Happy Hour At Tobacco Road
I’ve decided to ditch the “Free Food Friday” concept and just use this weekly Friday post to go to a happy hour and if there’s free food, it’ll just be a nice bonus. I thought tonight we’d head over to a place I visited on my bar crawl and then never went back. It’s a bar near the Port Authority called, aptly enough, Port 41. It’s a bikini bar and when I went on the bar crawl at first they were hesitant about photos, but eventually warmed to the idea. Hopefully it’s still warm in there, we’ll know soon!
As soon as I got down to the subway, a train pulls up. I love it when that happens!
And after a short ride on the train we emerge in Times Square.
And just a few blocks we'll be there, it's right on the corner of 9th and 41st Street in Hell's Kitchen.
And here we are, but they've changed the name from Port 41 to Tobacco Road. I bet the sign looks better at night. Let's go inside and see if anything else has changed.
Nope, looks like only the name has changed, the place looks pretty much the same as the last time I was in here. A classic dive bar.
And we have a happy hour beer served up by friendly and cute bartender, Nicole. The place bills itself as a bikini bar, but not all the bartenders have a bikini on. But the night is young and a bikini may be in our future, time will tell!
Tables line the wall opposite the bar.
And a giant hippo head looms above the tables.
Some of the nightly specials on the chalkboard behind the bar.
Love the vintage cash register behind the bar!
A long shot of the wooden bar from the opposite end.
Let's go see who Nicole is talking to over there.
She's chatting with Lindsay, who's going to be taking over bartending duties momentarily. They certainly have pretty bartenders in here!
And here's Lindsay on duty and Houston we have a bikini!
Here's the back room where they have live music, almost nightly.
A shot of the bandstand complete with a Marshall amplifier and drums.
And as I get back to my seat at the bar, I'm joined by Jason who joined me back when I spent happy hour at Rudy's, which is just a few blocks away. Jason's an artist and you can check out his work here: Jason Andersen. He told me he may be part of an upcoming art show and if that happens, it'll be featured right here, stay tuned!
Meanwhile, Lindsay's back!
Here's some of the beers on draft, one of them caught my eye...
Schlitz! I didn't know they still made Schlitz, I don't think I've seen it in decades! I did a Google search and sure as Schlitz, here's their website: Schlitz beer.
And as I get ready to head out, Tina has come on board to help out Lindsay, another pretty bartender at Tobacco Road.
I told you the sign would look better at night!
Tobacco Road
355 W. 41st St. (@Ninth Ave.)
212-947-1188
Happy Hour: 5 to 7 PM
Further Reading: EV Grieve, Village Voice and EaterNY.
Baby I can’t please you,
I can’t please you.
Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
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Bonus Beer App Link!
I got a press release for a Beer Tour app and you can check it out here: World's Greatest Beer Tour. Personally when I think of an app, I think of an appetizer, but I thought some of you may be interested in this.
Happy Hour, Hell's Kitchen, Tobacco Road Posted on Friday, March 16, 2012 at 10:28AM
Reader Comments (21)
Wow ! ... Schlitz ! ... I'm not sure if I have ever seen that on draft !
I look forward to a TWM return to Nassau Bar !
pretty bartenders, a classic dive bar and schlitz beer! who could ask for anything more, looks like a great night out!!
"And here's Lindsay on duty and Houston we have a bikini!"
I said yeah, yeah, yeah, woo!
"Lindasy...Tina...gllllaaaagllaaaaglaaaagg..." - Homer Simpson (and me).
@GENE: I didn't even think they made Schlitz anymore! I'll put Nassau on the calendar, I need to make a return trip there, I just wish it wasn't such a hassle getting there!
@Bobby D: It was a great night and a cool bar!
@Keef: I see your "woo" and raise a "hoo!"
@Jaws: Ha ha ha! Say hi to Homer for me! I bet he's a Schlitz drinker!
Marty, You know, I've Walked past that place for over 20 years but never went in. It seems like a place that you might get stabbed in the Men's room by a homeless guy, LOL. I didn't know they had bikini girls.
You should have waited for Tina to get into her Bikini. The Wakamba Lounge on 37th & Eighth Ave. has some hot Latin women bartender's as well . I used to go in there with my band after rehearsal in the 90's.
Maybe Schlitz was just temporarily confused in 1973 when they heard the draft had been discontinued?
@danny the freelancer: You should check it out, it's not dicey at all, a real friendly place and live music almost every night. I've been to the Wakamba Lounge a few times and the bartenders are usually really good looking, but the place itself is pretty sketchy! I took undercover photos in there for MAD, maybe I'll try it for TWM in the future!
@csp: Ha ha ha! Good one! I was a freshman in high school when the draft ended, I can still remember the feeling of relief I had!
I love the Hippo Head.
I think I woke up to a few of those during my Drinking/Drugging 'Career'.
Well, if you had a Nicest Smile category here on TWM, Nicole, Lindsay, and Tina would most certainly win a gold. Seems like a great place - I love that they placed the Schlitz next to the Stella. You know, Stella always seems to give me the worst headache (Bass does too), but I kind of like Schlitz. Now, Black Label...that shit blows.
@"Boris:" Ha! Next time I'm in there I'll say hi to the hippo for you!
@Biff: I agree about the smiles, really nice bartenders in there! I can't drink draft beer, all of it gives me a headache the next day. Maybe I should limit my intake to under six beers...naahhh!
I'm obviously not a bar goer-what are well drinks? They are so cheap...I'm sure it's totally classy stuff.
Looked at your 365 post. Do they still do burlesque shows ever?
@Britta: You're not the first one to ask that, I used to get it a lot on the 365 bar crawl. Well drinks are drinks made with the cheaper house liquors as opposed to things like Grey Goose Vodka, etc. If you're looking for a cheap buzz, well drinks are the way to go!
@Spike: I think that was the only burlesque night ever at Port 41, which is now Tobacco Road. Glad I was there for it!
@Britta
As Marty pointed out, well drinks are the inexpensive generic (cheaply distilled, bad tasting, and rapid liver destroying) bottles of liquor hidden in an easily accessible "Well" beneath the bar. Conversely, premium name brand liquors are on display behind the bar on the "Top Shelf" where if ordered, the patron can see that it is not mixed with the "Well" liquor. I only went further in depth so I could explain "Top Shelf" because unlike the well term, it is used commonly as an English language idiom and might have previously been lost on you since modern retailing usually has the most expensive items on the customer eye-level middle shelf. Now I'll go back to memorizing the phone book.
Did someone mention the phone book?
@Captain Over Explanation: Good luck with the yellow pages!
@Navin R. Johnson: Come on, quit being such a jerk!
That bar defiinitely need to either change their sign or get more bikinis. Cause that was kind of sad.
Went to their website thought it was kind of odd that they promoted themselves as a bachelorette party destination.
@DaveW: I agree about the bachelorette party destination, but the bar itself is a good place to hang out in. Of course, more bikini's is always a plus, but what are you going to do?
Gotcha! My theory is that life is too short to drink cheap booze but I might change that if I had to pay bar prices for my drinks! Thank goodness for the beer fridge!
@Britta: I'm jealous of your beer fridge!