This was my third time visiting New York but the first time staying outside of Manhattan. My old roommate Colter recently moved out to Brooklyn and he was nice enough to let me crash on his sofa for a week. Since I have already done most of the touristy things in NY, my time and money was spent mostly on food and drinks.
You can click on the links in this post to view the corresponding picture or you can view all the pictures here. Sorry, this is a long one, mostly for my own personal journaling, but feel free to read it if you're bored or want to know some cool places to eat and drink in New York.
Day One: My spirits are high and I am excited for the trip ahead of me. I caught a Jet Blue red eye out of San Diego to JFK. The tailwinds were super strong causing the worst turbulence I have ever experienced while we were over the midwest but at least it helped us get there faster in just 4.5 hours. Luckily for me, the three cap-fulls of Nyquil and the Karl Strauss Amber Lager that I took before getting on the plane helped me sleep through most of it.
When I finally got off the plane and to the subway it was around 5:00 am or so. Colter's house was estimated to be around an hour away via subway and foot thanks to hopstop.com. After taking the subway the wrong way on an express train for one stop, I finally reached Colter's house two hours later. Trains don't run as often that early in the morning and neither does my brain. I crashed at his house for a few hours.
Colter lives with his roommate Zach and they also had a couple other friends, John and Regan, staying with them. We walked around the city for a while and in the evening went to a few bars. Our first stop was The Alligator Lounge in Brooklyn. This place is awesome. For every drink you order ($5) you get a free personal cheese pizza. I know you are probably thinking a slice of pizza but no, it is a 12' personal pizza baked to order in their wood-fired oven. For a few extra bucks you can add toppings. Great deal and really decent pizza.
Next we went to The Beauty Bar which wasn't really that happening so we only had a drink there and left.
We ended up going to Colter's favorite bar, The Barcade, which is filled with old arcade games that you can play for just a quarter a piece. Good selection of beers and lots of really cool old arcade games. Check it out if you are in the Brooklyn area. On the way home Colter accidentaly threw a TV at a sleeping bum. He wasn't injured.
Day Two: After a really fun first day/night in NY, I am ready for what round two has to offer. I am not a fan of Thai food. Colter took me once to a place he swore was great when in reality it was like they took bland cat food and drug it through the dirt and slopped it on a plate. So when he suggested a Thai place for lunch called Sea, I was a bit concerned. Since the rest of the group was all down for Thai, I didn't want to be a pain so I decided to give Thai food another chance. Big mistake. The service was in the top 5 for worst service I have ever received. The appetizer I had was decent, but the pad thai was gross. The noodles were cold. The chicken and shrimp were dry and flavorless and they didn't de-vein the shrimp. Fuck this place in the eye.
Later than night we walked around Manhattan and went to the 24 hour Apple store. It was pretty cool and really busy for being a Monday night. We met up with our friend Rose at the FAO Schwartz Next to the Apple Store. While we were standing outside the front entrance, an old friend of mine I used to work with at the Mission Viejo Apple Store walked out and I talked to him for a bit. That was the random moment of the trip.
We eventually made our way to the Russian Vodka Room in midtown. It was pretty awesome/funny/scary. We're talking serious KGB vibes and Cold War waitresses with a stern voice and a straight face. We all decided to try different 2 oz. house-infused vodka shots. My wild blueberry was pretty good but it was super strong. Others at the table got different fruit infused vodkas while Colter decided to try the garlic pepper dill vodka based off of Mike's suggestion. The best way to describe it is 80 proof rotten pickle juice with a smack of rat. Seriously one of the worst things I have ever tasted or smelt. And yes, it smelt as bad as it tasted.
After that we went to a Japanese restaurant called Kura Sushi. I was skeptical of going to any Japanese place out here, but when I walked in and saw very Japanesey looking people behind the bar and waiting tables, I was put at ease. No kim-chee wannabe sushi here. I ordered a sushi plate and it was all really good. They even had amaebi (raw sweet shrimp) which was very good.
Eventually we ended up meeting Mike, Andrea, Matt, Mike, and others at Pianos for karaoke. This was a long, fun, and crazy night with too many pictures of nonsense. Colter met one of the girls from the Top Model show and couldn't be happier. At the end of the night, Colter and I got pizza at Ray's and directions from some drunk Chinese chick and we ended up taking the long way home. Fucking drunk Chinese bitch.
Day Three: Not sure how we made it home last night but amazingly I am not hung over. I walked around a bunch with Zach and took this picture. This is the only proof of what I did that day. Eventually, Zach and I met up with Mike, Andrea, Mike, Matt, and Pete at a bar called Walter's Bar. We had some drinks and then went to The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater to watch some improv troupes perform and we got $2 PBRs. The two different troupes were funny and clever although if I attempted to retell any of the jokes or events that they did it would just get slaughtered so I'll spare you.
After the improv show, we went down the street to a place called Scooby Doo. It wasn't really called Scooby Doo, but I have no idea what it was called so for storytelling purposes it will be called Scooby Doo. So the mystery gang and I sat down for what seemed like 20 pitchers of beer and plenty of bullshitting. I think I ordered a reuben sandwich that was pretty good. Mike ordered a tuna melt with onion rings and it only came with 4 rings or so. He got Scooby Screwed.
Day Four: Walked around Canal Street with Mike, Andrea, their friend Roopa from Canada, and Natalie from San Diego. We went to Lombardi's Pizzeria which allegedly is America's first pizzeria. The pizza was good, nice and thin and crispy, but it could have used some more cheese. Natalie has been living in New York for the past year so she took us around to some cool little bars that we never would have found without her.
First she took us to a small little pub near Lombardi's and I had a Japanese beer that I had never heard of and didn't see in Japan but it had a cool little owl as it's logo.
Later we went to a wine bar and ordered really good wine and cheese. I am not a wine snob but whatever we had seemed really good compared to some of the crap that I have drank in the past. The cheese was really good too but $8 for four small slices and a walnut in a small puddle of honey seemed like a rip off.
Finally we ended up at a place called Anytime or Anywhere or Anything or something like that. Tater Tots, Macaroni and Cheese, $1 PRBs, $1 Heinekin Drafts, $1 well drinks. Nuff said.
Day Five: Getting tired and fatter but still having a great time. Ate some pizza at the Bread Factory. Walked around midtown for a bit by myself until Mike, Andrea, and Roopa meet up near Central Park. Ate some more pizza at the Bread Factory. We met up with Christale in Central Park and went ice skating. It started to snow while we were on the ice. It was pretty cool.
Went to Canal and Broadway to meet up with Colter at his work and the two of us went to S'Mac. Let me set the record straight here. If you are ever in New York and you have to choose between going to the top of the Empire State Building or going to eat some Macaroni and Cheese at S'Mac, do yourself a favor and take the L train to 1st Avenue and walk down to 11th street for some of the best mac and chee you will ever have. That is all they serve. Ten types of mac and cheese plus a design it yourself option. I had two small servings (which were still pretty big) since I didn't know when I would be back, but the Brie Mac with the roasted figs, shitake mushrooms, and rosemary was amazing. Simply amazing. Check out their menu and just salivate over your keyboard.
Later that night we made the poor decision to watch The Wicker Man based on how awesome this video clip off YouTube was. Don't waste your time. Just watch this video clip.
Day Six: Running low on money and energy. I think the alcohol and cheese is finally catching up with me, but I can't go out like a little punk. It's the last night so we must go big. Can't even remember what I did during the middle of the day. Eventually met back up with Mike, Andrea, and Roopa. We have some drinks in the City at some random bar. It starts to snow and Andrea and I get excited.
I head back to Colters house and meet up with him and Zach. Zach knows some guy named Rob who lives in midtown near Times Square in a really nice high rise apartment. We go there and drink Coors Light on the roof top of the 60 story building. It is awesome. The view is incredible and there are no annoying bars or walls getting in the way like there are at the Empire State Building. Just a low railing and a few feet between us and a really long fall.
We catch a cab to the east village and meet up with some of Rob's friends at a bar called the Dark Room. It's dark and the douche bag bouncer says no more dudes. After a few minutes of Rob's friend pleading with with the bouncer to let us in, he finally does. I guess letting in four dudes is better than having us take away four chicks. We bounce around from that bar, to Pianos, to some other two story bar, to Pizzeria de Santo, to some other random bar. I had to go to the bathroom but the doors were painted with a rabbit on one and a bug on the other. I assumed the bug was for guys, but I wasn't positive so I waited till we got to the next place. The pizza and Pizzeria De Santo was my favorite pizza so far. It was thin and crispy with lots of flavor. It reminded me of the pizza I used to get at Fedco when I was growing up. So good.
Eventually Colter and I take off and it is snowing pretty hard but it's not too windy. It's not even that cold, but there are one to two inches of snow on the ground and I am wearing Converse All Stars. I am going nuts over all the fresh snow. I have been in snow before but never in a large city atmosphere. I throw snowball after snowball at Colter until my hands sting with frozen pain. We grab some more pizza at Pizzeria De Santo and head home. I try to write "Zach Sucks" in large letters in the snow at our Subway stop for when Zach makes it home but he decided to crash at Rob's place in the city. Oh well.
Day Seven: I fly home with Mike and Andrea. It's a long flight but pretty smooth. We watch the Food Network as if we didn't eat and drink enough over the past week. Apparently we didn't. When we get into San Diego, Andrea's boyfriend picks us up and we all go eat Mexican food and drink beers at the Triple Crown.
Tags: New York, pizza, Alligator Lounge, Beauty Bar, Barcade, Brooklyn, Apple Store, Russian Vodka Room, Thai food, Kura Sushi, Japanese Food, Pianos Bar, Karaoke, Lombardi's, Macaroni and Cheese, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Central Park, Ice Skating, S'Mac, Triple Crown Pub
