Thursday, October 11, 2012

Mourning lost bars; early morning at Downtown Beirut

The 6th Floor, the blog of The New York Times Magazine, checked in yesterday afternoon with a piece titled "Manhattan’s Most-Mourned Bars."

The neighborhood is well-represented in the listicle: Mars Bar, Downtown Beirut and The Holiday Cocktail Lounge. (And two nearby: The Cedar Tavern and Good World Bar and Grill.)

A lot of room for debate in that list. Which was probably the point, of course.

But! It's a fine time to revisit this EVG post from Jan. 5, 2009 titled Downtown Beirut, around 1990, about 3 a.m. It included this video...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Downtown Beirut, around 1990, about 3 a.m.

16 comments:

pinhead said...

For the last time, that is not me in the video.

EV Grieve said...

@pinhead

Sorry, but the tag in the underwear says differently...

glamma said...

sounds like my kinda place lol.
cool story here.
http://blog.jamzik.com/2006/09/god-of-new-york.html

Shawn said...

I wish they'd take down the awning at Holiday Cocktail. It's torturing me to have to see it.

glamma said...

i also miss siberia & good workd bar... good article

glamma said...

i miss the stoned crow!!
also apocalypse bar although it was short lived.
i will always regret not accepting the job i was offered to gogo in the windows there!
why is cbgb's not on the list

esquared™ said...

An East Village nightlife guide from 1985

http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/tag/downtown-beirut-bar/

shmnyc said...

I never went into Downtown Beirut. This bar was at the forefront of the wave of gentrification taking place at that time. Also, the name, following the Israeli bombardment of Beirut, demonstrated the crassness that existed here then. (And still does.)

THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N. said...

Downtown Beirut is the best name ever for a bar!

Glenn Belverio said...

Downtown Beirut was my FAVORITE bar (well, there and King Tut's Wah Wah Hut) when I moved to NYC in the '80s...I love the $1 kamikazes that tasted like soap suds.

Marty Wombacher said...

@Glamma: I missed the Stoned Crow too.

One bar that everyone should check out at least once is The Distinguished Wakamba Cocktail Lounge near Penn Station. It's not downtown, but it's a classic NYC bar.

Anonymous said...

what about aztec

Anonymous said...

The bartender is Carolyn. She was a doll. Vid was shot by her husband. Dont know who the guy on the bar is. Pretty sure its not me.

Uncle Waltie said...

"I wish they'd take down the awning at Holiday Cocktail. It's torturing me to have to see it."

Shawn, the "Holiday" will be resurrected. Operated by (very) local people. They plan to keep the flavor pretty much the same, just doing some renovations in kitchen (!) and bathroom. They're running a little behind schedule. I drink (booze) with the SO of one of the principals.

Anonymous said...

I remember the Aztec in the 80s, it was my favorite (day-glo skeletons!)

Anonymous said...

Beirut was the best (crassness is the total reason we went), that and they sprayed our table with silly string the week it opened. Completely forgot about the Aztec, but I think The Mission should be on this list.