Black Market

Live, from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Black Market with special guest star, Sophie’s and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher! And now, please welcome special guest star, from the East Village, Sophie’s!

I'm meeting some friends for a few pre-cheeseburger drinks here at Sophie's in the East Village.

Some of the specials of the day are listed on this chalk board out front.

This is a classic East Village bar that's been on the block since the early '80's.

There's a pool table in the back room that's always has a game in progress.

And here's the special guest stars of the evening, clockwise from left: Shawn, Goggla and Lindsay. Great to have them on board for this Cheeseburger Saturday Night!

On the way out I noticed a portrait of East Village artist, Markand Thakar. He was a regular here at Sophie's and he recently passed away. You can read more about him at this post at EV Grieve. After reading about him I was sad I never got to meet him.

We were originally going to go to the Black Iron Burger Shop, but it was packed five ways from Friday, so Shawn suggested another place...

Black Market, which was just a couple blocks away. It looked great to me, I had been drinking since about four in the afternoon and needed anything to sop up the suds in my stomach, so this place looked perfect! Thanks for the quick thinking, Shawn!

In addition to oysters, cheeseburgers are a specialty here, so it's a perfect destination.

It was crowded inside and the bar was filled with texting texters, so we shied away from there.

The front area is nice and dark with candlelight and tiny lights for illumination.

Luckily, there was some tables in the back, so we got seated right away. The place has a somewhat elegant vibe to it, yet it's a friendly atmosphere and the people working here are really nice and welcoming.

And here we are at our back table. My only flash shot of the night!

This is our pretty waitress, Micki. She was really nice and quick with a beer, who could ask for anything more?

A view of the restaurant from our back table.

We started off the meal with an appetizer of deviled eggs. They were topped with caviar and were a decadent delight!

We all ordered the same meal, the cheeseburger and homemade seasoned fries. Looks pretty good, right?

A delicious burger! Thanks to Goggla, Lindsay and Shawn for joining me on tonight's cheeseburger outing!

My Meal
The menu here is fairly simple, the three specialties of the house are listed on the window in gold leaf: Oysers, Cocktails and Burgers. Sounds like a decent holy trinity to me. Being that it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night, we skipped the oysters and went right for the burger and it was fantastic. The burger is made of a Pat LaFrieda blend of beef and topped with American cheese. It’s served with a bakery fresh bun and crispy seasoned french fries. We had the deviled eggs as an appetizer and as good as the burger was, the deviled eggs, at least for me, were the highlight of the meal. They’re topped with caviar and your taste buds come alive at the different seasonings going on within the egg. The most prominent being mustard. A decadent treat, and I highly recommend it.

There’s also a vegetable burger on the menu as well as a New York strip steak, a gruyere and chive omelette served with fries and a grilled cheese sandwich made of white cheddar and gruyere cheese with grilled onions and arugula. The house special is called The Last Waltz which is two dozen oysters and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.

There’s eight specialty cocktails available as well as a decent selection of bottled and draft beers.

Burger Rating
Three Wimpy’s, a great burger!

Sophie's
507 E. 5th St. (Near Ave. A)
212-228-5680

Black Market
110 Avenue A (near Avenue A)
212-614-9798

Further Reading: EV Grieve, Grub Street and Village Voice.

I might be movin' to Montana soon,
Just to raise me up a crop of Dental Floss Raisin' it up,
Waxin’ it down.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Photos From Shawn Chittle!

Shawn sent in these photos from last night, thanks Shawn! Great shots, as always!

Blooper Reel

It’s Saturday and that means it’s time to roll out the Blooper Reel of photos I took through the week that didn’t make it to a post. And so, just like Jackie Gleason...awaaay we go!

I just told you, it's the Blooper Real, what you can't read?

I'm a model you know what I mean, and I do my little turn on the catwalk.

The Journey to Self-Appreciation. You gotta love a church that gives a sermon about masturbation!

That sound you hear is Abbie Hoffman spinning in his grave.

That sound you here is William Burroughs spinning in his grave.

I've heard that people are dying to get in to this place!

Thank God!

I think in the case of motor vehicle accidents, it's not so much the snoring as it is falling asleep at the wheel in the first place. But that's just me.

Flying cannibal alert!

I got your creative parking right here!

Marie is only six years old,
Information please,
Try to put me through to her in Memphis, Tennessee.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Keens Photo!
After reading Friday’s post, photographer and bon vivant, man about town, Chris Protopapas, sent in this cool photo he took of Keens Steakhouse back in 1974, when it was still Keens Chophouse. You can see more of Chris’ 1974 New York photos here. Thanks for sending that in, Chris!

Keens Steakhouse Bar

When I did my Mad Men Taven Tour, one of the stops was Keens Steakhouse Bar and I found out that they serve up free appetizers every day around five in the afternoon. Today Swedish meatballs are on the menu, so that’s today’s Free Food Friday destination!

We're going early, it's just four in the afternoon, this place really packs them in at happy hour and I want to secure a spot at the bar before the crowd gets there!

Here we are at Keens Steakhouse Bar. Keens has been on the block since 1885. Today it's the lone survivor of the Herald Square Theater District. Let's go inside and grab a seat at the bar.

Wow, even at four in the afternoon, the bar is almost full. I see one empty stool and I'm going to go snag it before someone else does!

Okay, I've secured my spot at the bar and friendly bartender Carl serves up an ice cold beer. We're off to a nice start!

These two fellows were sitting next to me and were curious about the TMW blog. I told them about the Mad Men Tavern Tour and we had a nice conversation about classic New York bars. That's one of the things I love about this blog, the interesting people you get to meet! That's Kevin on the left and Marty on the right. Always nice to meet another Marty!

Here's Miss Keens, who looks down at the bar in all her naked glory.

A long shot of the classic wooden bar in Keens.

There's a long wooden railing opposite the bar. It won't be empty long, so I thought I'd get a shot of it before the crowd gets here.

A ceiling fan hangs from the tin rood, always the sign of a great, old bar.

This guy is overhead and stashed in a corner looking down. He kind of freaks me out.

I love all the vintage black and white framed photos on the wooden walls in here.

Here's an employee outing from way back when it was called Keens Chop House.

Check out the trivia board. The answer to the first question is, White Out and the answer to the bottom was is Sylvester Stallone. Anybody know  the Frankenstein answer?

Okay, the crowd I mentioned earlier has arrived. Glad I got my spot at the bar. Now it's just a matter of time before the Swedish Meatballs are brought out.

Carl's busy behind the bar taking drink orders.

Olives!

And of course there's someone who can't stop staring at his texting device.

And here they are, the aforementioned Swedish Meatballs. i got a full boat and they're delicious! Probably the best free happy hour food I've had so far. I was offered another boat, but this one filled me up.

My work here is done!

And as I leave, night has fallen on Herald Square. Have I ever mentioned I love it when that happens?

Keens Steakhouse
72 W. 36th St. (@Sixth Ave.)
212-947-3636

Further Reading: New York Magazine, New York Times and Eater NY.

I need a second skin,
Something to hold me tough.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!