NY Barfly

The Highest Grossing Nigthclubs in the US

It is notoriously hard to make money in the nightlife industry - if your establishment doesn't catch on, places come and go every day. Well, if you can make it to the top of the ladder, mega bucks await. According to Nightclub.com, the highest grossing club in the U.S. makes a whopping $70 to $80 million a year. Holy you-know-what. The lucky establishment that holds that title is Marquee, but the Vegas location. It's no wonder that they are at the top - when Marquee opened in NYC, it basically invented modern club life as we know it. 

The original NYC location is at number 58 on the list, raking in a respectable $5 to 10 million a year. Even so, that's ranked behind haunts like Avenue, Webster Hall and Lavo. You can get the full list here - it also serves as a primer if you're looking see the best spots for bottle service around the country. 

 

Because You Know You Want Your Own Wine Brand

A visit to a well stocked wine store can be trying for those trying to pick a bottle – after hours of indecision it usually comes down to a choice between the one with the monkey on it and the one with the bear on it. Well – what if one had your smiling face on it? Well – Crushpad, a small-lot wine maker is giving you the chance to get your mug on a bottle of wine. Don’t worry, they have graphic designers – surely they can make your eye-bags sparkle.

The company is sponsoring a contest that will allow one lucky winner to create their own label. They’ll get to decide on the grape mix, the name of the brand, target audience and marketing strategy. Not only will the amateur winemaker get to see the wine come into existence – they get to take home a barrel of the stuff, which they can quickly erase from existence by drinking it.

Contestants have to fill out a Facebook form with their proposal, which then go up against each other in a round of voting. The top 10 go on to the next round, in which the potential wine makers have to be interviewed with a panel of experts. Then, the winner is chosen, and wine drinking/merriment ensues!

You can get the full details of the contest on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/crushpad

Shock Top Launches Wheat IPA

IPA is a personal favorite these days – the beer is hoppy, flavorful and more alcoholic than your normal label, which is pretty much everything we look for in a brew. Well, Shock Top is rolling out an India Pale Ale that’s different from any we’ve seen before – it’s a wheat beer that is brewed in the style of an IPA. Whaaa????? The result of their brewing process is a hoppy burst of citrus that rings in at 5.8% ABV – while we find it hard to believe that this would be as meaty as the other IPAs we have come to know and love, we’re guessing it will be tastier than the creamy wheat beers that we typically shy away from.

The IPA joins the growing list of Shock Top’s flavored, Belgian style wheat beers – which also includes Belgian White and Raspberry Wheat. What do you think – will this lure some folks over to the wheat, or will regular beer drinkers find it just too shocking?

Drink of the Week: The Blackbird Swizzle from Frank Cisneros

Those of you who have imbibed at Dram in Brooklyn know an important fact about the borough’s bar scene: bartender Frank Cisneros is the man. Last week, he joined author Baratunde Thurston (who penned the recently released How To Be Black) for quite the distinctive event – actually, the shindig was called The Distinctive Bartender Tour. Thurston has been travelling around the country hosting these beverage making extravaganzas, which feature top bartenders in each town mixing up cocktails with The Black Grouse, a tasty brand of Scotch.

Of course, the other bartenders at Mable’s Smokehouse last week came up with some choice ditties, but Cisneros had the most interesting drink in the form of his Blackbird Swizzle. Check out the recipe below, and mix one up when you need a little distinction in your life (because, don’t we all?):

Blackbird Swizzle (created by Frank Cisneros)
2 oz. The Black Grouse
.75 oz. Lime Juice
.5 oz. Pineapple Juice
.5 oz. Orgeat Syrup
.25 oz. Cinnamon Syrup
Angostura Bitters

Mole Bitters
Swizzle/whip shake on 3 kold draft cubes in a tall fluted pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Top heavily with dashed angostura and mole bitters. Add more crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple leaf.

Washington Heights Has Bars? Buddha Beer Bar Says Yes.

It’s hard enough to venture to Brooklyn these days, but we head out there every now and then to check out the quality establishments worth visiting. But, apparently we have to go to Washington Heights now too – whaaa?? Ugh, drinking is so exhausting. A new watering hole dubbed Buddha Beer Bar is set to open in the neighborhood. And, what’s the draw? Well, only 24 draft beers – which is a bonanza for this hood. The brewskis will be a selection of craft labels, and drinkers will be able to enjoy them with a selection of “global street food.” Well, we’re not quite sure what that means – but it apparently involves Korean fried chicken and burgers, so we’re not complaining.

If you want to make the trek north and check it out, the bar is opened this week and located at 4476 Broadway. Because you can’t head to Brooklyn every time you want a drinking staycation.

The 10 Best New Cocktails in New York

NYC is a tough town. No, not because it’s hard to get ahead. The true challenge is figuring out what to drink! The city is built on a river of alcohol, after all – when you want to go swimming, there are plenty of places to dive in. Well – we’re here to help you. This piece on Zagat’s blog is where it’s at – they (ahem, including yours truly) visited 10 bars and found the best new cocktails that you should be imbibing now (and by now we mean five minutes ago). There are drinks from The Shanty, Bourgeois Pig Brooklyn and Gwynnett Street. If you need a little primer on what you should be sipping, check out the full story here.

An Actual Good Deal for Valentine's Day

Let’s be honest – if you know anything about the New York bar and restaurant scene, you know that Valentine’s Day is a night to be avoided at all costs. Restaurants around town serve shitty fixed-price menus, and diners are trying so hard to have a “romantic” time that they don't realize what's in front of them is gross. Barf.

Well, we’re glad to see that one of our favorite eateries is switching things up. Boqueria in SoHo is, according to marketing materials, “not asking for a commitment.” Yep –the restaurant’s SoHo location isn’t serving a special menu or silly pink drinks – they just want you to drop in. The normal a la carte offerings will be served, and you don’t need a reservation. If you do want to deal with all of that – well –check out the Flatiron location of Boqueria – which will be serving a fixed-price menu for $75 per person. Ah, love…

C by Courvoisier Classes Up Your Local Liquor Store

New booze alert! When you browse the cognac section at your local liquor store, you might encounter C by Courvoisier – the brand’s latest label. The hooch is a blend of small-batch produced Cognac, which comes from 50 elite winegrowers in the Fin Bois Cru. The special label gets much of its flavor from the double-barrel aging process that the makers put it through – expect notes of fruit on the nose along with the aroma of wood, followed by tasting notes of orange peel, clove and crusty bread (yeah, that last one isn’t a common descriptor, but you’ll see what we mean).

Courvoisier has been busy trying to expand the public’s palate for Cognac – they also recently rolled out Courvoisier Rose, which is a lower proof version that’s mixed with French red wine grapes to appeal to the ladies.

C by Courvoisier started its roll-out last week. You can keep your eyes peeled for the bottles, which will run around $34.99 a pop.

A Food Court We Can Get Behind

Food courts don't really inspire much passion in the drinking and dining realm (except, of course, if you are a fan of chilling at the mall), but newly opened Earl's Court way downtown is definitely one that has at least piqued our interest. And how to make us interested in pretty much anything? Drink deals, natch. During lunch the place may be full of diners looking for a quick bite, but at night the space loosens up and dishes out the drinks. Yes, please. A happy hour was just announced with some pretty awesome deals. There are bottled beers for $3, wines by the glass for $5 and martinis for - brace yourselves - the epically low price of $4.50 a pop (note to readers: even though you can get 4 of these for less than 20, that's not necessarily a good idea). The deals are available from 4 to 7 PM every night, and the haunt plans to roll out fun events next week like trivia night Tuesdays and Wednesday night karaoke. Of course, the establishment will still be serving food during this time, so if you do plan to slurp up too many martinis, at least you'll be able to find something to put in your stomach.

Earl's Court is located at 90 John Street.

Alcohol Sales on the Rise - Woot Woot!

We knew things were getting sunnier out there, and not just because it's one of the most freakishly warm winters on record. A report was issued this week detailing the sales of alcohol in 2011, and things are looking up! 2.7 percent up, to be precise. That's the amount that spirit sales increased in 2011 - which is the biggest rise in five years. See - we knew that things would get better if everyone would just have another round. This is almost back to the pre-recession levels, check it out:

Indeed, the sales jump last year was close to the 2.9 percent annual average increase prior to the 2008 economic collapse, Ozgo said Monday at a New York meeting with Wall Street analysts and reporters. 

By comparison, spirits sales by volume grew by just two percent in 2010 and 1.4 percent in 2009.

You can take a look at the full sales report here. 

Davey and Drunky Watch Football

Happy Hour Alert! GO Burger Launches Drink Deals

Good news kids, there’s a new happy hour in town starting today, and you can use the money you save for some kick ass burgers. GO Burger just announced a happy hour that will run TWICE every Monday through Friday. From 4 to 7 PM, you can enjoy $15 pitchers of beer along with cheap as hell bar bites – including $2 mac and cheese fritters and $2 sliders. You can also order heaping portions of wings for a teeny bit of money - $5 will get you 10 wings, $10 will get you 20 and $15 will get you 30 (if you can eat 30 by yourself, we salute you). If you can’t get to the UES to enjoy the deal right after work, you can swing by from 9:30 to 11:30 PM to enjoy the same prices. Sounds pretty good to us – especially if you go in the evening, do a little bar hopping, and then come back at 9:30 for a late night snack.

GO Burger is located at 1448 Second Avenue if you want to take advantage of this choice deal.