After Work trip to Manhattan's Upper West Side

Advisory: This trip only involves 2 food stops, the rest are bars and taverns.

Last Friday I had an exhausting day at work. On the spur of the moment late in the day I decided the time had come to Go Out Drinking After Work. I only do this a few times a year. I pick out an area of Manhattan or nearby Brooklyn and take a mini walking tour of a neighborhood, stopping here and there for a beer or some food.

My destination this time was an area I had not ventured into in at least 20 years, the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

My first stop was Sal and Carmines Pizza, at 2671 Broadway at 103rd street. I’ve had this place in my notes so long I forgot where I read about it. Anyway, it was 90 degrees and humid outside and 95 degrees and more humid inside the small dreary interior. I decided to get 2 square slices to go. I brought it across the street to one of those benches that are at the center island of Broadway. These benches always remind me of the movie The Sunshine Boys. Anyway, this was terrific pizza, heavy with cheese and sauce of excellent quality. This should be in the Top 10 NY Pizzas, if there already wasn’t at least 15 other places on that list. Highly recommend.

OK, time for a beer. I walked a few blocks up Broadway to 108th Street and Cannon’s Tavern. I love old bars, and this one is a classic. It’s virtually unknown outside the neighborhood, and I’ve never seen it on the usual lists of classic New York taverns, but it should be. High tin ceiling, large windows facing the street, terrazzo floors, nice deco back bar, good mix of people. My kind of place. I had a pint of Yeungling and watched a couple of innings of the Yanks vs. Mets afternoon game.

Next stop was to be the Night Café, at 106 th and Amsterdam Avenue, but as happens all too often, a place that has been around for 60 years closed a few months before I finally get there. It’s been replaced by a nail salon or something. I walked north one more block and made an impromptu stop at a place called The Lions Head (no relation as far as I know to the famous Lions Head in Greenwich Village). It was the kind of place where everyone turns their head when a stranger walks in, which hardly ever happens in Manhattan, since most places are accustomed to strangers (and strange people). Anyway I had another Yeungling since they were on $2 special for Happy Hour. I watched the Mets tack on a few more runs, and proceed back south on Amsterdam.

One thing I noticed that Amsterdam Avenue in that Area is decidedly lower class as opposed to Broadway, which is much more middle class. In any event, there aren’t many areas of Manhattan which are either lower or even Middle Class, so it was nice to stroll thru a true Manhattan Neighborhood with a neighborhood feeling.

Next stop, back to Broadway and 103rd street, the legendary Columbia hangout, Tap-A-Keg. I was surprised at how subdued it was, I’m not sure if that is because it’s no longer a hangout, or it just wasn’t the right time of day. Pleasant vibe though, friendly group and barmaid. I had another Yeungling and watched the end of the game. 15-6 Mets. I used to be a Mets Fan, but as I approach retirement I like to say the only team I root for is Dow Jones, and lately my Team is doing lousy.

Time to take the subway down to Penn Station. Once again, Hop Stop did a perfect job of directing me. I decided on one more stop, at one of a small chain of Irish Pubs in Midtown called Playwright Tavern, on 35th street. Very lively Friday after work crowd, I had yet another Yeungling, consulted my NJT schedule and hit the streets back to Penn.

But first, one more stop. There is an unwritten clause in my marriage vows which says any time I am near Penn Station I have to bring my wife a Gyro from Gyro II, just across the street. The best Gyros we have ever had, so I bought two. I hadn’t been there in a couple of years, and they have improved their take out operation. No longer do I have to worry about gyro sauce leaking all thru my shoulder bag, they actually have containers for the sauce now. This was our lunch the next day, and a fine lunch it was. And a fine Friday evening it was too.

Nice report, Ken. I felt the dark coolness of the old-time taverns, the chance of anonymity and great conversation all in one fell swoop. You tapped into a good thing. Such therapy is occasionally necessary.

The Bear

Iwanago!

Nice report Ken. I love going to a neighbourhood and just hitting up any bars that look interesting. The book, "New York City's Best Dive Bars" is a must read. There are a handful that have now unfortunately closed but the stories in the book are great and many of the bars are still just as dingy (just much less smoke). I was always disappointed by the "selection" of good bars around Penn Station. I've always wanted someone to do the Blarney Stone/Rock corned beef and cabbage buffet tour of the area. There seemed to be about 7 within a few blocks of the station.

Ken - I love gryos...A item too few people know about IMO. Anyway, there is a site called Midtown Lunch, that is put out by some young man and it's pretty neat. I believe you can get to it at midtownlunch.com. He has actually reviewed GyroII. His review was not that great but he took plenty of time and there are some terrific pictures. Bottom line is the guy is a gyro lover and it's an excellent article.

On yahoo.com, there are some very, very postive reviews of GyroII.

<<The book, "New York City's Best Dive Bars" is a must read. There are a handful that have now unfortunately closed but the stories in the book are great and many of the bars are still just as dingy (just much less smoke). I was always disappointed by the "selection" of good bars around Penn Station. I've always wanted someone to do the Blarney Stone/Rock corned beef and cabbage buffet tour of the area. There seemed to be about 7 within a few blocks of the station.>>

amini1: I have the Dive Bars book, by Wendy Mitchell, it's a great guide. However, the only one of the above bars she included was Night Cafe, which is now closed. As for the Penn Station area, I agree there's quite a few very similar Irish Bars, and I bet you'd be hard pressed to distinguish one corned beef from another. For what it's worth, my favorite in that area is Foley's at 18 W33. For years it was known as PG Kings, and it has all the desired features, tile floor, old back bar etc. The new owners have covered every square inch of the place with Sports Memorabilia, which kind of takes away from the classic ambiance, but is a great authentic collection.

Baah Ben: Thanks for the link, I just checked it out briefly and it looks like I'll have to spend some time with it. Seems to be another great Manhattan food blog.

I really enjoyed this post. I have never been to NYC and posts such as this enable me to visualize the great City.

Please, more!

Thank you Ken-------since the lovely MaryAnn works for Columbia Univ.
I am in that neighborhood often ----- In April (reminds me of a song
by Bing ------April in NY) we strolled down Bway but missed Sal and
Carmines and Cannon's Tavern. Actually we didn't
know how good they were until this very moment. We won't miss them in Oct
when I will be back there again. Reminds me of a song---Autumn In New York
----a new kid named Sinatra has a hit 78 out on it.

Your description of the whole trip was great and didn't need pictures. As
an ardent book reader and radio listen-to-er I seldom need pictures, I would
rather have the thousand words. The Sunshine Boys sitting on Bway was perfect.

Thanks again---this was a winner. You didn't even ask how I like my eggs cooked.

Ken ,
Great trip report buddy .
Felt like I was there with you .

Benzee

Are those projects near the 103rd st subway station, east of Broadway, still there? I remember getting off the subway back in the late '70s and turning east instead of west... it was a rough couple blocks I walked.

Ken, thanks for the report, man. 103rd and Broadway? What neighborhood is that? I know that is just south of the Columbia U. area.

Ben, I've been reading the midtownlunch.com site lately myself as my work has had my just north of Times Square for a couple of weeks. NYCFoodGuy.com is a good site too for cheap eats in the city and he has put me on to some tasty places.

Thanks everyone for the good comments. I'm not sure what the neighborhood is called, I just think of it as the Upper West Side or maybe The Area Around Columbia. Then again, George Carlin (RIP) used to do a routine about how the real name of the area was Morningside Heights but he preferred to call it White Harlem becuase it made him sound tougher.

Mosca: I'm not sure about the projects on 103rd Street, sorry, I didn't notice one way or the other.