Tuesday, 8pm
Big Bar
73 East 7th St. (1st Ave.), Manhattan
The inside is welcoming but the sign is too good to resist for a photo. Also, it's not at all big in this bar, though it's big enough for AA's. Ahh. We almost want to add Big Bar to our Best list, but we can't rely of post-midnight in this hood even in this most lovely of places. Hopefully when you show up you'll find we were too conservative, and wrong.
Tuesday, 10pm
Led Zeppole
328 E. 14th St (1st Ave.), Manhattan
Few things make us happier than proper nomenclature. Zeppole is zeppole. Who ever thought that fried dough would be more appealing? Fried dough sounds like something gone wrong. And Led Zeppole, well that's just brilliant. We like us some pun with our doughnuts. Unfortunately for anyone over 30, particularily as evening becomes night, the people standing next to you in line are likely to be extremely AI -- NYU dorm residents with powdered sugar-covered hands and clothing. It's not unpleasant, but you surely won't be standing next to someone who experienced "Stairway to Heaven" as the last song at every high school dance.
Tuesday, 8pm
Momofuku Noodle Bar
171 First Ave. (11th St.), Manhattan
Was it really only 5-6 years ago when Momofuku was down the street, on the corner of 10th, now home to Tarallucci E Vino (163 First Ave.)? And what was the name of that Italian place on 10th? The chef with the red head who made the fabulous lasagne with the bechamel? Miss Williamburg Porta Via, because they operated out of that diner in B'Burg. Right. He went to La Vineria (737 Ninth Ave.)? You though we'd be talking ramen but we're talking pasta?
What do you want us to say here? We never know whether to feel annoyed or sympathetic when a hostess willfully ignores new arrivals. Especially when that hostess is wearing a flannel shirt. Why are people doing that? Tony says it's, perhaps, because they're being ironic.
Saturday, 10pm
Barbone
186 Avenue B (12th St.), Manhattan
Miserable hostess standing in the doorway to welcome us. We left her out of the picture (though it was hilarious to see such a greeting) because we're not in the business of exploiting people who are clearly amidst a bad day. There's nothing particularly dynamic about Barbone but it's a good place to hang with Age Appropriate peers, probably because things start to shut down around midnight.
Angels & Kings
500 East 11th Street (Ave. A), Manhattan
Can you name a Fall Out Boy song? Can we? Possibly, though we can't say for sure. What we can say for sure is we keep getting spam about Don Henley in concert. Must be an AA thing.
Wondering why we're talking bands? A guy in Fall Out Boy (who turned 30 in June 2009) opened Angels & Kings a couple years ago. He's the guy who is married to Ashlee Simpson. She's the girl whose sister is Jessica. That's the Simpson who dated Tony Romo. He broke up with her the Night Before Her 29th Birthday. That's what we call AI-behavior, and not just because the Cowboys QB is also 29.
Back to the bar. Here is a place to find those who are nearing 30, but aren't quite there, in spirit or in actuality.
11th Street Bar
510 East 11th St. (Avenue A)
At 11th Street bar we verified our theory that Midnight is the witching hour. When we walked in the general volume was lively but low enough for regular-voiced conversation; Traveling Wilburys gently sang in the background. Karina and a silver-haired Man (not a CNN newscaster) struck up conversation over (literally and figuratively) the barstool between them. When Karina got up to investigate the bathroom she deemed "acceptable" Sara picked up talking to the Man, who'd already called her "fiesty" for teasing him about his interest in said barstool.
Man: This is my first time here. I came because I heard it's a Liverpool bar. I mean soccer, which I call football.
Sara: What's your team?
Man: Barcelona. Do you follow?
Sara: No. But I watch the World Cup.
Man: Have you watched any qualification matches?
Sara: No.
Man: Do you know who is in so far?
Sara: No.
Man: How do you know what to watch?
Sara: I go to a bar and pick a team.
Man: How? Color? What's your favorite color?
Sara: I don't know...blue? red?
Man: You're impossible. Just kidding.
Karina returned and the three continued to converse. The Man was careful to qualify his harmless jabs (you're stubborn; she's got a little fire) with an immediate "just kidding." The Man, it turned out, is about a month shy of 51 (Karina guessed 46; Sara guessed 47). He was disappointed that soccer was not on the TVs. But he lingered and chatted with us until we asked him his profession. That's a question he does not like. He'd rather get to know someone first. We said that was a way to get to know someone, but he did not agree. Eventually he succumbed (as soon as we said we no longer cared). And guess what? He's a colorist. How awesome is that? Very. Guess that's why he guessed color would be our soccer-cheering-guide. Then he wouldn't tell us how much it costs to come in and get color. Eventually he succumbed...
B-Side
204 Avenue B (12th St.), Manhattan
"You know it's AI when you smell cloves," said Karina as we sniffed B-Side from a block away. That was before the fitted-black-t-shirt-dirty-hair situation came into sight. And we thought uniforms were limited to half a million NYC elementary schoolers. Ha ha. We're funny when we compare B-Side's patrons to third graders.
Drop Off Service
211 Avenue A (13th St.), Manhattan
Adjacent to InAppropriately named Destination Bar, this former laundromat is actually a place someone over-30 would want to go, before Midnight (unless school's out).
At the bar we met Mario, a 31 who recently returned from Iraq (eight years total in the army) to the neighborhood where he grew up: the east village. Pouring us each a sip of his Three Philosophers ale (Belgian dark brew plus cherry lambic; quite nice), Mario told us about Drop Off Service's great bartenders (knowledgeable, friendly), great beer selection ("number one rule: don't order a bud light"), and great happy hour (3-8pm weekdays, 1-8pm weekends, $3 beers). Kings Head Tavern (222 E. 14th) and Blind Pig (233 E. 14th) are his second favorite bars, but he agrees that weekends are tricky in these parts.
Drop Off Service was AA when we entered, but that doesn't last on a Saturday night, and the blasting music makes it even easier to exit. Weeknights, however, linger longer in AA, and you don't have to scream your conversation.
Destination Bar & Grille
211 Avenue A (13th St.), Manhattan
It's clear to us that the concept of destination is relative. Destination Bar is surely not reaching out to anyone over 30. Here's a clue (dead giveaway) from their Website that they're completely AI, and desiring it: "Maybe try a Jello shot?"
Uh, maybe in 1995.
Good thing there's an actual destination bar next door: Drop Off Service.
Nightingale
213 Second Ave. (13th St.), Manhattan
For some reason we keep spelling Nightingale with an e: nighten. That makes no sense, and neither does the fact that we thought we might find some AAs here after Midnight. Wishful thinking (aided by alcohol) is the worst. Bartender says it's sometimes hard to find AAs here before midnight, but we have faith (have wishes). Last time we were here (pre 30 to Midnight) we were celebrating a 30th. That age, as you know, is the cusp, which is what Nightingale seems to be all about. We have to recommend avoidance, but will deem the bar AABM because 6-8pm happy hour is for all of us.
Question: pre renovation was Nightingale an older bar, or were we just younger?
