The Classic Bars of New York Tour Part I

For any TCers in the NYC area I plan to initiate a series of evenings that will constitute the classic bars of New York. Each evening will focus on a particular part of town in which we will visit 4 or 5 classic New York bars. These aren't pecifically all tiki bars, but we can get tiki drinks at most of them.

The first evening will be Saturday, March 29:

Classic Bars of Midtown West

The King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Hotel

2 E 55th St

Claims to be the originator for the Bloody Mary and features the famous mural by Maxwell Parrish behind the bar.

The Monkey Bar at the Hotel Elyse’

60 E 54th St

The Hotel Elyse’ was home to many glamorous stars in the 40s and 50s including Tallulah Bankhead, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, and was reportedly where Tennessee Williams discovered Marlon Brando and had him cast in “A Streetcar Named Desire”. It is virtually unchanged since those days, with its walls painted with caricatures of monkeys, and has a menu of classic cocktails including The Godfather, Brandy Alexander, and the Champagne Cocktail.

The Peacock Bar at The Waldorf Astoria

301 Park Avenue (between 49th and 50th)

The elaborate 30 foot long bar with tan leather bar chairs reveals cast-glass female silhouettes, commissioned by Brooklyn’s Flickinger Glassworks. A relaxing lounge area behind the bar reveals cozy seating, with a peacock mural reclaimed from the former restaurant.

21 Club

21 W 52nd St

Formerly an elegant speakeasy, now a classic New York Bar and Restaurant.

Rainbow Room

30 Rockefeller Center (Between 49th and 50th)

Elegant rooftop bar with art deco décor and spectacular views.

This is a great idea! Wish I could join in, but I'll certainly follow this thread for some ideas of where to grab some tippling tonics on my next trip to the Big Apple. Looking forward to reading about these adventures(and seeing some pictures, too.

-Weird Unc

Shoot, this is right up my alley since I've been developing this fascination for classic bars and classic cocktails. Unfortunately, I'm going to be on a red-eye back from Los Angeles on Saturday, and will miss this. I'll be sure to go to Part II, III, and whatever comes up after that! Thanks for organizing this, Urban Tiki!

Don't forget Bemelman's Bar is the Carlysle!

Ray,

This week is my final week of school so the 29th looks very doable. What time should we get into the city on Saturday and what are the fashion do's and don'ts (some of these joints look tres swanky)? I mean I do own a dinner jacket but...

[ Edited by: rugbymatt 2008-03-21 13:51 ]

I know for sure that there are no Sneakers/Tennis Shoes allowed in the Rainbow Room.

Man, thanks so much for doing this. It'll be the ultimate resource on our next trip to the City.

Hey, you gotta do the Broadway area, the Village, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge/Seaport, and try to please hit some of the really oldest bars.

Good luck, live it up kids, we want pictures of the drinks!

Bloody Mary maybe was created at the Raquet Club by Mr. Farrell in Palm Springs, far as I know. But I was born in 1969 so what can I really know?

Can't make the first salvo, but I'll try for #2. SOunds awesome.

[ Edited by: Primo Kimo 2008-03-23 18:44 ]

On 2008-03-20 18:20, tikibars wrote:
Don't forget Bemelman's Bar is the Carlysle!

That'll be part of the Upper East Side tour. Hopefully when Eartha Kitt is singing there (which she does on a regular basis) MEOWWWWW!!!!!

We will post many pics and reviews of the places. Hopefully we can turn this into a resource for NYC bars. I really hope we can get some out-of-town TCers to join future outings- there should be plenty!

Ray, I'll be there. But where and at what time? Dave

On 2008-03-28 08:54, Tiki Kollektor wrote:
Ray, I'll be there. But where and at what time? Dave

Dave, we're all meeting up at 6:00p at The King Cole Bar (St. Regis Hotel) which is located on the corner of 55th and 5th ave. I'll also send you the info via phone. See you then!

Gina (and Damian)
P.S. Beaux arts, anyone?

Here are a few photos from our Midtown Manhattan adventures this past Saturday night.

We started at the King Cole Bar in the St. Regis:



Cool place but the staff were snooty and the drinks were okay but pricey.

Next stop the Monkey Bar at the Hotel Elyse:




This place was really fun, good staff and good drinks.

Peacock Alley at the Waldorf-Astoria:




Probably the most fun of the evening here, great service and the drinks were worth the price.

We closed out the night by just getting into the Rainbow Room in time for last call:

Thanks again to Urban Tiki who put this together. We had a good turn out of ohana from the metro area. Looking forward to next month!

Looks like a wonderful night!
We look forward to joining you on future adventures!

heh heh, Martiki Bird is double fisting. Jealous.

Any other bars? I am here and I have been to all ones mentioned above except for 21. Let me know please. I am on my way to 21. I love New York even when it is pouring rain, hahahaha.

Be absolutely sure to check out Elettaria in the West Village.

On 2008-05-10 17:52, rev_thumper wrote:
Be absolutely sure to check out Elettaria in the West Village.

June... June, my friend. Spending 6 days within spitting distance of it. Their Navy Grogs WILL be mine, bwahaha!

On 2008-05-11 15:56, GatorRob wrote:

On 2008-05-10 17:52, rev_thumper wrote:
Be absolutely sure to check out Elettaria in the West Village.

June... June, my friend. Spending 6 days within spitting distance of it. Their Navy Grogs WILL be mine, bwahaha!

Looking forward to raising a glass, Rob. Let us know when you are available to consume some adult beverages during your visit.

I finally checked out Pegu Club on W Houston, great drinks, especially the 'Gin Gin' ginger cocktail, one of my new favorites. vaguely polynesian decor as well.

Pegu is an excellent place. If you catch them on a less busy night and get a seat at the bar (good luck), you can usually get them to make several tiki drinks that are not on the menu, depending on the bartender, including mai tais, zombies, singapore slings, etc. The bartenders are usually happy to share whatever personal cocktail experiments they have been working only lately too, which can be interesting.

The decor is cool, I believe they were going for the feel of a 1900-ish british asian-colonial club (specifically Burma I think). Nice dark feel to it.

On 2008-05-13 17:42, Tiki Kollektor wrote:
I finally checked out Pegu Club on W Houston, great drinks, especially the 'Gin Gin' ginger cocktail, one of my new favorites. vaguely polynesian decor as well.

I am partial to the "Gin Gin cocktail" myself, and their deviled eggs with the smoked fish on top!

Pegu Club is going to get several visits out of me. I've made their signature drink quite a few times and it's a personal fav. To hear that they will also mix up tiki drinks makes them even more of a "must visit".

I walked by the Monkey Bar yesterday. It looks like it's closed down!

Here is a post I just started in travel.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=31292&forum=16&start=last&0