easy, right?