Bar Fries and Bar Flies
One silver lining of COVID19 restaurant realities has been being able to go to streetside bar counters—at a safe distance, hopefully— and come away with a very inexpensive takeaway margarita ($5.00 at Taqueria y fonda). I love my neighborhood Dive Bar where I got a pint of Goose Island 321 along with a single fantastic order of bar fries for only $3.00 (small and $6.00/large).
The only thing that makes me a bit anxious, though, is when we get the bar fries, we also get the bar flies. I’m sure you’ve seen the little knots of people clustered outside Cafe Du Soleil, Dive Bar or “your neighborhood here” bar! On the Upper East Side, in fact, weeks away from our city flattening the curve, I was dismayed to see young people lining second avenue, clustered outside of bars, hovering next to each other with no face masks on! For shame. In Upper West Side I see some of this, though with an older population, who is more at risk and should know better!
OK, scolding over. So we have bar flies, but what about those bar fries? Is it worth spending $9.00 at George Keeley to have some of those skinny everything fries, seasoned in the manner of an everything bagel with everything from dried onion flakes to black and white sesame, salt, pepper and more! Maybe not when compared to paying less at Dive, but the fries are superior and GK was the first place I went to satisfy my bar fry craving during lockdown. I was ready, so YES, a resounding yes, yes, yes. With a caveat. You must find a way to eat your bar fries right away. I brought home an order from Dive Bar along with a burger: the burger ($13.00 w/ fries) travelled well but the fries were cold and stodgy! It made me instantly sad and nostalgic; Dive Bar was the last restaurant the Chef and I went to and where we shared bar fries at the bar that was so way over 50% at capacity on March 13, 2020, on the brink of our NYC lockdown. So I try to find a median bench or a nearby stoop. in these times, I find apartment dwellers who live above bars are pretty OK with dodging my ass as I park it on their stoop just to consume my fries and beer in an, ugh, plastic container (with a straw!), but only $5.00 for a refreshing 16oz Weihenstephen Hefeweissbier. Note: George Keeley’s website advertises amazing Happy Hour pub grub deals all for only $8.00 (less than the fries alone and all with home cut fries!), like the Angus burger, the Cluck You grilled chicken sandwich with chipotle aioli, the beer battered cod fingers, and, this sounds good and gooey: the loaded smashed potato fried and topped with cheese, bacon, sour cream and chives. See their Happy Hour specials here.
As our city re-opens and goes to Phase 3 on July 6, I’m seeing more impromptu tables outside bars, which makes me less uneasy about the “bar fly” problem. And I have to say it gives me a little feeling of warmth to think of how, through all the months of glitchy Zoom “cocktails,” we still prefer the real thing, to meet even if on the sidewalk uneasily balancing a cardboard carton of fries, turning away politely with our mask to sip our beer or nibble a fry. Let’s hope, oh let’s hope, the days come soon when we once again can belly up to the bar at stalwart happy hour venues like Cafe du Soleil’s and hear an impromptu rendition of Danny Boy—without thinking of all the viral aerosol particles spraying out over us!