30 to Midnight

Thankfully Not Whiskey, But Still a Little Scary

Thursday, 12:26am

Sara text to Annie: That 37-year-old bought shots for us when we paid the bill. You are coming back with us next Wed. He liked you and we can dispose of the washer necklace.

Milady's, SoHo

Wednesday, 9:45pm

Milady's
160 Prince St., (Thompson), Manhattan

 The conversation that led to entering Milady's went something like this:
Fanelli's?
-Aren't we trying to go to fewer dives?
-Pegu Club?
-Ugh.
-The Room? (done that), Sub-Mercer? (opens at midnight, way too clubby for a Wednesday), Cub Room with the divorcees? (there last week).
-Let's walk west.

We were three and we'd just left an art exhibition (101 little beds, displayed on real beds in a linen store) after seeing a great documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival (Racing Dreams, story of three pre-teen go-karters aiming for NASCAR. From stock cars to sculpture, we were ready for a drink.

-Milady's?
-The dive thing.
-It's full of boys.
-Wow. It really is.
-Should we?

And we did. When we entered, there were about 50 people in the bar. Including us, there were eight girls. We ordered beers and chicken fingers and looked around: flannels and beards, rockstars eating peas, married men's night out, "townies" drinking margaritas by the pint, business-casual happy hour gone long, a 90-year-old, and a pool-playing youngish group of marrieds and nots. It's eclectic, and we like it, mostly because the age is just right (excluding the geezer).

We were talking about something—either economics or one-night stands—when Sara noticed The Drunkest Guy in the Bar reaching into Annie's bag.

This guy and his friend, The Hottest Guy in the Bar, had just brought a 135-foot boat down from Newport. They'd been drinking for six hours, hard.
-If I wasn't married, I'd be hitting on you girls.
-You are hitting on us.

They left. We resumed solving the world economic crisis. Then another guy, part of the "professional soccer team" (said MarriedHotBoatGuy), stopped to say goodbye to us on his way out. We liked him. We think he liked Annie (and her shared aptitude of Dumb and Dumber quotes). He bought us a round. Yes folks, a 37-year-old Bought Drinks for the team. Goooal!! (See no. 3 here).

And there's a scavenger hunt too. Sara has to answer a question for him and deliver the answer to the bartender, DJ, who is getting her own post (stay tuned). Will Sara find the answer? Will we return to Milady's? Is this 37-year-old really 37? Will he remove that distracting necklace and ring?

This post is part of a series. Here's what happens next, and there's also a Part Three.

The Party

Thank you, friends for having a drink with us on a Saturday night. More than 50 of you stopped by 2A. Wasn't it great to be in a bar full of 30-somethings? We'd post party photos but the camera didn't make it out of the bag (send us any you may have).

One thing we're now certain of: both genders are equally interested in finding Age-Appropriate bars. We're not just working for the girls here.

For all of us, we're already planning our next event. Stay tuned.

PS: Additional thanks to whoever cleaned Sara's glasses at that late hour; she thought it was the beer making everything so blurry.

Cub Room, Soho

Thursday, 7:45pm

The Cub Room
131 Sullivan St. (Prince St.), Manhattan

We 30-somethings really understand a deal. Monday to Friday until 7pm the Cub Room has a Buy One Get One Free Happy Hour (all beer and wine plus house drinks). That's encouragement enough to fill the place with "dorky old work people" (says friend in a suit) enjoying the sounds of "happy hour in a gay bar" (says gay brother referring to Usher).

A table of nine people in trench coats, oxfords and pearls ends their "meeting" at 8:15pm. Within the hour the entire crowd metamorphoses into a younger range (not including the mom/cougar on a date with a kid in a backwards, logoless baseball cap). We don't like to use the c-word but it was necessary there.

In summary: The Cub Room is Age Appropriate, mostly.

More on the Value of the Age Appropriate

Saturday, 1:56am

Sara Text to Jen: boys our age pay for stuff and help us into cabs. like.

McCormack's, Murray Hill

Friday, 8:45pm

McCormack's Pub
365 Third Ave. (26th St.), Manhattan

Sara was wrong about the cross-street (only been there about 50 times) but right about the food (ditto): McCormack's makes juicy burgers and crunchy onion rings...still. You didn't think all those visits were recent, did you? Well, it's sort of a shame because the crowd was Age Appropriate. There were some youngsters inside, but not many. Guess all the kiddies were up and down the Avenue smoking and interfering with pedestrian traffic. Hockey and baseball on TV, only because there's no soccer tonight. Queen serenading us while we eat and drink brilliantly poured Guinness.

Hook & Ladder, Murray Hill

Friday, 5pm

Hook & Ladder Pub
611 Second Ave. (33rd St.), Manhattan

34-year-old male friend: You wouldn't want to watch us play Beer Pong, would you?
Sara: Um, when and where? This may be a breach in my Age-Appropriate quest.
34: Oh, yes

As you can imagine, a bar with a covered outdoor section that houses tables for Beer Pong and its variants is not exactly crawling with people in their 30's. And by people I mean women. Really. You might be surprised by the age range of men (and by men I mean anyone not-woman) in this bar, while it's still light out.

8pm: Many beers in, and finally the table is ours (well, friend's). Sara uses Boy's Room because Girl's is occupied by two teenagers having some sort of crisis (fake ID fell in toilet?). Time to go.

SideBar, Union Square

Friday, 4pm

SideBar
120 East 15th St. (Irving Pl.), Manhattan

Hey - you're doing your work at 4pm and we're doing ours. SideBar is a clean, somewhat sleek, pseudo-sports bar. Seven flat screen TV's in the front room playing the end of the Yankees game.

By 4:30pm the "crowd" of two guys, two girls, one guy and Sara, has increased by almost double. Fine, one of the guys is in sweatpants and another has on a backwards baseball cap (White Sox?), but the others are wearing real shirts (oxfords, polos) and jeans. A 30-ish in business casual tells a waitress he's part of a party of 10. There are three people at outside tables too. Tom Petty belts out his greatest.

I suspect things continue this way for happy hour (waitress confirms) then dissolve into Irving Plaza fallout and other potential messes (waitress smiles). I'd stay to find out but need to go watch two 34-year-olds play Beer Pong in a bar owned by firemen.

Bartender Says; Thank You, Ladies of Quality Meats

Who knows better than a bartender what type of crowd you're most likely to find at a bar? Besides us, of course.

Here are the suggestions for Bars Frequented by People in Their 30's per the Bartenders of Quality Meats:

• Death + Company
• Employees Only
• Le Bateau Ivre
• Nobu 57
• Ulysses
• White Star

Got to get out to the lab.

M1-5 Lounge, Chinatown

Saturday, 9pm

M1-5
52 Walker St. (Church), Manhattan

Empty. Well, the bartender was there, and another guy was dragging a pool table out to the front room. One of the front rooms, that is. This place is huge.

We asked if M1-5 was a club. The bartender nodded. We asked about the age range. The bartender looked at us, trying to guess what response we wanted. Too slow. "Twenties?" we suggested. He smiled. Yes.

...and, good night.