Randolph Beer, Lombardi's Pizza and Manitoba's
Hello and happy Friday! Welcome to this week’s worth of posting, hopefully there’s still some people out there! Since it’s been a while since I’ve put anything up here, I thought I’d give you a treat for tuning back in and give you three trips in one! And there’s loads of special guest stars involved as well, one of them most of you know from her wonderful comments here and on my other two blogs in the past. So where are we going and who are we going to meet? Well, you’ll just have to follow me to find out, let’s go.
And we're off. Why hello, Mr. Green Jeans, please give Captain Kangaroo our regards.
And here we are at the hotel where we're supposed to meet the first two guest stars of the evening. Sadly, moments after I snapped this shot, I got a call that they were running late and wouldn't be at this meeting place for a bit.
Well, when someone's running late, the best thing to do is to start drinking and this place looks pretty good and it's right next door to the hotel.
And speaking of looking pretty good, here's Hayley, the pretty hostess and waitress here. She told me I was more than welcome to sit at the bar and have a beer or three, so who I am I to refuse an offer like that?
Wow, nice wooden bar and it seems to go on forever. Let's grab a chair.
And check out the impressive beer list. This is a craft beer joint and I always get confused if they don't have Budweiser on the menu, so I had the bartender choose a beer for me.
And so that's just what he did. This is Anthony, who's one of the friendly bartenders in here and he told me the name of the bar is Randolph's Beer. The bar is part of the Randolph Hotel and they have a sister bar next door.
Tables are lined up opposie the bar for seating and dining.
There's also booths up front and you can see Hayley in action at one of them.
Here's a sign at the end of the bar announcing specials and new beers available.
A shot of the long wooden bar from the opposite end.
And...ta da! Here's the first of tonight's special guest stars, Biff and Paul! Many of you know Biff from her great comments here at TMW and most of you don't know Paul, so please introduce yourselves, I'll give you a minute...Okay, on with the show.
Cheers, from all three of us stooges! Biff and Paul are in town from Ohio for the weekend, so they'll be showing up on the blog tomorrow as well.
And after a quick beer, we're off for the dinner portion of the evening which takes place at...
Lombardi's Pizza. The oldest pizza parlor in New York City and the first pizza parlor in America.
We were told there would be a ten minute wait for a table, which is lucky, usually it's about an hour wait, so we thought we'd wisely spend this waiting time at the bar. And I think I spy a familiar face behind that bar.
And those of you who followed my 365 Bar blog might remember this fellow, it's Ricky who served up beers when I stopped here on the bar crawl with my friends Tim and Colleen.
And since I took a photo of Ricky, he insisted he take one of us, so here we are at the bar. Three amigos or three stooges? You make the call!
And our table is ready. We were led to the narrow back room.
And here's Paul and Biff at our red-checkered table. All we need now is pizza because we are starvin' like Marvin here.
Well, ask and ye shall receive. The pizza here is the best.
Burp.
So did we!
And we decided to have a nightcap or five at Manitoba's Bar on Avenue B. Biff has a friend who's bartending here tonight that she hasn't seen in years. Her name's Debra, so let's go in and say hello to her.
And here we are, Biff says she sees Debra behind the bar.
And here she is, the pretty and fun bartender, Debra. It was great to meet her and she's at Manitoba's every Wednesday night. Stop in and tell her you saw her on TWM and maybe you'll get a discount...then again, maybe you'll get charged double. You'll never know till you stop in!
And even more friends of Biff's are at the bar. She's got more friends in this town than me! Meet Annie and Michael who were nice enough to travel all the way from the Bronx to meet us. I documented Manitoba's a few weeks ago here, so I'm not going to take many more photos. But, speaking of photos...
Photobooth!
Whenever you have five people at a bar and one Photobooth about five feet away, you have to squeeze yourselves in and take some really goofy, drunken photos. It's just the rules. Thanks to everybody for hanging out and we'll see you all tomorrow.
Randolph Beer
349 Broome St. (between Bowery and Elizabeth St.)
(212) 274-0667
Lombardi’s Pizza
32 Spring St. (Near Mott)
212-941-7994
Manitoba’s
99 Avenue B (between 6th and 7th Street)
(212) 982-2511
Further Reading: Grub Street, Serious Eats/Slice and New York Magazine.
Biff, Lombardi's, Manitoba's, Photobooth Posted on Friday, June 1, 2012 at 10:04AM
Reader Comments (29)
Hooray, a post! Couple thoughts: Love Biff's frames. Love the white t-shirt on Hayley. I was just thinkin' this morning, that nothing looks better on a pretty girl then a simple white t. Good looking group all around, and appeared to be a marvelous night. Hooray to fun!
wow you came back with a doozy of a post! cool to see biff in person, why hasn't she commented yet? lol! love that photobooth shot, it's a classic, been jonesing for a new twm post, thanks for the fix!
Coopers beer ! ... I had like 4 or 5 of them at Eight Mile Creek on my birthday !
Hayley might be the hottest person to ever appear on a Marty blog ....
Welcome, Biff and Paul!
The photo booth shot is hilarious. Looks like a good time was had by all - here't to more TWM adventures! Cheers!
@Spike: I complimented Biff on the frames too! And I agree about Hayley in the white t-shirt, although I think she'd look great in anything! And yes, hooray to fun!
@Bobby D: Thanks for checking back and glad you enjoyed the fix. The first one's free...
@GENE: Sorry again for being a party pooper on your birthday, that freelance gig had kicked my ass! And I'm in total agreement about Hayley! You need to stop in this place on your next visit.
@Goggla: It was a fun night and the photobooth photos have just been hung with pride on my fridge!
Mr. Greenjeans reminded me of something written by Cal Schenkman in the old National Lampoon years ago... something to the effect that police detectives are the only white people on God's green earth that wear green slacks and white shoes...
Yes Hayley and Debra are deserving of more pictures here. Biff has a beautiful smile and is very photogenic. Cool shirt Paul's wearing,,,,,the competition, but there's so many Iggy's pizza places, I hear Staten Island is known for some great pizza joints, though Brooklyn boasts the same thing. That beer menu you held was huge, how the hell can you decide, 99 beers off the wall? lol
Love where they have pretty bartenders and tonight they certainly were pretty. Good choice.
Great post. But I'm still stuck on the picture of Joan Jett.
Damn good looking! I'd like to get in those pants and do this.
@Jaws: Is Cal Schenkman the guy who drew some of the Zappa and Mothers of Invention album covers?
@Al: Agreed on all the fine looking women in this post! And Paul's shirt is his families restaurant in Ohio, maybe someday I'll do a post from there! And I let the bartender decide on the beer, I get confused if there's no Budweiser.
@Mykola Mick Dementiuk: Yes, a pretty hostess and bartender, a double whammy in this post!
@Dave - Everywhere: I hear you, I've been stuck on Joan for years now! Sadly, she hasn't called with any employment opportunities.
@csp: Ha ha ha! Great clip!
Hooray a new post is up! Glad to see you've been able to get out and have some fun.
I'd also like to see Hayley in action....
......and I mean that in a GOOD way!.....
.....a REALLY good way......
.....I'll stop now.....welcome back.......EXCELLENT post!
@Jason: It's great to have Biff and Paul in town, really fun people to hang out with!
@DrBOP: I understand and agree with you, sir! Glad you liked the post!
@ Marty...yeah, I think so. he used to do two page features for the National Lampoon...'The Drunk Hunter's Guide', where I learned to make this drunk hunter's classic cocktail; one part vodka, one part gatorade and one capful of NyQuil = Swamp Juice...a drunk hunter's classic! Try it! He also did pieces about his day in court and his day at the track, two of his favorite hangouts...
@Jaws: I thought that name sounded familiar! I remember that "Drunk Hunter's Guide!" I really miss the National Lampoon!
...;opps, my bad, it was Cal Schenkle, not Shenkman...
I am sorry for your loss...
Voice of Gumby dies at 85
Back in the saddle again! Great to see you in there sluggin', champ
Also, as a fan of Biff since the Myspace daze it's always a pleasure when she makes the scene.
Welcome Back Marty, I go away for 1 week to Mexico & I get back to Joan Jett's head for a week. I thought you died from over work in overnightland. Great pic's this week & alway's love Manitoba's Bar.
Good seeing some action here! I was Jonsin' bad, man.
Great to see Biff and the crew, and Biff, you still have one of the greatest smiles!
Glad you got to have some fun on your visit!
@Jaws: That is the guy, now I do remember, thanks for the update!
@sessone: Sad news indeed, but thanks for sending the link. RIP.
@Ned Sparks: Thanks and yes, it always is a pleasure to have Biff out and about in NYC! We were talking about the MySpace days today.
@Danny the freelancer: That freelance job did about kill me! I'll tell you about the next time we hang out. Welcome back and hope you had a great time in Mexico!
@"Boris:" I was jonsin' for a little fun myself and Biff and Paul and everyone else provided it! Good to hear from you Daddio!
Finally got my Marty fix! Great post...
Stop propagating the myth that Lombardi's is the oldest pizzeria in America. It's been there since 1994. There was a Lombardi's that opened in 1905 but it was not at this location. It closed and this version opened years later. I can call myself George Washington but it doesn't make me the first president of the USA.
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/trenton-pizzeria-stakes-claim-to-being-the-nations-oldest/
When are the Joey Ramone B-Day Bash photos being posted?
@George Washington: I think it's still the same family running it, but whatever. It's really good pizza and that's mainly what I care about.
@Peter: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
@dmh: I was in a horrible mood that night and the photos didn't turn out so good, so I'm not posting them. We'll try again next year.
Yep. Those photo booth strips pretty much sum it up: a fun, wacky, hilarious, and slightly glazy night! I'm glad everyone enjoyed tuning in for the recap, and thanks for the nice comments. We had such a blast. And DAMN, that pizza was good!
what was on that pizza..the little brownid things?
good to see biff.. I like biff,cause she is awesome..
i'm gonna go back and stare and Joan for a bit now.. I will take a job from joan...oh you mean a work job huh?
glad to see you back in action.
missed you.
biff has nice friends too.
ok i'll shut up now
@Biff: It was a great night and a blast hanging out with you and Paul and everyone else we met on this journey. And yes, the pizza was fucking good!
@Gidget: It's good to be back in blogging action and great to hear from you, thanks for chiming in!