I have never, not had a great time here. The food is very well priced and nice quality and their wine list is amazing. I believe that they currently have 30+ wines by the glass. I would say the only ‘not so good thing’ is, that I do not own a restaurant over the street, so I can catch the overflow from when it get’s packed out . Always best to call ahead of time.

Owners Peter Sclafani and Kristen Hallett opened Bar Tano back in February 2008, just before the shit hit the fan with the economy.  On top of the timing, they also opened in an area that was, and still is a bit of a dump (although it’s improving).

Stuck between the Park Slope toff’s, and the now industrial wastelands of Gowanus on 3rd. It took some guts to make a move over there. I am pleased things seem to be going great for them.

Check our their Brunch menu here
Check out there Lunch and Dinner menu here

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Bar Tano is located at
457 3rd Ave (at 9th Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11226

Website

(718) 499-3400

Open daily:
Lunch 11-4 Mon-Fri, Brunch 10-4 Sat & Sun
Dinner 4-midnight Sun-Thu, 4-1am Fri & Sat
Bar open late

In my quest to fill the dull void between visits to your local bar, I have started up a collection of awesomely addictive computer games from the early 1920’s.  Their terrible music, slow game play and recockulous graphics made these games a huge hit back in the day.

WARNING: This page has been coded with the most advanced social networking virus. If this post is not fowarded to at least 6,000 people in the next 24 hours, It forces your computers webcam to activate every time you access an ‘adult’ site and then proceeds to post the .wav file to everyone in your default contacts list.  We hope you understand!

This weeks classic is ‘Simon’ – “Simon’s a computer, Simon has a brain, you either do what Simon says or else go down the drain.”

The idea of the game is a simple one, as Simon likes to say.  Follow the pattern of lights and sounds for as long as you can remember them.  The lights show up faster the more sequences you correctly recall.

FACT: Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and became an immediate success. It became a pop culture symbol of the 1980s.

This weeks game was bought to you by Neave Games

I know that every now and again, things can get a little mundane. Well, let me take care of that! Welcome to your first serving of crap but very addictive games. In this edition I bring you

Space Invaders – A very nice Japanese man with a very nice Japanese haircut called Tomohiro Nishikado once had the inspired idea to make a video game about shooting white goo at a rampaging invasion of wobbling blobs. And so, in 1978, Space Invaders was born.

Control keys

Move left = left arrow key, Move right = right arrow key, Fire laser = space key

Pause game = P, Quit game = Q, Mute sound = M

If you have a game you would like to see on here; or have coding for a game, that you would like to share contact us.

This weeks game was bought to you by Neave Games

Many years ago, when I had just started working on board cruise ships, my Filipino Manager at the time, would order from the bar, a ‘Chivas and milk’.  I put this strange mix down to being from another part of the world and figured what the hell!  I gave it a go…..no bad…….but not great.  Strangely enough, the taste of the whiskey was not totally lost; it just meant that the sharp whiskey bite was soothed straight away, by the milk.

Last night, I was at New York’s Prime 333 having the (and I really do mean ‘the’ best Porterhouse steak EVER) with an old ship  friend of mine, when he started bringing up all the various cocktails we had invented together (recipes coming soon).  Whilst blurting out our comparison lists, he mentioned that his Grandmother had joined him in his quest to find the ultimate cocktail.  Her attempt……well, you can see below.

I am currently out of Irish Whiskey, so figured I will try the recipe below, with a shot of Knob Creek, and some good ol PG Tips.  I’ll be right back!!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 tea bag (regular flavor)
• 1 (1.5 fluid ounce) Irish Whiskey
• Milk
• Sugar to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour boiling water into a mug, and place the tea bag in to steep for about 1 minute.
2. Remove and discard the tea bag. (Or use it to clean the burnt underside of your saucepans!)
3. Pour in the whiskey, milk and sugar as desired.
4. Stir, drink and chillax.

Here is one of my recipes for steak and ale pie, I am yet to perfect it, but the basics are there. Feel free to add your own spin on this and let us know about it in the comments below. Enjoy.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/4 pounds cubed beef stew meat
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer (Guiness or Newcastle Brown Ale is good)
• 1 cup of water (or just add another cup of beer)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 beef boullion cubes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups quartered fresh mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 pastry for double-crust pie
• 1 tablespoons of tomato paste (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the beef stew meat, onion, and ale in a large saucepan. Simmer over low heat until the meat is tender, about 40 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Season the beef with garlic, basil, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
4. Mix in the potatoes and mushrooms.
5. Cover and simmer over medium heat until potatoes are just tender enough to pierce with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Whisk a small amount of the sauce together with the flour in a small bowl, and stir into the beef. Simmer until slightly thickened.
7. Fit one pie crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate.
8. Spoon the hot beef mixture into the crust and top with the remaining pie crust.
9. Cut slits in the top crust to vent steam and crimp the edges to seal them together.
10. Bake in preheated oven until the crust is golden brown and gravy is bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes

ThisBarSucks.com just got word that the girls from Newcastle Brown Ale are heading into town. They will be showing up at Draft Barn this Thursday, for about an hour. The Draft Barn is located at 530 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Telephone (718) 768-0515 for more information.

Some Wiki Info about Newcastle Brown Ale

Newcastle Brown Ale is a brand of beer was originally brewed in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, in April 1927 by Newcastle Breweries, which became Scottish & Newcastle in 1960. S&N UK is now a division of Heineken International.

In August 2005, Scottish and Newcastle closed the Tyne Brewery, the last consignment of Brown Ale having been brewed in April of that year. Production was moved across the river to the former Federation Brewery in Gateshead, UK.

Newcastle Brown Ale had originally been granted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status by the EU. Since Scottish and Newcastle moved production outside of the city its PGI has been removed.

In Newcastle, the beer is often called ‘Dog’ (or simply ‘Broon’). The ‘Dog’ name comes from the euphemism “I’m going to walk the dog” – meaning “I’m going to the pub” – and was further popularised by a 1980s advertising campaign. It is often referred to as Newcy Brown by those not from Newcastle, though never by those actually from the city itself.

Looks like guys at the Draft Barn, Decider.com, The Onion and Unibroue are teaming up to get you in the party mood for the weekend.  Below is the full invitation for the event.  The Draft Barn has well over 200 beers in a bottle and around 15+ on tap, it’s great hangout bar, where the staff are friendly and the patrons down to earth.

For those of you who enjoy great beer, below is a list of reasons you should try a Unibroue beer.

• A more refined taste
• Rich flavor
• Thicker foam that protects the beer
• Excellent source of vitamin B
• Almost unlimited shelf life (flavor evolves to a port wine after ten years)
• Ecological (no chemicals)

If the reasons listed aren’t enough for you to crack open a bottle or two or three, then how about RSVP’ing to NYCPromo@TheOnion.com with the subject being “Draft Barn” for a chance to win a lap dance* from one of the Russian Bar Tenders of your choice and a meal for two.

*Prize is currently only offered to women aged between 21 and 35, who are currently employed as a model and have $20k in cash to donate to a charity of the bars decision.

Please don’t forget to pass this invite on to your friends.  You can also join us at Twitter.com/ThisBarSucks, for upcoming events and a few crazy comments.    If you are on Facebook, then join my newly created group here.

Subject: NEW PANDEMIC!!!

I went to a dinner party last night, where I and other guests enjoyed copious amounts of alcohol. I awoke this morning not feeling well, with what could be described as flu-like symptoms; headache, nausea, chills, sore eyes etc.

From the results of some initial testing, I have unfortunately tested positive for what experts are now calling Wine Flu. This debilitating condition is very serious and it appears this is not an isolated case. Reports are flooding in from all around the neighbourhood of others diagnosed with Wine Flu. To anyone that starts to exhibit the aforementioned tell-tale signs, experts are recommending a cup of tea and a bit of a lie down. However, should your condition worsen, you should immediately hire a DVD and take some Nurofen [Nurofen seems to be the only drug available that has been proven to help combat this unusual type of flu]. Others are reporting a McDonald’s Happy Meal can also help in some cases.

Wine Flu does not need to be life threatening, and if treated early can be iradicated within a 24-48 hour period. If not, then further application of the original liquid in similar quantities to the original dose has been shown to do the trick.

Good luck,

ThisBarSucks.com Team…….hic!

Well well well. It’s been 2 months since I decided to get off my arse and try and get this thing off the ground! I’m still trying, so bare with me. There are a lot of bars to get through.

For those of you who have been tuning in once in a while, Cheers! According to my Google stats, the last 8 weeks have drawn a fairly impressive 2,500 unique visitors looking at nearly 7,000 pages (I didn’t think I had that many….Yet…lol). There have been many changes to my blog, and believe me, there are many more to come! I would like to give a few shout outs to some awesome peeps that have really helped out!

Hapnin.com – These guys are cookin on gas! There was little ol me, attempting to contact every bar in the Brooklyn neighborhood, and what happens, these guys comes along and beat me to the punch! Not only did they decide to list all the cool events in Brooklyn, they threw in events from all over NYC. But hey…Whatever! They have done a job far better than I would have done. See for yourself, and whilst you are there, make sure you bookmark the page and send it out to your friends. You will hopefully using this page as your future event bible.. http://thisbarsucks.com/events-calendar-brooklyn-new-york/new-york-brooklyn-events/.

Next up, is BEVFORCE.com They are another new start up company, but already making a positive impact in the Food and Beverage recruitment industry.  Their site is simple, effective and best of all, it’s free to post your resume!  They have some great listings; whether it for an Executive Assistant, Brand Manager, Bartender, Bar Manager, Regional Sales or even the grand daddy of all jobs ‘Beer Taster’, the jobs are there, and the list is growing.  If you are looking for employment within the bar industry, or have a listing, visit here or click on the picture to the left.

I would also like to thank the many PR people, Bar Owners, Managers and their Staff for sending me their information.  As you can see, there are a few bars that are better at it than others, but that’s OK, we are young and they are a little slow!  I am going to give a big shout out to the boys and girls at t.b.d. , Canal Bar and The Draft Barn.  You peeps, broke my virginity and I appreciate it.  Feel free to bugger me all you want.  It’s free….and fun

Whilst I am burbling away, I may as well let you know about our social media type thingamajigs…  If you are on Twitter, then come and join me at http://Twitter.com/ThisBarSucks If you are on LinkedIn you can go here http://www.linkedin.com/in/prodigus and if you are on Facebook then join us here http://www.facebook.com/pages/ThisBarSucks-com/91271603133

It’s all about the Benjamins on Franklin street! Chris Smith is continuing the takeover of all the bars in Brooklyn with a show of affordable art at TBD in Greenpoint. Everything is priced around $100 or less! He’s created a new set of vibrant race car themed graphics and he’ll be showing letterpress prints, photos and paintings. Including signshadows, roadsign girls, vintage race cars and more!

There’ll be extended happy hour prices and drink specials after that. Check out the art, then enjoy tbd’s new massive outdoor beer garden.

The show will be up for the month of June, and we’ll be selling the work right off the wall so be sure to stop by often! If you can’t make it to the opening be sure to come by for Northside Festival on June 11th!

June 4 – July 2, 2009
Opening June 4th, 7pm

TBD Bar
224 Franklin st
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
tbdbrooklyn.com
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=87190853469