Playing Pool at Doc Holliday's

Interior shot of Doc Holliday's and pool table

Holiday Cocktail Lounge

Holiday Cocktail Lounge
75 St Marks Pl
New York, NY 10003-7944
(212) 777-9637
St Marks btw. 1st and 2nd ave (close to 1st)

The Holiday Cocktail Lounge is another bar in NY that you wish has a 30+ year lease and won't get kicked out by the next hot Tapas-Sushi-Boutique Burger fusion bistro / sake bar. Walk inside and the walls are a mix of liquor ads from the 70's and 80's, faded yellow newspaper articles about US soccer teams from the 70's, and Christmas lights. The TV uses an antennae, and doesn't really work (the bartender will give it a loving tap every so often). The drinks are cheap, $2-5 for beer and $3-7 for drinks. The place is spacious (even more so since its really never that crowded). Faux leather booths held with duct tape and faux wood plastic tables bring to mind the Simpsons quote re: Moe's "This place isn't a Faux-Dive; this place is a dive!"

Decor (5/5) - Great. Nothing past 1993 here. Looks like a dive out of a 1980s Rodney Dangerfield movie. Ample seating with rooms for groups, and also good smaller booths. Plenty of standing room if you are so inclined.

Crowd (5/5) - Bikers, old alcoholics, young alcoholics, cheap hipsters. Not an NYU freshman in sight.

Drinks (5/5) - Cheap, not too stingy a pour, cheap

Dive Factor (5/5) - The first 5/5 for a dive!

It beats its close-by dive neighbor, International Bar, as there is no interesting jukebox (I don't recall one at all). This is just a dingy place to hide and drink away. Perfect to spend an evening in, or at least to start out on the cheap. Nobody checking Crackberrys here.

Outside the Holiday Cocktail Lounge

Holiday Cocktail Lounge - St Marks btw 1st & 2nd

Dark Bar (name forgotten) near Rothko 

Botanica Well Drink Bar

Botanica Well Drink Bar
Originally uploaded by NYC Tom.

Hotel Metro Rooftop Bar

Hotel Metro Rooftop Bar (take far right elevator)
45 W. 35th St. (Midtown West)
between Fifth and Sixth Aves.
212-279-3535

Dives are relative I suppose. In NY, a rooftop bar that is anything but overpriced and trendy could, streching the definition, be called a dive. This is that rooftop bar. Stepping onto it, it seems like the roof of your friend's apartment, or, for suburban types, a porch. Some tables, a central standing area and lounge chairs are the furniture here. There is a happy hour from 6-7:30 with cheapish beer ($3). My non-happy hour Jack and Coke (a glass of Jack with a shot of Coke) was $7. Steep, but compared to the Pen-Top's $20, cheap for a rooftop bar. The music was a nice laid back mix of southern and classic rock, though other reviews note some sort of DJ (maybe this happens when the weather gets warmer in June/July).

Decor (3/5) - Like a porch. Not divey, not nice.

Crowd (3/5) - After work/hotel guests, almost all. No real other reason to travel to that area.

Drinks (3/5) - $7 is not cheap, but it was well poured. Beers are more reasonable

Dive Factor (2/5) - Compared to other hotel rooftop bars, this place is a hole, but, compared to other normal bars, its kinda nice

2 Years after the Ban - Smoking Bars

While many bars look the other way (we don't post those little factoids for obvious reasons) there are some "legit" bars where you can smoke. The site NewYorkology does a great service in providing a list of who is left. While none on the list would ever make it in here (some are pretty swank), Circa Tabac is a great bar, dark, comfortable and with strong drinks, all sans a cigar store/hotel flavor.

Smith Street Pub Crawl

Another good article from New York Metro outlining a Smith Street Pub Crawl.

McSwiggans

McSwiggans
393 2ND Ave
New York, NY 10010-4627
(212) 725-8740

NOTE: There is an all you can drink special on Wed. nights till midnight. $10 a cup. The hidden cost is in tolerating youngsters spilling drinks on you and general crowdedness. Curmudgeons beware, socials delight, Wed is a different night.

McSwiggans is one of the better bars in the far east Gramercy area, and it happens to be one of the diviest. On any given night there will be a smattering of people at the bar, and maybe a couple playing pool or darts (though never a line for these things really). Booze isn't expensive, and the Jukebox has classic rock. If you want the deerhunter game, its here too, along with one of those LCD consols with note the difference pictures, seemingly taken from soft core porn. All in all a good place to spend a relaxed evening if you are in the neighborhood.

Decor (4/5) - More dingy than others (hence the higher rating). Pool table and darts nice add, plenty of things to do at the bar involving pointy metal things and big sticks (what better things to use drunk?)

Crowd (4/5) - Some mellow neighborhood people, some hard core winos. Good mix.

Drinks (3/5) - Normal price, good strength

Dive Factor (4/5) - Sans Wed., this is a pretty grimy and half empty place. High scores here.