Bar None
Written by Steve Mendelsohn
Name: Bar None
Location: 3rd ave between 12th and 13th
Date visited: January 29th, 2010
Bar number: 16
Price of Guinness: $8; I think. I was drinking 9 dollar pitchers all night.
Rating: 4.7/5
Before I start this post, I would just like to apologize to all my loyal readers out there, because this is the only post for this weekend. I got really sick on thursday, and was only able to muster up the strength to go out on Friday to hang with Nick and Alex who were in town for a one night only tour.
Going into this adventure, I knew that this would not be easy, and that in order to achieve the goal, I would have to average something like 4 bars a week. The one thing that I didnt count on was how much my health would play a factor in my quest. Normally, I knock out bars no problem on the weekends, 
but this cold left me feeling like a turkey sandwich after left standing around for 2 days. Anyways, the long and short of it is, I need to get on my game and start knocking out these bars left and right. You the reader demand better, and I need to be better. I promise to step up my game!
Back to Bar None…
Bar None could quite possibly be the worst bar in NYC, seats are ripped, drinks are watered down and the bathroom makes a Texas gas station bathroom look like it was forged from solid gold. Located down the block from NYU, its a heaven for those not quite of legal drinking age. But despite all of these shortcomings, it remains the favorite bar of me and my best friends from Syracuse.
To understand our infatuation with Bar None, one needs to travel back to the summer of '08, when Pat and Wario were living in NYC. After hearing about the college scene that hangs out around Union square, they decided to give Bar None a try. And while I may not have been present for this story, it has long be the stuff of legends. Reports are hazy, but by all accounts, one of my friends may have used some illegal substances in the bathroom and more than one may have thrown up in the toilet. This wonderful bar would go on to become the stuff of legends.
(Side note, my shitty written description of these stories do not do the story, or the bar, justice in any way shape or form)
Fast forward to March 2009, when Nick, Terry, Wario and myself were in town for job interviews and to watch the mighty 'Cuse dominate the Big East tournament. After watching them dismantle Seton Hall, it was announced that Syracuse would be playing our arch nemesis and known STD factory the Uconn Huskies. After scouring to get tickets, it became apparent that even 400 level seats at the Garden for the game were going as high as $250. After each of us raised our budget threshold to $80, we became aware that it was financially unreasonable for us to attend the game. So on a cold Tuesday night we decided our best course of action was to take our ticket money, turn that into beer, and get “Devil Springs night” drunk at a bar.
As it turns out, we missed seeing the best basketball game in history live. Had we known the game was going to turn out that way, we probably would have forked over the money, but our time at Bar None was equally amazing.
I really can't describe what happened at the bar last night, but it ended with the bouncers buying us drinks, all of us throwing up in the bathroom, and Wario passing out with 4:00 to go in the game and missing the best basketball game of all time (this series of events also led to the greatest fight of all time, which took place in our hotel room and nearly cost us a couple hundred dollars in deposit money, and a lifetime ban from the hotel).
Between that night and Friday, I had frequented Bar None numerous other times and always enjoyed myself, and with Nick and Alex in town for one night only, there was only one logical choice of where we would end up… Bar None.
Despite the sub zero windchill and the lateness of the Fung Wah bus (shocking, I know), we managed to turn the night into a rousing success (I give credit to 6 dollar Red Neck Picnics, a staple of our Bar None experiences). And while this may be the only post in which I fully write about Bar None this year, it clearly will not be the last time I visit there.
Bars left to visit: 184
Sadly this was the only bar I was able to visit this week, but it was a solid start to the quest, without much effort I was able to visit 16 bars in one month putting me exactly on my pace.
As a reminder, you are all welcome to come and drink with me and help me in my quest for 200! Thanks for a great month and I look forward to your feedback.
