Immaculate Infatuation

Just as we were swearing ourselves off the Meatpacking District for good, Bill’s Bar & Burger opens its doors and drags us right back in. Bill’s took over the space that used to be the Hog Pit, and even though we had a handful of good nights there somewhere around 2003, it was time for something new. Luckily, what took over the space is not another nightclub with a chef or restaurant with a DJ, but rather an excellent burger joint reminiscent of the great middle-of-nowhere dives around the country.

Bill’s burgers are griddle-top masterpieces with a low profile and a soft sesame seed bun, and they‘re definitely one of the best burgers in town. Variations on the standard include a burger with Anaheim chiles and an excellent homage to the In-N-Out classic. The prices are middle-of-nowhere cheap, and the service is laid back and friendly. We were especially pleased to find two well placed flat screens in the bar – perfect for discreetly watching a game while you house a burger or two.

At the end of the day, it’s probably a good thing for our health that Bill’s didn’t open in a neighborhood that we visit more frequently. Plus, that central Meatpacking location will make them a mint feeding all the drunks before they hop back in the limo and text their friends from a phone they dropped in the toilet. We’ll save our visits for afternoons.

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Finding quality sports bars in NYC isn’t easy, especially when you don’t run in the backwards/upside down visor wearing crowd that thinks Brother Jimmy’s is the greatest place on earth. We love our sports here at Immaculate Infatuation and hold the sports bar to the same high standards we expect from our favorite sports teams. We realize that food is not the top of the pecking order, but some solid pub grub isn’t asking too much.

Expectations are as follows: We expect flat screens, everywhere, all in HD. We expect ample seating and enough personal space in the bar area to breathe. We expect game audio during big games, not “Living on a Prayer” on full blast. We expect a just say yes attitude as opposed to just say no (Ever been to Croxley Ales? You now understand). In addition to these obvious parameters, a fun crowd (even if that crowd includes a couple Philly or Boston fans, good for shit talking), a nice selection of beers on tap and most importantly, memorable food is what we’re looking for. Hot bartenders/waitresses always a plus.

The Blue Seats thrives off their obsessive attention to detail. Cushy booths that you need to reserve ahead of time house five personal screens, perfect for following all your fantasy players on Sundays. The bar area doesn’t get overly packed and big screens consume every available inch of wall space. Their private back room and skybox make for excellent large group hangs in case any given Sunday just so happens to be a special one worth splurging for. What keeps me coming back aside from the fact that the Jets seem to fare pretty well every time I go? Magic Hat #9 on tap (thankfully, not that rare in NYC anymore) and their sesame glazed wings which are ridiculous.

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We are spoiled in this city…especially when it comes to food, booze, and the general pursuit of things that make us feel good. In a place where pretty much anything you can think of is no further than a cab ride away, it’s easy to become jaded and complain about the few things you can’t get. We have our own list of luxuries that we feel deprived of, and it includes, but is not limited to the following: good Mexican food, streets that don’t smell like pee, and true beer bars that know their shit.

Now that we’ve been to Blind Tiger, we will retract that last part. I grew up in Colorado, and went to college in Fort Collins, which is place that several very successful breweries call home. Needless to say, I became accustomed to drinking in bars with incredible beer selections. What I also became accustomed to, was eating some kind of terrible chicken ranch sandwich for dinner in these places, because that’s what you get in Fort Collins (ranch dressing is a religion in this part of the country). What we have found at Blind Tiger is a New York City bar that actually has an extensive microwbrew selection AND excellent food. Unfortunately, we’re not the only ones that know it. The place gets very crowded at times, but weekend afternoons are perfect, as are late nights when you need a good beer and a grilled cheese. The wings and sandwiches are also excellent, and it’s a great place to mix it up and meet people. Be warned though – the bar staff know their beer, but they’re not very friendly. We’ll let it slide…but only because there are Colorado brews on the tap every once in a while.

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Good bar food is not such an easy find in Manhattan. Generally speaking, the wings in NYC are a joke and usually wind up costing way more than they should. Not at Reservoir. Looking for a good place to post up for a night of grubbing, game watching, and beer drinking? This is your spot. On a good day, Reservoir boasts some of the city’s best Buffalo wings (sometimes the wings can be too small) plus I have serious love for their perfectly done waffle fry. Yes, the crowd is very NYU bro-dawg heavy but it’s a great sleeper spot to kick it with your friends and not break the bank (burger + fries $8.50, 20 wings $8.50). Oh, and two tips. If you’re getting a burger make sure you order a ‘Buffalo burger’ – it’s better than their normal burger and not on the menu. Also, Sunday night is wing night, thirty cents apiece.

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Nope, that’s not the sound of your iPod skipping, that’s just us reiterating the fact that finding solid pub grub in this town isn’t as easy as it should be. We all get cravings for wings, cheesesteaks and waffle fries sometimes, and when we need to take care of that situation, Wogies is there for us. The inside of this sports den looks no different from the one you probably frequent back in your hometown, and it’s a play on the owner’s favorite local Philadelphia hangs. Décor is pretty standard – dark wood booths, a nice sized bar, flat screens and a small outdoor area in front. It’s a shame there aren’t more sports bars around town like Wogies that manage to maintain a solid middle ground between the cheese of Mercury Bar and the filth of your typical dirty old-man dive. Points earned for good food, but points deducted for the large presence of loud, obnoxious Philly fans, the most annoying breed of sports fan that exists.

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