Happy Hour at the Hilton and with my Parents

Okay, as I stated yesterday, my parents are coming in for a weekend visit today. My apartments all clean and I’m meeting them at their hotel when they get in, which if all goes well with their flight, will be at five o’clock. They’re staying at a hotel in midtown, so I thought I’d go to the nearby Hilton Hotel and spend this week’s happy hour there, before I meet my folks. In reading about the Hilton online, I just discovered that the Beatles stayed in the penthouse suite when they first played the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And here we are in midtown. Not far from the Hilton.

There's Radio City Music Hall.

There's the Time & Life Building where I had several failed job interviews years ago.

And here we are at the Hilton. It's the biggest hotel in New York City.

Steel and glass.

We'll go through the mammoth revolving doors...

The lobby is huge in here!

Grumbler alert!

This is the lobby cocktail lounge, nothing too exciting, but hey, I'm sure they have beer, so let's let the Happy Hour begin.

And here's the bar, plenty of seats, let's go grab one, I'm thirsty!

And the bartender serves up a beer. I didn't tell him I was doing this for the blog and he thought I was a tourist, after I asked to take his picture. He asked where I was from and I told him, "I'm from Podunk, Iowa." He said, "Great town!" Ha ha ha!

Free potato chips! Cheers!

A longshot of the marble-topped bar.

Obligatory asshole with an iPad at the bar shot.

The view from my perch at the bar.

After a couple beers my phone rang and my parents have arrived! So it's back through the revolving doors and over to their hotel.

And here we are. I always plug the spy hole on the door, my mom says, "Who is it?" And I reply, "It's the police, open up!" This has gone on for 18 years and it never gets old! I tell you the laughs just never stop when you're with the Wombachers!

And here's my mom, eyes closed and all!

And here they are for the first time on TWM, my parents, Anne and Jerry Wombacher! Now the real Happy Hour begins!

And after a nice visit and dinner, an obligatory elevator mirror shot before I walk back home. See you all tomorrow!

Further Reading: New York Magazine, oyster.com and Time Out New York.

It’s a family affair,
It’s a family affair.

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

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Bonus Links for Mosaic Man Merchandise!
Legendary East Village artist, Jim “Mosaic Man” Power has been making the East Village colorful and beautiful with his mosaic artwork on the streets and storefronts of the EV for years. EV Grieve recently posted links to his online stores where you can buy his wonderful mosaic art and merchandise. Help support the Mosaic Trail by buying something from one or both of these stores. You’ll not only get some wonderful artwork and merchandise, you’ll be helping to keep the Mosaic Trail alive! Let’s have a cash mob for Mosaic Man, starting today! Here’s the links: Mosaic Man’s Etsy Store and Mosaic Man Merchandise at Cafe Press.

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.

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!