@YouTheReader this one is for my parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all the friends that kept my head up when it may have been down. I appreciate all of you and I wouldn’t be able to pursue something I love without your help. In particular, @MaeveStanPhotography, for the song I heard for the first time in one of her recent reels.
Yeah… I’ll admit I can sometimes be an annoying passenger driver… I have been a bit stubborn and impatient at times in the past.
The phone calls, texts, snap chats, DMs, etc. have helped along the way and I can’t thank you enough! Although a lot of what I do on here is me in my own head, I’m grateful to know I’ve never really been all alone.
I feel like I can be myself again. I don’t really have to worry as much about crafting storylines, the stories have started to write themselves for a change. Rather than sitting around and trying to cook up ideas that people may or may not find interesting, I’ve been going out and partaking in my own interests. Meeting new people and experiencing new things has been amazing, but I’m still glad to know I’ve got a great support system that was there from the start.
Guinness Challenge Season #1
@Kids don’t try this at home. Not just because you’re underage and will have plenty of pints to drink if that ends up being your thing when you’re older but also because Guinness is actually best served in a pint glass from a tap. A pint of Guinness varies depending on the drinking establishment. If the keg it sits in is rarely poured, it can lead to some underwhelming taste. Rather than stealing gimmicks, I’d like to start taking Notes while drinking Guinness. My grandfather from Connemara, who I never got the chance to meet, Thomas Davis, used to drink pints and by all accounts was a self-taught thinker. The one rule I’ve imposed on myself is that I will only have 1 pint per sitting from each establishment I review, so @AnyoneWorrying, don’t worry about my drinking habits. The Guinness Challenge is to “cut the G” on your first sip (more like a gulp and a half). If this is your first time hearing about it, I didn’t come up with the fun challenge @YouTheReader can try the next time you have a Guinness. I’m planning on this to just be a SEASONal thing for me because I don’t know about you, but I prefer a pint in the cold weather months until the end of March. The 0.0 to 10.0 scale will be extremely nuanced but as a reference point, the only perfect 10.0 I plan to ever give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Finnegan’s 1/15 ‘22
The first Week to Week Notes business card had to go to where I thought of the idea of the written review. Funny thing that happened when I walked in, I started explaining that I did a Guinness Review and handed the first card to a waitress. Well, it turns out she wasn’t a waitress and was actually just standing by the server station waiting on a drink, so technically the first card went to a Finnegan’s customer.
Pando 39 1/15 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.3
Guinness Challenge: Failed (Close Call)
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Pierce is the owner of Pando 39. He is from Ballygar, Galway. He went to school in Tuam, Galway. Born a citizen in Ireland. Has come back and forth. Has lived in New Zealand for 2 years, it is very similar to Ireland, the climate of course is different but similar people. Pando 39 is an Irish American bar but doesn’t necessarily advertise as an Irish Pub. Very prideful to be Irish (they do have an Irish flag that drew me over to the Guinness) but there are just already so many pubs in NYC that Pando 39 is trying to be a bit different. When you first enter Pando 39, there is a gorgeous chandelier, but it is not necessarily there to give off a posh vibe. They have a DJ Booth set up in their Pent House Upstairs and will even sometimes have live music set up under the chandelier. It is a bar for the working class who if they would like, can watch a movie in one of their booths during the week or a big game on the weekend. The burger is cracking.
Pando 39 seemed like a very modern and versatile bar. There is a back area flower wall that would be very Instagram-able @Ladies or guys interested in taking a pic. When I first walked in Pierce was on his laptop doing some work so I felt bad taking up his time but he was very welcoming and I really appreciated the pint! We had a great long off the record conversation about social media, family (he and his wife have their hands full with two young twin boys), and ended our conversation receiving a recommendation to watch “You Are Here: A Come From Away Story”. I need to go back to Pando 39 to get their burger soon. I’m looking forward to checking out Pando 39 again soon!
Westbury 1/15 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.3
Guinness Challenge: N/A
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Conor is the bartender, he is from Tipperary. Been in the U.S. since April. He currently lives in Bushwick, but would hopefully one day live a bit closer to Manhattan. Unfortunately, he doesn't think Tipperary will ever win the Sam. Giants fans have now mobbed the bar. Loud roar for the Saquon score. Conor’s favorite club is Manchester United, with Ronaldo being his favorite player growing up. He enjoys how busy the city is and wants to stay here for another while. Bob sitting next to me is an artist. He draws cartoons, paints, as well as realistic drawings. He has been in NY for 2 years, originally from SoCal.
Conor was great at answering my questions as the bar started to pack up with excited Giants fans. I gave away one of the Week to Week Notes cards to a table full of Giants fans, they looked at me like I had 4 heads while trying to watch the game. Had a very cool off the record conversation with Bob that I promised not to dive too deep into, the gist was he was passionate about 3D graphic design while learning a little about it in one of his college courses. It was one of those “we teach you this very elaborate subject in a week” sort of gigs, but he was interested enough in 3D graphic design that he went out of his way to buy a computer “more expensive than his car back in SoCal” and 1 year later he now 2 years later of practicing he does the 3D graphic design on the jumbotron for a professional NY sports team. I’m looking forward to checking out Westbury again soon!
Started to get a bit hungry but saw the guy working behind the stand was freezing his ass off so I went with a chicken gyro and ate it outside in the cold instead of going into a warm food chain. Pretty good gyro.
Empire State of Mind was playing in the background as this mother and child got on one of those 360 camera things that I can’t find on Google. The kid looked pretty happy so glad to capture a moment.
Your standard Empire State Building lit up gold with Red, White, and Blue MSG for the Rangers.
Beautiful columns. Cool architecture.
The Bar at Moynihan 1/15 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.6
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Rico is the manager. Since he was 9 years old has lived in NYC. Originally from Panama. He is a Brooklyn Nets fan because he is from Brooklyn. He was originally a Knicks fan but once the Nets moved to BK, he decided the Knicks were just abusive. Roberto Duran is his favorite boxer. Kyrie Irving is his favorite Net player now. Loves Brooklyn over Manhattan because it is his hometown. “Nobody has a better Guinness than us. Nobody has a better Guinness than on this side of the Western Hemisphere.” Working at The Bar at Moynihan, you need patience with people new to the city, but oddly enough there are a ton of regulars, which balances it all out. Joe Montana has been here on Saint Patrick’s Day, had a pint, and hung out. Gary next to me is watching the Giants-Vikings game and is a fan of both teams. In the 1970s the Purple People Eaters were on TV a ton and the Giants were on local TV. Giants and Vikings at the time used to trade players a lot in those days so he got to root for the same guys throughout their careers.
You should’ve seen Rico’s face when I said I didn’t know who Roberto Duran was, I almost got snuffed. No, Rico was awesome and it was easy to tell he was very proud of being from both Panama and Brooklyn. I was very surprised to hear that The Bar at Moynihan had regulars, and I thought the crowd would just consist of people rolling in and out of the Train Hall. Then I took a sip of the pint and could tell why. Rico had a ton of confidence in their Guinness and the pint I had certainly backed it up. Pretty cool to know that Joe Cool drank here. I’m looking forward to checking out The Bar at Moynihan again soon!
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Times Like These by The Foo Fighters on in the background. Jameel is the bartender, he is from the Bronx. Has to be a Yankee fan and roots for the Giants. He works for Swift seasonally during their busy times. He lives in Manhattan and has been hanging out in the city since a kid - loves it here. Jameel has never had to put on an act as a bartender, just been himself. His favorite boxer of all time is Marvin Hagler. No TVs for sports.
Jameel asked to shake my hand a 2nd time after the quick questions and said this feels like something where “5 years from now he’ll look back on like ‘damn I remember that redhead kid in the paddy hat.’” It had me cracking up and I didn’t know what to say, but I hope so - that definitely drives me to work even that much harder. @YouTheReader - Taylor Swift has still not hit me up for a pint. I’ll have to tag her on this post and if she doesn’t see it, it’ll just be on tomorrow’s Swings&Misses. What? Shooters shoot, it would obviously be a platonic date, we’re two very busy people in our respective industries. I’m looking forward to checking out Swift again soon!
I’m not ready to start muckraking yet.
Dead Rabbit 1/15 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.7
Guinness Challenge: N/A No Logo
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Katrina is sitting next to me. She is from Nassau County and likes Long Island but wouldn’t mind moving someday. She is just in the city for the night for Irish music. “Most of my friends are Rangers fans.” This is her first time in NYC since ‘19. Katrina could not recognize Penn Station - “a ton of renovation.” Knew Dead Rabbit would have good Irish music on Sunday night. She is a music director at a church. Loves it, “it is nice being able to do for a living what you’d do for free.”
This one started off kind of funny because Dead Rabbit was packed, I saw one stool open and walked over to it. As I was sitting down, Katrina, talking to her friends (Brian and Molly) said, “I could never be a writer,” so when I sat down I just sort of chuckled. Off the record, she had gone to listen to music because an elderly Irish musician she knew recently passed away and she felt like if she couldn’t go to the funeral, this was the right thing. She and her friends were very sincerce people and it I had a nice talk with them in a packed Dead Rabbit playing great music. @TheDavis’FromLetterfack is it true that Christopher Columbus actually stopped by Galway on his trip to America or are we telling American tourist stories now? I’m looking forward to checking out Dead Rabbit again soon!