barhopping to the nth degree

January 31, 2005 10:03 AM

NYC man pledges to visit 1000 bars in 2005. That's an average of about three per day, and as of yesterday he was already up to 135. Pray for his liver.
posted by mathowie (31 comments total)

A prologue.
Is this going to turn into some sort of Supersize Me documentary on the evils of drinking?
posted by cardboard at 10:09 AM on January 31, 2005

Now *this* is a worthy undertaking!

Though, what's a "draft Merlot"?
posted by CunningLinguist at 10:13 AM on January 31, 2005

Wow, I feel like such an underachiever. I used to be proud of hitting a dozen bars in the East Village in one night on my first trip to NYC - but then I was all "barred out" for the next week or so.

The thing that amazes me is that he refers to his wife! This sounds like a single man's endeavor. I just can't imagine the phrase "Sorry honey, I'd love go to your Mother's house tonight but I've got to hit a few bars."
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:19 AM on January 31, 2005

I don't think this would be that hard- there are lots of places where bars are tightly clustered together, so you could easily hit 5 or 6 in one night. I wager he'll come in ahead of schedule.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:26 AM on January 31, 2005 [1 favorite]

i was completely impressed, and then i realized ... this guy doesn't have a job? (sorry if i missed a bio somewhere. i couldn't find out how he funds his operation ...)

what's a draft merlot?
posted by mrgrimm at 10:27 AM on January 31, 2005

He's obviously just training to pee his way out of the upcoming ice age.
posted by Man O' Straw at 10:37 AM on January 31, 2005

My watering-hole has wine on tap. I don't know what kinds, but one has a red handle, the other green.
posted by greasy_skillet at 10:40 AM on January 31, 2005

He's drinking wine. His liver will probably be fine. Without all the second-hand smoke, he'll probably be healthier than not having drank.
posted by jon_kill at 10:49 AM on January 31, 2005

Wha--? He claims to have "cleaned up" my local Smith Street yesterday but missed the best of them: Brooklyn Social. Blasphemy, I tell you. This ambitious chap's all quantity and no quality.
posted by TheNakedPixel at 10:50 AM on January 31, 2005

It would make for an interesting blog, if only he could write.
posted by Miko at 10:52 AM on January 31, 2005

After hitting three bars every day, I'm sure anyone would think they could write. As well as lick anyone in the room, one-handed.
posted by tommasz at 10:58 AM on January 31, 2005

jon_kill:
Newcastle makes wine?
posted by gummo at 11:01 AM on January 31, 2005

This would be so much easier for him if he lived in Milwaukee (most bars per capita- in your face New York)! He might have trouble ordering wine in most of them though.
posted by drezdn at 11:15 AM on January 31, 2005

Mainly wine, gummo. Mainly.
posted by jon_kill at 11:50 AM on January 31, 2005

Yeah, but it would be more impressive if he were in Montana... think of the miles he would have to log to take in 1000 bars!

BTW.... where do you get your states for bars per capita? I'd like to see where my native Buffalo, NY, stacks up.
posted by Doohickie at 11:52 AM on January 31, 2005

stats, not states.
posted by Doohickie at 11:53 AM on January 31, 2005

NYC man pledges to visit 1000 bars in 2005.

jonmc, is that you?
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 12:07 PM on January 31, 2005

Oh no... it's stopgap, isn't it? What have we done?!?
posted by stonerose at 12:08 PM on January 31, 2005

I'd much rather have a thousand drinks in one good place.
posted by pracowity at 12:34 PM on January 31, 2005

I don't think that restaurant bars should count.
posted by sad_otter at 12:43 PM on January 31, 2005

Waiter! Bring Me One Thousand Drinks! And my friend pracowity will also have One Thousand Drinks!

Aw, heck-- One Thousand Drinks for Everyone!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 12:52 PM on January 31, 2005

I'm trying to find proof for my claim, and so far the best I can do is that the Guinness Book of World Records gives Lacrosse, WI as having the highest number of Bars per capita in the world. Which might explain all the people falling into the river.
posted by drezdn at 1:33 PM on January 31, 2005

Friend of mine does bar reviews as part of his job. I'd be surprised if he didn't visit at least several hundred a year. With a little more effort he could probably trounce this guy.
posted by u.n. owen at 1:42 PM on January 31, 2005

such dedication, such endurance, such vision

the man is an athlete
posted by quarsan at 1:47 PM on January 31, 2005

A couple of guys in Seattle hit every bar in the city, in one year, for a total of 570 bars.
posted by xil at 2:11 PM on January 31, 2005

The highest concentration of bars I've ever seen was in Galway. A friend of mine who was an Oxford grad student (I was going to say "a drunken Oxford grad student," but that's a tautology, isn't it?) said to me, as we looked around in awe on our trip to the west of Ireland, "Let's have a drink in every bar on this block!" I don't remember whether we made it or not, I just have a brief flash of the two of us later that evening banging on the door of the mansion where a girl we'd met in Dublin lived and another image of us all sitting around her dad's study polishing off a bottle of Jameson's while the two of us babbled drunkedly and the girl and her dad smiled tolerantly. I love Ireland.

Uh... wha' were we talking about? Bartender, bring me a thousan' drinks -- ish on Fuzzy Monster!
posted by languagehat at 2:34 PM on January 31, 2005

Amateur.
posted by mazola at 3:11 PM on January 31, 2005

I had this friend at LSU. When her parents dropped her off her Freshman year, they advised her not to go out "every night." As a joke, for the first two weeks of class, she went out every single night, at least for an hour or two. And every night she would call her mom when she got in.

She enjoyed the nightlife. Never drinking so much that she lost control, but a great conversationalist and cool people hovered around her. So she kept it up. For four years. Every single night. I'm talking Sundays, Christmas, night before finals. Every single night, at least for an hour or two. By her senior year, she never paid for drinks. She was more regular than most bar-staff.

Even when she was sick, she never missed a single night. We went out together the night before her dad's funeral and we went out after the funeral itself. That was one of the few times she really tied it on. I was too ill to go out the next night, but she was a trooper and managed to get out there.

I always knew her as more or less a barfly. Imagine my surprise when she graduated top of her class in Abnormal Psychology. She's now a respected doctor. True story.
posted by ColdChef at 4:11 PM on January 31, 2005

As well as lick anyone in the room, one-handed.
posted by tommasz at 10:58 AM PST on January 31

Howzat work, Tommasz, how could he lick people one handed? I'd think he'd have to lick people with his tongue but maybe I'm just not drunk enough to catch it yet.

And yeah, I was thinking SuperSize Me instantly.

ColdChef, nice story, shame she's far and away the exception. I've known many a barfly who go to the doctor often enough but have no chance of ever becoming one.
posted by fenriq at 4:48 PM on January 31, 2005

It's true. She lost many a boyfriend and drinking partner who couldn't keep up with her.
posted by ColdChef at 5:31 PM on January 31, 2005

drezdn - I've heard that stat, too, but I can't remember where. The only thing I've found so far to back it up is this piece from Milwaukee Magazine from almost 3 years ago (4th paragraph). This Straight Dope article says we've got 7 of the top 8 cities with most bars per capita, but doesn't say which ones and who knows if it still holds true.
posted by aine42 at 4:16 PM on February 1, 2005