Good evening/afternoon good beer drinkers of East USA. A first post on this forum for me. I'll begin with a request for sound advice. Simply, myself & my better half, Mrs Boots will be in New York for 10 days in May & would like opinions on the must do bars as well as the must avoid bars in New York. This will be our first time outside of Europe & don't really want to rely on the guide books for the tourist traps. Cheers & good health.
@boots60 - that thread that @dar482 mentioned definitely covers pretty much everything. They should sticky that one. Which part of town are you staying in?
Thanks dar & rollom. Sorry late getting back, been to the Tudor in Leicester tonight, cracking boozer. Staying in Sugar Hill but will hopefully be visiting many interesting parts of NYC. Hoping to avoid anything touristy & drink up (no pun intended) the atmosphere of real New York. Shit I really am starting to sound like a tourist now.
@boots60 - here's a thought that you might want to hold in your back pocket- not too far from where you are staying is the Harlem location of Dinosaur BBQ. It's not really your typical NYC type of place, but it does have an authentic 'American roadhouse' vibe to it, and serves something you probably will not be able to get in England. As a nice bonus, they do carry some quality American beers (Southern Tier, Stone, Dogfish Head) that will also give you an idea of what the scene is like over here. http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/locations/harlem/ I wouldn't make it a prime destination or anything, but it might come in handy.
Be sure to check out http://brewyorknewyork.com/ for the latest brew news around the city. It also has a calendar of events. I check it often to see who's tapping KBS or some such. http://www.beermenus.com/ is also a good resource. If you're mainly staying in Manhattan, most of the good bars are in midtown: Ginger Man, Rattle n' Hum, Beer Authority. There are some good ones downtown as well, like Randolph Beer and One Mile House. As long as you're down there, the good Manhattan bottle shops are there as well: New Beer Distributors, Top Hops, Whole Foods Bowery. If you're planning on hitting the East Village, then don't miss Cooper's, Good Beer, and Jimmy's No. 43.
I know its called out in @dar482 's linked thread, but I always like The Cannibal when I hit NYC. Has a cycling vibe to it as well, and a great food menu.
Yeah a lot of people hate on the place due to $. Definitely don't buy stuff to go, but as somewhere to eat and drink, especially if you're on vacation and not watching the pennies, it's solid - and I've had a couple of things there I've never seen elsewhere. Actually also took some friends from the UK there a few months ago - they had a great time. If OP is into cycling, the Rapha store in Meatpacking actually has a few decent beers available and will be probably be showing Liege Bastogne Liege on Sunday morning
