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Nov. 16th, 2014 01:55 amYou know, it's high time for a medley of "New York Mining Disaster 1941" and "Timothy."
Nov. 16th, 2014
ALSO, HAPPY SECOND ANNIVERSARY HERE, ME!
Nov. 16th, 2014 11:01 pmFrom an old LJ entry of Velma's, stumbled across in my LJ memories while looking for something else:
"One weirdness (of this particular night at Rose's Turn, a now-closed NYC piano bar) was talking with two sweet young things from San Francisco, who had wandered into Rose's, and were delighted. They both said, in all seriousness, "There's nothing like this in San Francisco!"
Okay. That can't be true. That's physically and aesthetically impossible.
Alas, no. After two years in the Bay area, research has provided:
1) The Alley, in Oakland. (Click for my writeup; I went back a couple of times, with diminishing results.) Overall grade: B (and don't order dinner there).
2) Nick's Lounge, in Berkeley. Karaoke; the one night I went there, the vocalists were generally at least passable; based on sounds that have drifted out to the street as I was walking by, that may have been an exceptionally good night. Overall grade: B-
Then, extending to San Francisco proper:
3) Martuni's. The best of the bunch, and by far the closest to what I would consider a proper piano bar. A bit upscale/pricy by NYC's relaxed standards; should probably go more frequently, budget permitting (which it isn't) to get a full sense of the place- still, if SF can be said to have a place that triggers my piano bar neural receptors, this is it. Overall grade: A-
4) The Mint. Karaoke again *sigh*; OK selection of tunes; a clientele that brought to mind the dreaded phrase "a party of nurses" from Rose's days. Overall grade: B
...and as a write-in: Lefty O' Doul's. I can't actually speak to this place as a piano bar, as I've only ever been here for breakfast; still, piano bar + sports bar = DOES NOT COMPUTE. (Although I have to say that based on field research in other cities, it could be worse.)
"One weirdness (of this particular night at Rose's Turn, a now-closed NYC piano bar) was talking with two sweet young things from San Francisco, who had wandered into Rose's, and were delighted. They both said, in all seriousness, "There's nothing like this in San Francisco!"
Okay. That can't be true. That's physically and aesthetically impossible.
Alas, no. After two years in the Bay area, research has provided:
1) The Alley, in Oakland. (Click for my writeup; I went back a couple of times, with diminishing results.) Overall grade: B (and don't order dinner there).
2) Nick's Lounge, in Berkeley. Karaoke; the one night I went there, the vocalists were generally at least passable; based on sounds that have drifted out to the street as I was walking by, that may have been an exceptionally good night. Overall grade: B-
Then, extending to San Francisco proper:
3) Martuni's. The best of the bunch, and by far the closest to what I would consider a proper piano bar. A bit upscale/pricy by NYC's relaxed standards; should probably go more frequently, budget permitting (which it isn't) to get a full sense of the place- still, if SF can be said to have a place that triggers my piano bar neural receptors, this is it. Overall grade: A-
4) The Mint. Karaoke again *sigh*; OK selection of tunes; a clientele that brought to mind the dreaded phrase "a party of nurses" from Rose's days. Overall grade: B
...and as a write-in: Lefty O' Doul's. I can't actually speak to this place as a piano bar, as I've only ever been here for breakfast; still, piano bar + sports bar = DOES NOT COMPUTE. (Although I have to say that based on field research in other cities, it could be worse.)
ALSO, HAPPY SECOND ANNIVERSARY HERE, ME!
Nov. 16th, 2014 11:16 pmFrom an old LJ entry of Velma's, stumbled across in my LJ memories while looking for something else:
"One weirdness (of this particular night at Rose's Turn, a now-closed NYC piano bar) was talking with two sweet young things from San Francisco, who had wandered into Rose's, and were delighted. They both said, in all seriousness, "There's nothing like this in San Francisco!"
Okay. That can't be true. That's physically and aesthetically impossible.
Alas, no. After two years in the Bay area, research has provided:
1) The Alley, in Oakland. (Click for my writeup; I went back a couple of times, with diminishing results.) Overall grade: B (and don't order dinner there).
2) Nick's Lounge, in Berkeley. Karaoke; the one night I went there, the vocalists were generally at least passable; based on sounds that have drifted out to the street as I was walking by, that may have been an exceptionally good night. Overall grade: B-
Then, extending to San Francisco proper:
3) Martuni's. The best of the bunch, and by far the closest to what I would consider a proper piano bar. A bit upscale/pricy by NYC's relaxed standards; should probably go more frequently, budget permitting (which it isn't) to get a full sense of the place- still, if SF can be said to have a place that triggers my piano bar neural receptors, this is it. Overall grade: A-
4) The Mint. Karaoke again *sigh*; OK selection of tunes; a clientele that brought to mind the dreaded phrase "a party of nurses" from Rose's days. Overall grade: B
...and as a write-in: Lefty O' Doul's. I can't actually speak to this place as a piano bar, as I've only ever been here for breakfast; still, piano bar + sports bar = DOES NOT COMPUTE. (Although I have to say that based on field research in other cities, it could be worse.)
"One weirdness (of this particular night at Rose's Turn, a now-closed NYC piano bar) was talking with two sweet young things from San Francisco, who had wandered into Rose's, and were delighted. They both said, in all seriousness, "There's nothing like this in San Francisco!"
Okay. That can't be true. That's physically and aesthetically impossible.
Alas, no. After two years in the Bay area, research has provided:
1) The Alley, in Oakland. (Click for my writeup; I went back a couple of times, with diminishing results.) Overall grade: B (and don't order dinner there).
2) Nick's Lounge, in Berkeley. Karaoke; the one night I went there, the vocalists were generally at least passable; based on sounds that have drifted out to the street as I was walking by, that may have been an exceptionally good night. Overall grade: B-
Then, extending to San Francisco proper:
3) Martuni's. The best of the bunch, and by far the closest to what I would consider a proper piano bar. A bit upscale/pricy by NYC's relaxed standards; should probably go more frequently, budget permitting (which it isn't) to get a full sense of the place- still, if SF can be said to have a place that triggers my piano bar neural receptors, this is it. Overall grade: A-
4) The Mint. Karaoke again *sigh*; OK selection of tunes; a clientele that brought to mind the dreaded phrase "a party of nurses" from Rose's days. Overall grade: B
...and as a write-in: Lefty O' Doul's. I can't actually speak to this place as a piano bar, as I've only ever been here for breakfast; still, piano bar + sports bar = DOES NOT COMPUTE. (Although I have to say that based on field research in other cities, it could be worse.)