NY Barfly

Lit Lounge is Friendly / Water Taxi Beach is Back!

-Eater has word that Lit Lounge is trying to make nice with the neighbors. A sign tries to make nice about the noise, and they are handing out polo shirts to the hipster to give them a cleaner, more Upper East Side look.

-Rejoice – Water Taxi Beach at the seaport is opening May 5^th! Grub Street has word that they’re calling themselves a beer garden this year, with a bunch more options on draft. It’s just like the real beach, except you don’t have to secretly drink Citron out of a Snapple bottle.

-Fork in the Road has a peek at the Jet Pilot, a cocktail on the list at recently opened Dram. It’s nice that this Williamsburg spot is classing things up. We’re used to drinking jet fuel.

Employees Only for Your Home Bar

Employees Only knows their drink. This West Village restaurant was slapping mint leaves while you were still downing cheap cans of beer on your fake ID. We’re happy to see that they’re branching out and trying to class up your home bar.

Fresh Direct will soon carry Employees Only Brands, a small line of artisan bar mixers. The bartenders at the restaurant have been using their house made grenadine and lime cordial behind the bar for years, and now you’ll be able to take it home and do some mixing yourself.

All you’ll need to make your apartment another E.O. outpost is a fortune teller sitting at the door!

Party Report: Drunk Brunch at Rye House

The countdown to this year’s Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans has begun. The annual cocktail festival is hitting New Orleans in late July (check out their website for more info). New York cocktail lovers did a little pre-gaming last weekend at Rye House.

How do you pre-game for an event that’s still a few months out? Daytime drinking, naturally. The folks at Rye House all enjoyed some libations mixed with Herbsaint. This absinthe-esque spirit is a favorite of New Orleans. It was pungent and flavorful – the perfect brunch cocktail (aka you can’t suck them down like vodka sodas).

Check out the recipe for a Herbsaint fizz below, as we know you were just waiting to kick off your own Tales celebration. Or just get tipsy at lunch.

Herbsaint Fizz

3/4 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
1-1/2 oz Herbsaint
1 egg white

Preshake, shake, serve in a tall glass, top with soda.

Cinco De Mayo: Where to Drink-o

That’s right kids, May 5^th is approaching, which means it’s time to Cinco your De Mayo. That’s Spanish for drink lots of tequila, right? We’ll bring you a few options this year. First stop on the Margarita tour, Los Feliz.

They’ll be slinging their signature Milagro's Freshest Margarita, using agave nectar and fresh squeezed lime juice in place of traditional triple sec and sour mix. With the tequila and the nectar, this cocktail packs the one-two agave punch.

If you want the three-four-five tequila punch that’s prerequisite on this day, then Feliz has got you covered. They have over 150 varieties of the sauce, including one with a dead scorpion at the bottom of the bottle. Don’t worry, the little guys stinger was removed (note: that doesn’t mean you won’t have a hangover).

Los Feliz is located at 109 Ludlow Street. They’ve got three levels of fun goin’ on. For a proper Cinco de Mayo experience, you should drink and fall over on each one.

Breakfast Happy Hour at The Smith

As you can see, we’re fans of the many infamous boozy brunches around town. These take place on the weekend, and we’re disappointed that there aren’t many options during the week for choice daytime drinking. Well, Fork in the Road has news that one downtown spot is set to change that.

The Smith just launched a new breakfast menu, which includes standards like bagels filled with smoked salmon and soft boiled eggs. They’ve also got – drum roll please – half priced drinks!

Yes kids, you don’t have to pony up to the bar at the Blarney Stone if you want to get your buzz on during the early AM. You can get your fill of $6 Bloody Marys, mimosas, and Bellinis for $6 every weekday, from 8 to 11 AM.

If you’re really hardcore, this could be your nightcap after a night at the clubs. The Smith is located at 55 3^rd Avenue.

Boozy Brunch Alert: 57 Napoli Pizza e Vino

Another day, another bottomless mimosa brunch. This time you can get your share of brunch-time booze at 57 Napoli Pizza e Vino. In fact, their brunch lasts all day long. How many mimosas will you have to down before they tell you you’ve found the bottom and throw you out?

Of course, it’s not just about the booze. They’ve got some fun brunch pizzas, like the Carne with 2 eggs any style, mozzarella, and Italian meat (sausage, prosciutto, etc.). They also have standard brunch fare like omelets, pancakes, French toast and, oh, did we mention – bottomless mimosas!

They’re located at 120 East 57^th Street (upstairs) and brunch is from 10 AM until Midnight on Saturday and 10 AM to 11 PM on Sunday.

Bar Fighting, Boston Style

Despite their hurly-burly reputation, New York bar-goers are a pretty sophisticated bunch. Yes, the occasional bad thing happens – people get punched, pockets get picked – but everything stays on the up and up. Boston, on the other hand, showed us that bar fights are different in Beantown.

Last weekend, there a massive fight broke out at Club Rio. We’ll break it down to you by the numbers:

600 - patrons in the club at the time of the fight.

100 - number of club goers who got involved in the brawl

15 -  minutes the bar fight lasted

27 – police officers who tried to break it up

14 – number of patrons who were arrested

14 – number of arrested patrons who were intoxicated

18 – age of the onlooker  who blamed the fight on the fact that there weren’t enough females in the club. Door policy check!

Think New York could ever match those numbers? You can read more about the fight here.

Facebook Friend for a Fiesta

Facebook friending someone doesn’t really get you much, save the annoyance at the constant stream of mindless status updates (“DWTS is SO better than Idol, LOL!”). It’s nice to see that Partida Tequila is offering an actual incentive to follow them on Facebook and it’s nothing to LOL about.

The company is celebrating the 200^th Anniversary of Mexican Independence, and they’re giving you a chance to win a spot at their September 15^th Fiesta. Each month (starting with April), they’ll pick two NYC based Facebook fans and invite them to the party. Each lucky lush gets to bring a guest to the bash.

You can find Partida on Facebook. Once you friend them, send an email to fiesta@partidatequila.com with your name and city. After that – commence lame status updates – LOL!

New Bar Alert: 200

200, a new spot on the Lower East Side, is exactly what the neighborhood needs: another bar. This area must have the highest concentration of drink-spots around, and 200 brings a local no-frills feel to the mix. The LES is in danger of becoming douche-central, so it’s good that bars like this are keepin’ it real.

They’ve got a bunch of beer – Sixpoint Sweet Action and Lagunitas Czech Pilsner are both on tap. While it’s not wd-50 or ‘inoteca, they’ve also got some food. A Panini press churns out simple sandwiches (think grilled chicken, pesto, and parmigianino). The simple food is enough to keep you from fleeing – and spending your rent money – at the hot restaurants next door.

We think it’s a good place to watch the upcoming World Cup Soccer games – they promise to show all the matches live. Soccer fans everywhere know that the World Cup is a great excuse to drink way too many beers.

200 is located at 200 Orchard Street, near Houston.

Stuff Your Face for Charity: The Flavor of Midtown

We love events that let us binge eat for a good cause. This Thursday (the 29^th), Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall plays host to The Flavor of Midtown. The funds raised by the event are going to a not-for-profit organization that helps the homeless, so you better be stuffin’ your face.

30 restaurants will offer tasty goodies. If you haven’t made it to At Vermilion, Metrazur, or The Campbell Apartment, this is a choice way to sample their wares. You better sharpen your elbows – over 1,000 people are expected to attend, so some jostling might be needed if you want to maximize your scarfing.

You can check out the event’s website, and order tickets ($75 a pop) at the organization’s website: http://www.grandcentralpartnership.org. Be sure to line your cargo pants' pockets with plastic wrap so you can have “leftovers”.