Sometimes art morphs into text. John Tebeau was drawing and silk screening his favorite Brooklyn bars when he was prompted to do more: write down reviews of the great NYC drinking institutions he was drawing. And, in this clever little volume he has done just that.
How many bars are there in NYC? It’s a question that even Google struggles to answer. At least 10,000 and probably more according to one post on Quora.com. It’s a big number but, with assistance from friends and lively bartenders, John has done the difficult: he’s filtered that number down to a Top 50 list.
That just under half the book is devoted to Brooklyn does not merely reflect John’s native prejudice. The past few years have been hard on small business in Manhattan. Soaring rents, and the need to buy up whole blocks for mega projects, has made the “local” bar a bit of an endangered item.
Rents and development pressures have been less onerous in Brooklyn, so John has 22 establishments in Brooklyn, 14 in Manhattan, 6 in Staten Island, and 4 each in Bronx and Queens. For someone like me who lives in Lower Manhattan and can walk over the bridge, the book is ideal.
I do recognize most of the Manhattan names from walking the streets. And some of these places I’ve been in and out of for years. The Corner Bistro in the West Village is grand for beer and perhaps grander for their burgers. The Ear Inn in Soho dates from at least 1817 and perhaps thirty years earlier. The NYC Department of Buildings does not go back quite that far. But beer has been consumed here at this wharf location since at least 1817.
There’s a story about each establishment here. Sometimes the building itself, sometimes the current owner. There are tales of rogues and how some businesses managed to dodge the dread of prohibition: blocking off the main door, putting up a sign saying “Florist” and admitting drinkers into a back room through a back door mounted in a refrigerator. When folks want to drink, well, they do.
Beyond the history, John has some specific info you can use:
- When to go
- Where to sit
- What to drink
- How to get there
And for many of the bars, there is a house recipe or two. The most historic Pete’s Tavern in Manhattan offers up their Coffee Royale: a potent brew of Kahlua, brandy, Frangelico, Grand Marnier, and half-and-half. Oh, yes, coffee, too, plus the whipped cream. You cannot forget the whipped cream. The drink is 5 ounces of coffee, 2 ounces of booze and 1 of half-and-half. John says to visit Pete’s after work on weeknights. Me? I’d want that Coffee Royale at one in the morning.
If you are walking the city, in any of the boroughs, then this can be a perfect traveling companion. Need a break? Need a drink? Then visit the places New Yorkers love in Bars, Taverns, and Dives. Me? I do like bars, but there is nothing like a good dive.