30 to Midnight

Lagasse's Stadium, Las Vegas

Sunday, 1:15pm

Lagasse's Stadium
The Palazzo, Las Vegas

As far as Las Vegas Sports Books go, Lagasse's Stadium (yes, that Lagasse - Bam!) is pretty great.

SNAP, West Village

Sunday, 2pm

SNAP
248 West 14th St., Manhattan

Did we ever tell you the story about when Sara lived on the north side of West 14th Street, just about directly across from SNAP, pre-SNAP, pre-meatpacking hysteria, post-her great grandmother living there?

NYC Age-Appropriate Bar iPhone App

A number people have suggested an iPhone app for 30toMidnight (which is to say - a number of people who are not developers think we have the ability and time to make magic). We know it's a good idea so are putting it out to you, our readers - who wants to help us create such a thing?

Not sure what we're talking about? Check out this new app for World Cup Soccer bars+spectators.

The Parlour Midtown West

Sunday, 7pm

The Parlour
427 W 30th St. (8th Ave.), Manhattan

This is the fancy-pants sibling of, er, The Parlour. Not sure how sustainable their fancy-pantsness is (strange to read 'braised rabbit' while people around you are cheering; and we like rabbit, and cheering). For now it's AA, but though it's not MSG's closest bar, it's close enough that Age could change. We'll keep watch. The space is new and big and clean (pro-AA), the food is not terrible, but, really, you're coming here because your friend has to be near Penn Station and you like high ceilings with your sports. Or you're renting our their great party space upstairs or their excellent private dining room downstairs. 

The Blue Seats, Lower East Side

Thursday, 7:30pm

The Blue Seats
1576 Ludlow Street (Stanton St.), Manhattan

We were having a conversation about Scoreboard Gourmet and cell phones. Actually we were screaming in each other's faces about cell phones. You know, those things you use to call people, those communication devices that once seemed smart but now are dumb, the ancestors of the smart, now removing all manners from society. Really. No longer do we set and keep plans. Why commit to anything when you can send a last minute text to bail?

Thursday, however, we needed to make actual plans, the old fashioned kind, because Sara lost her cell phone, the old fashioned kind. She loses her phone about once a week but this time it was serious; it wasn't in one of the many pockets of her bag. So, when we agreed to 7:30pm reservation at The Blue Seats, there was no turning back.

That's how they do it at that "high end Sports and Media bar" (their words and capitalization). You make a reservation for 4 or 6 or more and you get a seat. Walk-ins are directed to the small bar in the back. It's loud everywhere. Headache in your ears in three minutes loud. Uncomfortably loud. Unpleasantly loud. We don't know how all those AAs - suits, blondes, single-gender small groups, mixed-gender large groups, quite white - can take it. And the service, though friendly, is terrible. Would be useful to hire another waiter.

On the upside, the burgers are delicious, cooked to requested temperature, but served on undercooked english, which makes Sara want to kill someone. Fries follow the undercooked theme. We'd tell you about the wings but there was some confusion in the process of ordering (not by us). Cabernet for some unknown (and unasked because after three hours we needed to get out of there and replace our eardrums) reason is $15/glass. Heinekin is $6.

Would we go back? This is hard. We want to say yes but they must do something about the acoustics, and the toasting of the english.

11th Street Bar, East Village

Saturday, 10:30pm

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...

Bailey's Corner, Upper East Side

Regular Season NFL starts this Thursday (Titans at Steelers, of course), followed by 13 games on Sunday, and something on Monday (ha! more about Patriots feelings at ScoreboardGourmet; sorry Bills, Chargers, Raiders). This fall schedule means that 30toMidnight will do some reporting from venues with Sunday Ticket. Why is that important? Because it's not easy to find a Sunday/NFL/Sports Bar with an absence of Age InAppropriates. True, many people act a bit AI when football's on the tele, but we're confident we can send you to bars where the air is predominantly AA. That said, we'll also be reporting from non-NFL locales. We're everywhere.

Warren 77, Tribeca

Wednesday, 11pm

Warren 77
77 Warren St. (W. Broadway), Manhattan

"The men here are not in tights, if you know what I mean," said a 27-year-old who told us her name was Jesse yet answered to Anna when her companion called. We don't know that means but we do know we liked Warren 77's post-game vibe, which smelled deliciously like someone getting high (in an open window seat) and garlic (dinners still on tables). And we dig the giant green banquettes with their semi-private flat-screens. We'll be back for sports. Bartender says the crowd is consistently 20's and 30's, many Beatrice Inn-ers. That said, we don't feel old, but we will leave by midnight.

Note: Warren 77 closes at 1am.

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.