Wikipages Blog

I had one of the best night-outs in a long time. This bar has it all: gorgeous guys, great music, everyone dancing. Of course, the guys were all gay, the music was broadway showtunes, and the dancing involved jazz hands.

Splash, a gay bar in Chelsea (of course), holds “Musical Mondays” at which they play scenes from various musicals on their many tv screens and serve 2 for 1 drinks. After the second free drink, everyone there is belting Barbara and Liza. My voice was hoarse the next day from my performance. A highlight of the evening was when Julie Andrews appeared on the screen to begin My Favorite Things and the crowd of drunken gay men went wild.

The bar has nice atmosphere with decent seating, pretty lighting, and, of course, hot bartenders in their underwear. Splash also hosts other special events and deals for those not into the musical theatre geek thing. Ladies, just a warning - the bathrooms are unisex with non-functioning locks (not that most people there would care to peek in, anyway). Of course, Splash also lacks the sleezy men with cheesey lines that frequent most bars.

So if you’re in the mood, put on your Sunday clothes and get footloose to the sound of music at this wild party, below 42nd Street and above Avenue Q. Sorry. I couldn’t resist the puns. Anyway, Splash is definitely a good time and I recommend it to gays and breeders alike.

I ventured out into Brooklyn last weekend, a rare event since, as an Astorian, it’s quite a trek on the subway. We went to a place in Park Slope called the Cocoa Bar. The bar serves a wide selection of chocolates, coffees, and wine. They even included “Ice Wine” on the menu, which is utterly delicious. I hadn’t even seen ice wine anywhere since sampling it at a wine tasting in Germany. One taste. And I have longed for it since. Happily, the two (rather expensive) glasses of it were just as wonderful as I remembered.

Unfortunately, I could not taste the many chocolates they served since they “may contain traces of nuts”. So nut allergy-sufferers like myself beware. But I looked at them. Longingly. The white chocolate genache. The chocolate mousse cake. The dark chocolate truffles! I almost decided to tempt death and sample one, but my friends persuaded me that my life was not worth a taste of chocolate. Though with really good chocolate, I’m not too sure…

The Cocoa Bar has a decent deal of one glass of wine with two chocolate bonbons for $11. Not bad. The entrance area is a bit too bright and day-ish, but there’s a cosy room in the back and a lovely courtyard area. The bar was started by some young folk, so it’s worth the slight priciness to help those small business owners out. All in all, worth the journey into Brooklyn. Especially since a friend drove us home.

I always get a bit depressed when September comes around. It’s not as if I haven’t been working full time all summer or have to go back to school. But that sinking feeling comes every year around this time.

I decided to ward off the feeling in a place that always feels like summer. That’s right: The Beer Garden. Possibly my favorite bar in New York. I had a house guest from Australia staying with me, so I had to show off the local hangout. My favorite part of introducing others to the Beer Garden is seeing their face when they step out the bar door into the courtyard. That look of wonder.

Of course, the bar was packed as usual. Even though it was a Wednesday. It’s the unfortunate byproduct of the Beer Garden’s growing popularity. Now even Manhattanites make the trip out to Astoria (all ten minutes) to participate in the outdoor drunken merriment that is the Beer Garden. Meaning all summer, lines wrapped around the block. My Australian friend declared that there must be dozens of other Australians there, since it just seems like the sort of place Australians would be. We enjoyed a dinner of kielbasa and (for me, the vegetarian) barbecued portobello mushroom and fries. You really can’t go wrong with a huge courtyard, barbeque, and alcohol.

But as we were enjoying the drinks and food of the outdoor courtyard, something sad happened. I got cold. Yes, summer is over. Well, at least that means October Fest is on the way!