It was a snowy day, but there were errands to run. very late morning found us on Water Street, and we decided to go back to Dooley’s. It is very clearly an Irish-themed bar (witness the big Irish flag on the Fifth Avenue side of the building). It has an appeal as a smoke-free establishment also.
They do serve food, although we did not eat there this time — we had a luncheon engagement. But there was a party of 8 or so in the back corner there for lunch, and a group which was clearly a UWEC student and his parents who came and sat at a table as we were preparing to leave. At the same time, it is clearly a bar, and has an interesting mezzanine level (which is probably worth exploring some time). Good Long Islands, and Leine’s on tap!
Later in the day found us downtown, early for an event at Houligans [the next part of the post]. We slopped through the snow into Clancy’s. It is a typical smoky tavern with tropical paintings on the walls, and sports on all the TVs. They have good Long Islands, and several beers on tap. The occupants on either side of us were having an extended conversation about the NFL Playoff picture, and it was fairly quiet on a snowy early Saturday afternoon.
Then it was time for the party at Houligans. I have commented on Houligan’s before, but need to add more. They had several parties there that evening, some just for dinner and others in separate rooms. There was a pretty full bar in our room, but no draft. At one point I ordered a Honey Weiss for which the bartender headed to another room and came back with a draft. The Long Islands were “city-priced” at $7 each, but the drinking partner really liked them (I thought that they had too much sour and not enough cola).
The food for the party was great, and the staff did a great job of keeping the food warmers full. One of the women there told a funny story about having been at a bar to watch the Packer’s game last Thursday. [It was one of those NFL Network deals, so unless you have a dish you could not see it. Since many bars have dishes, they advertised heavily and drew large crowds.] It was a long, sad (for her), smoky night. The next day she washed her sweatshirt, sweater, and blouse. She did not wash her brassiere because, as she said, “I wear these for more than one day!”She then went to get dressed. Her husband said “You reek of smoke!” She realized that the smoke in the bar had penetrated to her brassiere! That is a smoky bar!!! Houligans appears to be smoke-free.
