@YouTheReader - Tom Petty’s lyrics here are pretty self-explanatory so I won’t have to give some of my Back Pocket stories on this fine Saturday.
I love this song, hate that I’m using it so early on in this, but you’ll see why I picked it.
Like most quiet introverts, I would say that it is easy to be misunderstood. If you’re a naturally shy person, you can sometimes feel like the world around you gets to push you around and decide who you are because you won’t speak up when you should. At least now, with writing Week to Week Notes publicly I feel like I can craft my own narratives on what I feel is right. In turn, this has definitely brought more confidence out in me in real life, so much so that I’m not sure if I’m really that shy or quiet of a guy anymore. Well, @YouTheReader, you can be the judge of that the next time you see me!
I Won’t Back Down from drinking a few pints, talking to people, watching some sports, and then writing about them.
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.
Captured a moment at lunch on 1/17 ‘23.
The Brazen Tavern 1/17 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.1
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty is on in the background. Bill is the bartender. He is from Kildare, Ireland, and has been in the States since June. Loves it here, “so much to do, no two days are the same. There is no comparison between the Guinness over here and the Dublin though.” Bill is a Liverpool fan. His favorite players are Steven Gerrard and Mo Saleh. Williamsburg is his current spot, he has grown accustomed to loud boom boxes at 7 AM in the morning. Kerri Chandler is his favorite DJ.
Bill mentioned you don’t really hear a ton of music blaring from boom boxes in the mornings back home. He highly recommended the Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich off The Brazen Tavern menu. Off the record, two Dartmouth male alums were sitting to my right. They were Class of ‘88 (as they kept bringing up) and were openly talking about their sex lives very loudly. @YouTheReader, don’t worry I didn’t ask for their names and I won’t go into details - have to keep this PG-13. Kind of weird though. I never knew Ivy Leaguers had locker room talk like that. There was a normal couple sitting to the right of me to whom I gave Week to Week Notes cards to. They were very nice people. I’m looking forward to checking out The Brazen Tavern again soon!
Quick intermission, the next day I worked on Pint&Pen&Paper Vol III at lunch and after work at Nancy Whiskey Pub. They have great chicken fingers and fries if you’re looking for pub grub.
GMT Tavern 1/18 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.2
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: “Can I Kick It?” by A Tribe Called Quest on in the background. Sean is the bartender. He is from Spiddal, Galway, and didn’t know any Davis’ from Connemara. He has been been in the States, “his second home”, for 9 years - all in NYC. Yankees fan and a big fan of Aaron Judge at that. At one point used to work at Foley’s, a baseball-centric pub in NYC that closed down due to COVID, and had some cool stories. He met Jon Hamm there and umpires used to go to that bar. They would hook him up with tickets sometimes. GMT gets packed for soccer and football. Their TVs go from having sports on them to fireplace screening, which is a very nice touch for the tavern’s setting in the winter. Sean is a Tottenham Spurs fan with Harry Kane being his guy. Guinness is always flowing at GMT Tavern. They have a great Shepherd’s Pie and burger.
The dimly lit bar and fireplace combination make GMT Tavern pretty distinct! Sean recommended some I check out Taaffees Pub and a bunch of other pubs in the Galway City shopping area, they have great pints! Being that Sean is Irish, you know he knows a good Shepherd’s Pie when he eats one, so that’ll be my order next time I’m at GMT. I thought it was very cool to hear that umpires who were bar patrons at Foley’s would give bartenders like Sean free tickets every now and then. You never know who you’ll meet in NYC. I’m looking forward to checking out GMT Tavern again soon!
Peculier Pub 1/18 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 8.4
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Renee Rapp song in the background. Judy is the bartender and she is from Queens. She has been at Peculier Pub for 9 years and “loves it here, a very fun job. I get to meet a lot of people.” The church pew booths and paper bills from all over the world hanging up makes this pub peculiar. They also have 250+ international beers from all over. She is a fan of the Knicks. “Obviously I’m used to them bringing disappointment. The Knicks man, every year.” Her favorite drinks are corona with lime, margaritas, and sangria.
Judy, hang in there with the Knicks, they’ll be good one day! I didn’t get a chance to drink any of the other 250+ international beers, but they all looked very enticing. I’m looking forward to checking out Peculier Pub again soon!
The Red Lion 1/18 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 8.7
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: “I Won’t Back Down” (Tom Petty version) is being played live in the background. Conor is the bartender and he is from County Meath, Ireland. He’s been in the U.S. for 7 & 1/2 years and has worked at the Red Lion for 3 of them. He lives in Sunnyside, Queen. Oasis is his favorite band. When he is not working he enjoys hanging out with his dog named Guinness (mostly a German Shepherd mutt, handsome boy) and going out drinking with friends. Magners is his go-to drink. Guinness is a really good boy, gives my wife and me no bother.” They adopted him around Saint Patrick’s Day.
Being that it was a Wednesday night, there wasn’t as big of a crowd for the performer as I’ve seen at the Red Lion on weekends, but the singer was good! If you haven’t been to The Red Lion, they have a stage for a nad and a dance floor for patrons so definitely a good spot to check out if you love live music. I felt like I had to go with “I Won’t Back Down” after I had just heard it at bars on consecutive days. @YouTheReader, what? I’m just following the signs. It was funny to hear that Conor has a dog named Guinness as I was reviewing a Guinness. Guinness was part of a pack of adopted dogs shipped up to New York around Saint Patrick’s Day last year, so all the pups’ names had Irish-themed names. I’m looking forward to checking out The Red Lion again soon!
Bosco 1/18 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.1
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John is on in the background. Conor is the bartender. He is from just a bit southeast of Horsham, England. He has been in the U.S. for 5 years, all in NYC as a resident. When he first came over to the U.S. he handed out a million resumes to bars all over the city. He has been bartending now for 10 years and has worked at Bosco since this past summer. He has traveled to quite a few spots in the U.S. like San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, and his parents now live in Scottsdale, Arizona. They actually live on a golf course called Grey Hawk. Back in England, he is from a small town with not much diversity, which made NYC a cool new experience he seamlessly fits into. He really loves hockey and is the biggest Phoenix Coyotes fan in New York City. He likes the NFL as well and is looking to get into fantasy football. Conor is a Wafford supporter in soccer, but the games are at 7 AM here so he doesn't catch every one of them. He’ll throw ESPN on the TV and can’t get enough sports. He was a kid in the Golden Era of English Soccer so he grew up watching David Beckham. The Troy Deeny goal for Wafford “still gives me goosebumps.”
Easy to tell from talking to Conor that he is a massive sports fan. I’ve been to Grey Hawk, the golf course his parents live at in Scottsdale so that was a cool coincidence. **Cough, cough @GreyHawk the Rooster Cup is going back to Scottsdale this May, cough, cough** I really enjoyed talking sports and NYC with Conor, a very cool guy with bartending skills that makes mean cocktails with flair. I’m looking forward to checking out Bosco again soon!
That was the last pint of the night…
…so I captured a moment walking down to the Oculus.
PATH dropped me off right next to Texas Arizona, so I dropped off a card and had a quick talk with Steve. Found out Hoboken is putting a huge golf simulator in that spot by the PATH that used to be a club. Pretty cool.