New York’s Red Sox bars

UPDATE 10/8/2009: Been awhile since I wrote this, and things have changed a little. Jim McGuire, bartender who started the Red Sox craze at the Rivera and took his fans to Phebe’s, has now opened his own bar in the East Village, Professor Thom’s (219 2nd Ave, by E. 13th Street). This is a good bar for watching regular season games. It does get a little loud and packed like crazy during the playoffs, though. I think because the floors are wooden the sound tends to echo around? There is an upstairs lounge area too which will play important Red Sox games.

I am not sure if Phebe’s can really be considered a Red Sox bar anymore. I stopped in awhile ago during a regular season game and they didn’t even have it on.

The Boston (212) Cafe is no more. No loss… But Harrison’s is gone too, which is too bad.

The Hairy Monk and the Riviera are still around and going strong. They’ll have the game sound on as well. I did eventually check out Pat O’Briens, which is a definite dive and seemed like it had a pretty young crowd. Good if you’re in the Upper East Side, I suppose.

There’s a new bar in the East Village at 43 E. 7th Street, Standings, which is supposedly a Red Sox hangout. I hope to check it out soon.

Really if the Red Sox and Yankees play each other in the ALCS I would suggest NOT watching the game at a Red Sox bar in NYC. They’ll be too packed! And every good sports bar will have the game sound on.

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Original post from September 2005: On the eve of one of the biggest weekends in regular-season Boston Red Sox history [well, it didn’t quite work out that way — but it seemed like it would be at the time!], I decided to do a little exploring. New York has a number of Red Sox bars and I hit four of them tonight during the game. A car equipped with XM Satellite Radio made the expedition easier.

PHEBES BAR AND GRILL, 359 Bowery. I gotta say I was underwhelmed by this place, which people are trying to promote as an alternative to the Riviera. The last week of the season, and they have on Depeche Mode rather than the game audio? (“Reachout touch faith“). C’mon. I don’t know if I’d really consider this a sports bar — it seemed like only about half to two-thirds of the people there were even paying attention to the game. This was the first place I hit, and it was somewhat crowded, but there were still seats available away from the main bar area. On the plus side, the burgers looked good, although I didn’t have one. I believe my Bass was $5.

THE HAIRY MONK, 3rd Ave. and E. 25th St. I’ll always associate this place with Game 4 of the 2004 World Series — this is where I watched the Sox clinch it all last year, and boy, I don’t think I’ve ever hugged as many people in my life as we played U2’s “Beautiful Day” on the jukebox over and over again. Last night there was the usual rowdy crowd. Rather crowded, standing room only … but because the plasma screens are against a wall, rather than behind the bar, this isn’t so bad. They had the game audio on. It’s also not really a sports bar — more of an Irish pub — but at least there were a buncha Red Sox decorations. And basically everyone was watching the game. I think my Blue Moon was $5.

BOSTON (212) CAFE, 1009 2nd Ave., between E. 53rd and 54th Sts. I had blasted this place when it was in a previous location, a nondescript basement. Now it’s in a cute, small Italian cafe. There wasn’t a big crowd here … and it felt a little weird, sitting upstairs in this restaurant lined with postmodern paintings watching a baseball game. But it wasn’t a bad place at all, and they did have the game audio on. A Magic Hat No. 8 (bottle) was $6, however.

HARRISON’S TAVERN, 355 Amsterdam at W. 77th St. In my mind the difference between a “tavern” and a “pub” is that a tavern is more geared toward sit-down dinners. This is definitely a tavern, then, but the bar is still cool. For Sox games they roll down a projection screen (tonight there were three) and turn on the game audio. And in the summertime, this place is a great hangout because it’s on the corner and the enormous folding glass doors open big … almost like sitting outside. The food is good, too. Tonight there was a lot of people there, definitely no seats, but it didn’t feel crowded. The place just exploded when Big Papi hit that game-winning RBI single in the ninth and began shouting “MVP!” A Harpoon IPA was $5.

THE RIVIERA CAFE AND SPORTS BAR, corner of Seventh Ave. and West 4th St. (I didn’t go here tonight, but was there Wednesday night and have been there repeatedly during the last two weeks) This is the “mother ship” of Red Sox bars in Manhattan, the place Fox broadcast scenes from during last year’s World Series. Unlike these other places, this is a genuine sports bar … I’ve watched NBA semifinals and NFL playoffs here. I like the ambiance. The somewhat rowdy crowd is totally focused on the game and seems to hang on every pitch. Of course the game audio is on. But the food is TERRIBLE, even for bar food. It also gets really packed here around this time of year. The big plasma screens are just behind the bar; sometimes I’ve found myself watching the game on the much smaller screens elsewhere in the bar because it’s so crowded. A Bass is $5.25.

Here’s another list of Red Sox bars in New York … and another. I apparently missed this place, Pat O’Briens on the Upper East Side, as well as the Lion’s Head Tavern on the far Upper West Side.

The bottom line: I think Boston (212) and Phebe’s are fine places to watch a game if you’re in the neighborhood, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch one there. I’d prefer the Riv, Harrison’s or the Hairy Monk, maybe in that order. But since every BoSox bar in New York is just going to be crazy mad packed this weekend, I dunno that I’ll go to any of them. The Sox are so popular right now that basically just about every bar is going to have some Sox fans.

P.S.: I ended up watching Friday’s game with two Yankee fan friends at the Manchester Pub in Turtle Bay. Good food, seats and the game on loud. I passed the Boston (212) on the way there — the place was packed, standing room only.