Not all of Manhattan has been gentrified. Yet. Some of it, especially some stretches of 8th Avenue, are still Original Recipe. For instance, we have this primo establishment on 8th Avenue and 30th Street:
Deno’s Party House and Bikini Bar??!! On a dicey part of 8th Av.? Are you kidding me?! No good could come from that. But admit it. You want to meet me there for a few drinks, don’t you? Any bar with an illuminated sign that includes tilted champagne glasses and balloons is the place for me! Above Deno’s is an aromatherapy supply company. How great is that?
But time has a way of steamrolling over your memories. Does anybody out there remember Billy’s Topless on 24th and 6th Avenue? It’s long gone and is now a bagel shop. It wasn’t so much a strip club as it was a neighborhood bar. Fun fact: When the zoning laws were toughened under Mayor Giuliani to try and rid Manhattan of the sex/strip trade, Billy’s, in an effort to avoid closure by the new puritanism, took the apostrophe from its name and became Billy Stopless and the dancers donned bikinis. It didn’t work.
Exile on Pain Street 
Nice try with the Billy Stopless
gotta love the entrepreneurial spirit, sugar! and a good neighborhood old man bar. i could use a drink or 20 right about now…(yeah, i know it’s not even 8am, don’t ask.) xoxoxo
i love neighborhood bars… but always feel like i’m disturbing the vibe when i come in, even if i’m quiet… kinda like going into someone’s living room uninvited.since you’re a ‘regular’, you’ll have to take all us new kids in…
I’ll have a pint! :¬)(Tune for ya at mine.)
Nurse: You can’t fault them for trying. Mayor G. doomed a lot of places like this. The results of his efforts are both for the better and worse.Savannah: Now I WANT to ask! I hope the 20 drinks on a Monday morning are celebratory.Daisy: If it’s a GOOD neighborhood bar, they’ll make you feel welcome, even if you’re a stranger. I haven’t been a regular at the Parkside for over eight years. *Sigh*Map: I think you’d like the Parkside. They have live music on a very tiny stage as well as generous drinks.
I’m often likened to the character ‘Norm’ in the American sitcom ‘Cheers’ whenever I walk into my local bar. Everyone has a place where they like to go to escape the world for a few hours, and neighbourhood bars are full of characters of which many hours of blogging material can be obtained.
i would so love to drop into Parkside for lunch today. Wishful thinking.
they weer not then, sugar, but, hand to gawd and bless your heart they are now! xoxoxowv: lights
My favorite neighborhood place here is actually a store–Hair City Market. You can buy a wig and a six pack.
Jimmy: Absolutely true story: I was on a date in Manhattan. We walked into a restaurant/pub called Acme on Lafayette St. We sat at the bar and George Wendt, the actor who played Norm, was sitting at the end of the bar with a mug of beer!!! He was in a play at The Public Theater, which was right across the street, and stopped off post-performance for a cold one. Life imitates art or art imitates life?Point: Actually that’s an old sign and I don’t think the Parkside is a grill anymore. It wasn’t when I was there. Just liquor. Savanna: Wheee! That’s the answer I wanted to hear.HIF: So a hair joint has a liquor license as well? That’s just too surreal for me.
love your old local