NEW YORK & $3.00 PBR PABST BLUE RIBBON BEER

 New York and the $3.00 PBR, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer has been a God-Send to many New Yorkers. As you all know, the US Economy has been in the Shitter for the past 3-Half years or so.

   Many people are out of work, and many who are working, are taking home Half-as-Much Money or more of what they used to make. People have had to buckle down and give up or curb many things they enjoyed previous to the current state of our economy, which is in almost a Depression Era State.

Yes, everybody says that we are not in a Depression, we're in a recession. 

Those are the Rich and Well-Off talking. To many, the state of our Union 

and their feelings are of Depression.

    So, because of the Terrible State of our Economy you have given up eating out 3 times a week, you buy less clothes, spend less on Entertainment and any number of things and you haven't had a vacation in the past two years, maybe more. You given up a lot. We all have.

Now when it comes to socializing, going out for a few Beers or Cocktails with some friends, you've had to cut back on that too. But hey, you gotta draw a line somewhere, and everyone is entitled to a few drinks to unwind every now and then. But if you live in the Great City of New York this can be a costly undertaking, especially in this day, and of all times, to be having a Boom in The $14, Sixteen-Dollar-Or -More-Cocktail.W hat is a Poor Working Guy or Working Girl to do??? Well Boys and Girls, let's Thank God for that great thing of wonder and the Bars and establishments who so graciously and kindly serve it, The $3.00 PBR, That's right, a $3.oo Beer in The Land of The Over-Priced $16.00 Cocktail, Manhattan, New York, NY..... It's quite Sad, Greedy too.

Yes, Thank God and let's thank the Kind-Heart proprietors who serve $3.00 PBR'S or any Beer for just $3 or $4 in a New York Bar. You are doing you fellow man a public service and we thank you for that. Whoever you are, you are to be commended, and Shame-On-You, all those places that serve $14 PLUS Cocktails. "RIP-OFF" !!! Wish the masses would Boycott these places and patronize places like Blue & Gold Bar, 7B, and anyplace who has a heart. Bars that serve 3 and 4 Dollar Beers.

     I just have to say, it's great to go to a place like Blue and Gold Bar on East 7th Street and know that you can have 3 or 4 Beers for just $12 to $16, accounting for a Buck a Pop for the Barkeep. Now that's pretty good. I have had the best times hanging at Blue & Gold with some friends. You sit at the Bar or get into a nice comfy booth, drink your Beers ($3 PBR'S), relax, listen to the Music, Chit Chat, and just enjoy, and it's not going to cost you The Shirt Off Your Back.

Yes, you can have 4 Beers, tip included for the price of 1 Rip-Off Drink at one of those Rip-Off Joints. And if you are Dumb enough to have four drinks in one of those places, guess what it's going to cost you? About $75 my friend.

Well, do the Math, and if you can afford $75 for only 4 drinks, God Bless You. And if you can't, you've got an alternative. Right, your local $3.00 PBR Joint. They're a God-Send.

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

SPOTTED PIG ....WHITE HORSE TAVERN ... GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK

Starting the week off good, as usual with a nice cup of Coffee at my daily coffee stop Once Upon a Tarte on Sullivan Street in Soho. Finished the week up pretty good,  trip to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (some Inspiration) and a night out for some drinks and a Spotted Pig Burger. Plan to meet up  around 8:15 at the Pig. Well as everyone knows, it can be a bit difficult to procure a table here, unless you come after 12:30 or so. But 8:15 on a Sunday Night, you're gonna wait. And wait we did. I figured I'd arrive early and scope things out. Got there at Ten Minutes to Eight. Talked to the Maitre'd, asked how long it would be for a table and that we wanted to sit upstairs. "Upstairs is going to be an hour or more," he stated and asked if I wanted to leave my cel number and he would call. Sounds like a plan. "OK." So I figured I'd head over to The White Horse Tavern for a beer or two while I waited.
     Now for those of you who don't know, The White Horse is quite famous. It's been around for some 130 years or so and is the place where famed poet Dylan Thomas drank himself to death. The place is has seen many famous patrons, including, Bob Dylan, Mary Travers, Jim Morrison, Norman Mailer, and famous Beats such as Jack Kerouac. Well, anyway I've had drinks at the White Horse many times over the years. And in the past few years of so many being out of work with our economy in shambles and little money around, The White Horse with $5.00 Beers and $6.00 drinks is not a bad place to drink if you need a couple pops but don't want to get Raked over The Coals as with $12.00 plus drinks. It's not unusual for places to be charging 16 and 17Dollars for one freakin cocktail, "A Travesty." So Beers and Cocktails at reasonable rates, but it is the History and the fact that it so old and of another era of which very little is to be found anymore, The White Horse Tavern is very attractive prospect.
    So i go into the White Horse and grab the last two stools at the bar. Order up a nice Rolling Rock tallneck and get myself comfy with Cel and Beer waiting to meet up with friend Joel. . Joel gives me a call,he just got off the train. I tell him to come on over to The White Horse. He asks if we're eating there? I retort "No" that we have to wiat for our table at the Pig.
       So now back to The Spotted Pig, The Burger, waiting for a table.. We're half way into our second beers and I get a call from the Maitre'd, our table is ready. We scoot over to the Pig. We get there and they go to give us a table downstairs, then the Maitre'd remembers we wanted to sit upstairs. He apologizes. "No big deal," and we end up having a couple more drinks at the Bar downstairs as we wait for our table. Thirty-five minutes later we get to sit down. "Finally!"
    We order a couple more drinks, Bourbon Old Fashion and Scotch on The Rocks. We put in an order for Deviled Eggs and Devils on Horseback, "Two Devils." Both are pretty good, as are the two Burgers we get, but guess how much it cost. Well we spent $30 for our drinks downstairs, then $110 for our drinks, Deviled Eggs and Burgers upstairs for a grand total of $140 for a few drinks and beers, a couple tiny appetizers, and the two renowned Spotted Pig Burgers. Was it worth it? Yes and No! No because if you consider that we could have had Burgers and the same amount o drinks at, let's say the equally or more famous Corner Bistro for about $60. Complete. We could have saved $80 and done this all over again, twice instead of once. Then again the Yes is that you've got to treat yourself every now and then. To some this $140 would be no big deal. They do it all the time and think nothing of it. To me it is a little bit of a big deal, and it should be. I don't do this everyday. Hey, i had a good time, and yes it was worth it. Oh yeah, didn't I say already it wasn't worth it, "Well Yes and No" it all depends on how you look at it, and we did have a good time, The White Horse Tavern and The Spotted Pig, two places worth checking out. And just one short block apart!





PS .... In the Info section of The Spotted Pig's website where they give you all sorts of info on the restaurant, "excuse me, Gastropub), where to park, hours of operation, etc.,. In the Info section there's a spot Who owns The Spotted Pig? answer they give is
April Bloomfield, Ken Friedman, and some pals. I'll fill in the blanks of "and some pals," in case you don't know, thee "and some Pals" are Mario Batali, Jay Z, and Bono. Yes Bono as in U2 Bono.... Just for your information.
  Later.








Daniel Bellino Zwicke

THE WHITE HORSE TAVERN

DYLAN THOMAS'S LAST DRINK

photo Daniel Bellino Zwicke

UPSTAIRS at The SPOTTED PIG