Late-night barhopping after BBQ and bull riding
Following the thrill of watching folks flailing on–and ultimately falling off–a big mechanical bull at Johnny Utah’s, the crowd was starting to thin out. Happily, this would turn out to be a later night than expected, thanks to Adriane who was a guest of my friend Mary. She told me of the plight of her lost driver’s license which had been living a lonely life downtown at Alphabet Lounge. She asked if Mary and I would be into a little barhopping. Of course, I was.
Alphabet Lounge (104 Ave C, NYC) is an interesting juxtaposition of slick lounge and dive bar, this seems like a really cool joint. There was a cool jazz/spoken word thing happening which fit in perfectly with the decor. However, they apparently host all sorts of music here from cool to loud to whatever else. We had a round of shots with owner Babu Chaudhury before rescuing Adriane’s license and moving on.
Alphabet Lounge
Adriane, Me & Mary
Babu, Adriane & Mary
Rue B (188 Ave B, NYC) is a kitschy joint feeling like a mini hotel lounge complete with a jazz combo, black and white Rat Pack portraits and an old barber chair which Mary seemed to just melt right into. My friend Aaron finally caught up with our little group after playing text tag all night. As timing would have it, we were pretty much on our way out the door.
It was back to Hoboken where Mary was ready to call it a night. Lucky for me it seems I found a kindred spirit in Adriane as she suggested a nightcap at The Mile Square (221 Washington St, Hoboken). We tested our memory with one of those bartop video game thingies. My performance was lousy. I blame it on the fact that this was not the game with naked women. The booze shall remain blameless.
I hadn’t been in The Mile Square in many, many years. Since it was close to closing time, I can’t really vouch for anything. They do still have a decently large beer and wine selection. At least I could tell how that much hadn’t changed. Apparently their 80s night is still very popular. None of that matterd though because this was a perfectly relaxed way to end this Anti-Valentine night.
See Also:
Alphabet Lounge
Anti-Valentine Celebration
MurphGuide
