Flight 151

I'm writing this waaaay after the fact, but I'd just like to let you all know that you should all go to Flight 151 on TUESDAYS, when you can flip a coin to see whether you pay $3 or $0 for a pint, which is pretty much a win-win. I had heard about this great, great deal from someone, and so when my friend Z. came down all the way from Burlington to visit me, I convinced her and her friend S. to come check it out.

Unfortunately, Flight 151 has nothing really going for it except its awesome deals -- awesome not necessarily in the sense that they're cheap (which they are!) but just because they bring an element of play and fun into it: the coin-toss deal is on Tuesdays, a spin-the-wheel-to-see-what-kind-of-shot-you-get game takes places some other nights, etc. Otherwise, it's got a pretty crappy atmosphere (very bland and sportsbar-sy), and its deals are limited to the bar, for which reason we had to stand for part of our night. THAT SAID, the Tuesday deal was a success! We all three did the coin toss three times: S. and I lost twice, which meant that we paid $6 for 3 pints, and Z. lost only once, which meant that she paid $3 for 3 pints!! That's $1 a pint!!!!

We didn't get very drunk, because we all had things to do the next day, but this place could definitely get you drunk. At least on Tuesdays.

Strong Place [Guest Post!]

This blog does not place a premium on alcohol quality. Quantity, quantity, quantity, Joe and Maia decided, is the name of the game. It was an intrepid decision that has left the entire blogosphere wet with excitement. I couldn’t help wondering though, what if you could have both? What if you could marry the great deals that Joe and Maia have found all over the city with some of the best beer in the world? Is it even possible? Well loyal readers wondering who the hell I am, I have an answer for you—at Strong Place in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, anything is possible.

Close to both the Bergen and Carroll Street stops on the F, this bar/restaurant is on the upscale side and can get pretty pricey. At happy hour though, which lasts from 4-7 Monday through Thursday, pints of anything on their beer list will run you just $2.50. As someone who has routinely paid more than that for PBR, this deal seemed too good to be true. When I asked my waitress if this was for real, she said “yeah, it’s pretty fucking great.” That was all I needed to hear.

My two good friends and I set up shop at a table in the backyard, though there were plenty of open booths inside. Seats at the bar itself were packed with Brooklynites well acquainted with the magic that is happy hour at Strong Place. We each drank six delicious pints from around the country and we still hadn’t exhausted Strong Place’s entire beer list, which sits at an impressive 24 different beers.

Twenty dollars will get you eight beers, but I was drunk after six. Keep in mind that we’re not talking about watered down brunch mimosas or 4.7% ABV PBR here. These are serious beers, usually with about 50% more alcohol than your standard cheap happy hour fare. If you factor in a hot post-work subway ride and haven’t eaten anything since lunch, eight beers from Strong Place will almost certainly get you drunk for $20.  If you feel like classing it up a little bit but still don’t want to spend a fortune, Strong Place will treat you well.

- Greg Dorris, Guest Contributor

Spanky and Darla's

I knew upon entering that I had walked into a strange, magical world of abundant alcohol and depraved debauchery.  To start, the bar's TV was showing the Mets winning 17-1.  17-1!!! I didn't think the Mets had scored 17 runs in the entire history of the team,  let alone in one game.  Even stranger was the couple drunkenly making out - which is of course fine when the time is right - when it was not even 9 PM yet!!

The normal laws of the matrix clearly do not apply at Spanky and Darla's AKA Cheap Shots (its old name) AKA THE GREATEST BAR EVER.  Seriously, you should go right now.

The best way to describe what makes the bar so special is to explore thoroughly just how bad of a business model they seem to have.  It just seems absolutely impossible that the bar makes any money given how ridiculously cheap the alcohol is, and far more plausible that the whole establishment is only a cover for a drug-fueled kangaroo prostitution ring that thrives in a back room somewhere.  But who are we to complain?? The main deal comes on the pitchers of beer; Miller High Life pitchers are available for a mere seven dollars!!! We came with a big group of people, led by my wildly popular friend Liz and our terrifyingly insane friend Jane, and the result was that it seemed like there was always a new pitcher of beer on the table.  Everyone wants to step up and buy the next pitcher when the pitchers are so, so cheap!

But honestly, describing how cheap the pitchers of beer are only begins to capture Spanky Danky's (my nickname for the bar) wonderfulness, and this brings us back to the theme of just how bad this place seems to be at making any money.  The waitress really doesn't seem to care about what you pay for and what you don't.  Of course, when she asks for money, you have to pay, but she definitely only asked us for money some of the time and whenever we tried to estimate how many pitchers we had ordered since the last time we paid, she consistently underestimated.  If Maia gets to marry the hunky bartender from The Sunburnt Cow,  I get to marry this bartender.  Yet this would be difficult, because she found the girls in our group vastly more interesting than the guys.  TIP: Bring girls!! You will get lots of free shots!! We got at least two rounds of free shots, perhaps three.  Even when you pay for shots, they are cheap (four dollars), but when you start getting shots for free this place actually becomes some kind of heaven on earth for cheap drinking.  It is impossible to not get drunk.  So, in summary, the business model: free shots for customers, really cheap beer, really cheap shots, not keeping track of how many pitchers customers order.  Please go to this bar before it shuts down when the Feds bust the kangaroo prostitution ring.