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Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor

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Location
26 West 8th Street
Neighborhoods
Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor 1 Bars Beer Bars Greenwich Village

What a find...down a flight of stairs from street level on 8th Street, Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor is the "antithesis of a sports bar." Artisan and craft beer are brought together in a friendly environment that certainly had us feeling like we were right at home. The Parlor is also named for the Arts and Crafts movement, “a cultural revolt against the ideals of industrialization.”

When we visited, we spoke to Robert, one of the two owners, with whom we thoroughly enjoyed chatting. Robert is an internationally recognized speaker and writer on dining out and traveling with special diets (he co-authored the series Let’s Eat Out!), and he also has a background in acting and producing on Broadway. He told us that the other owner, Don, has an impressive resume working with the FBI and counterterrorism efforts both in New York and around the world - which left us wondering what brought this dynamic duo together as friends and eventually co-owners. Robert informed us it was a love of American Craft Beer and the visual and performing arts...and that they actually met enjoying a pint of beer in Manhattan.

Just as intriguing as its owners, the interior of Arts and Crafts is beautifully designed; the sophisticated wallpaper is custom made by Bradbury and Bradbury, and the soft green and beige pattern was Frank Lloyd Wright’s favorite, supposedly. The constantly changing art is displayed along the wall opposite the bar, and an exposed brick wall and fireplace give the parlor a true “extension of your living room” feel. Described by Robert, as the “Bugatti of beer systems,” the twenty plus beers the Parlor keeps on tap rotate monthly and are kept by this state of the art system at a refreshing 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Robert also astounded us with how small the carbon footprint of the Parlor is — he told us they are very conscious of keeping things compostable and earth-friendly. In addition to their rotating display of art from both established and up-and-coming artists, the Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor also hosts a monthly lecture series on the subjects of art as well as culinary topics. We could not get enough of how interesting this place is — both the concept of art and beer coming together and the two fascinating minds behind it.

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Down the Hatch

“This bar is older than most of its customers, ” said Mitchell Banchick, who founded Down the Hatch in the 1990s to cater to the under-thirty crowd. Nowadays, the demographic is mostly the same, as NYU students and young professionals make up the bulk of its clientele. Mitchell, who was raised in the Bronx and was also an NYU alum, spent his college years working at a string of Bleecker Street watering holes. After a time on Wall Street and a stint as a restaurant broker, he gravitated back to hospitality. From his student days, he remembered a dearth of fun bars geared toward young people in the NYU area and decided to fill the gap. He joined forces with his two college roommates to secure the lease for an old sushi restaurant he used to frequent and transform it into a classic dive bar. The friends renovated the place themselves, relying on the occasional “how to” book to sort out the electrical and plumbing, and the venture was an absolute success: “We were busy from the minute we opened, and that was before social media. ”When the bar started out, Mitchell was the sole manager, maintenance guy, and bartender on most nights. He has since launched over a dozen more bars in three states, including Off the Wagon, the Stumble Inn, and Jake’s Dilemma in Manhattan. “But Down the Hatch will always be my baby. It’s my most iconic bar in New York. ” People from upstate and the outer boroughs often visit to taste their award-winning chicken wings or play a round of beer pong at the tables in the back. Mitchell is pleased to say that many former patrons return to reminisce about the great times of yesteryear, as countless people met their significant other, held their bachelor party, and made meaningful friendships at the bar. Since he is fortunate to own the building, Mitchell has no doubt that Down the Hatch will stand as a living testament to these fond memories through the decades.