foodie finds :: stout

stout
133 west 33rd street
new york, ny 10001

my god this place keeps going and going and going and going...it's huge! it's like the haufbrauhaus of irish pubs in nyc. however - if i were to break it down (and you know i'm going to break it down) there's not much to it - just an average beer bar / sports bar with an irish theme - it's size is the only thing unique about it.

it has everything you'd expect it to have - a wide range of draught beer coupled with the usual bottles. interesting thing is - most of the beers were the usuals - nothing special - nothing out of the norm. there's larger international selections of draught beers at places like ginger man or croxleys - but i digress.

the place has a menu - though i didn't eat (this time - i mean i had been there before for a work peeps thing and had a burger that i recall there was nothing special to recall about) - the thing that interested me - or really - frightened me - this place has a raw bar. here we are - in a place that's just steps from penn station - not the cleanest place - 8,000 people - and they want to serve raw or partially cooked shell fish - um - if that's not a recipe for disaster - i don't know what is. but - i wasn't there for the food - i was there for the beer and friends.

let's talk about the friends (not mine but the ones that i didn't make from the 'interesting' crowd). take a frat party or a sorority party (not the best one on the campus - but just an average one) - mix in a lot of new jersey - dress them in sports gear, work clothes, and top with bad hair and too much cologne and perfume - and that's what you have drinking it up from happy hour till close! i couldn't help but continually think that most of them were there because it's so convenient to the path train just a few steps outside the door. does any woman in this bar not buy their clothes from forever 21?

the staff - a mess - took forever to get a beer (though i was given free shot of jameson for a cracked pint - that was cool) - the bar back staff were rude and pushy - granted - there's 8,000 people in the place but my god - i am a solid object - you can't move through me - the phrase that works the best is: 'excuse me.'

in the end - i did have a great time with all of my friends (it was their graduation from med school and most are not going to be in manhattan after this weekend) - will i go back - sure - it's a place i could easily go out with people from work - or people who live by the path train - but it'd have to be very special circumstances before i make a conscious decision to go back on my own.