Who do these people think they’re fooling? The Cowboy Bar may be gone, but the high cheese factor remains. This unfortunate joke of a bar comes complete with a half-ass Southern California theme, neon lights and fake, plastic trees. Throw in a Dodgers banner, a Mighty Ducks poster and a 1/100,000 scale model of the Hollywood sign and you can almost smell the tax write off this place truly is. Why is it bar owners think they can recreate the feel of an entire state by nailing an old surfboard to the wall? This is the most awful, played out theme we can think of. Nobody wants to bask in the glow of red neon in a half-empty bar while sucking down frozen drinks from a Slurpee machine. We won’t even mention the buffalo head on the wall, which is an obvious holdover from the sexually ambiguous Cowboy Bar. This joint is the equivalent of someone opening a bar in Kansas City with plastic rats taped to the walls, garbage strewn on the floor and a papier-mÂché model of the Statue of Liberty done by the owner’s six-year-old daughter and calling it a NYC bar. Pathetic. [MF]
1495 1st Ave (at E 78 st)
212/288-6635