Don’t let the cover fool you, this isn’t the OTB junkie hang out it appears to be. Nope, it’s an old school bar with a new school flavor. The crowd is young and cool, and the help is cute and sarcastic (just the way we like ’em). There’s something about a female bartender giving us shit (in a funny way) that ingratiates her to us here at The Survey. She’ll get on our good side even faster if she pours a nice pint and then sends a nice Irish waitress over with some seriously tasty burgers. Unfortunately the space itself isn’t set up very well for hanging out, but if you’re able to get a table and plop down for a few hours of beers and grub, there really isn’t anywhere else as mellow and relatively inexpensive in the area. What’s nice about this joint is that it’s a throwback to when there was no classification. There weren’t lounges, pubs or cigar bars. There were just bars–and bars served bar food and booze and cigarette smoke and were named after Irish guys and not animals or flowers or whatnot. Trust us, it’s the real thing. [MF]
750 8th Ave.
212/997-8885