One of our favorite bars, McSorley's [hoganstand.com], is featured in a NY Times article [nytimes.com] (reg required) on the effects of the $7.50 price of cigarette packs in the city. It's an interesting look at smoking in bars, a filthy habit that I used to enjoy oh so much (and miss on a daily basis).

With our Mayor moving to ban smoking in bars, the drinking scene is likely to change substantially. I'm not sure how I feel about it. While it'll be nice to come home not smelling of other people's smoke, bars should be havens for unhealthy behavior. I'm not keen on legislating people's behavior.

By the way, McSorley's is a fantastic place if you make it to our fair city -- you have to buy two beers at a time, and they only come in two varieties -- light and dark (I wholeheartedly reccommend the dark over the light). The bar has been around for over 150 years, which is pretty long by American standards. My father used to drink there when ye was young, and too me there for the first time when I was 16.

Here's a few shots of us enjoying ourselves at McSorley's for Phillip's bachelor party:

• Presenting The Beer. [goats.com] Our usual waiter, Tommy, likes it if you order as many beers at one time as possible, which makes for fewer trips. The waiters at McSorleys have been known to carry ten beers in each hand at a time.
• The Mustard of Doom. [goats.com] At the center of each table is a mug full of extremely spicy polish mustard, which is used as mortar in the construction of cheese, onion and cracker sandwiches. Ordering a Cheese Plate is part of the McSorley's tradition. Daring your fellow drinkers to eat large amounts of the mustard is also part of the tradition.
• This [goats.com] is what happens when you are dared to eat a lot of mustard. I wonder who challenged this poor soul?
• The beers at McSorley's are rather small, [goats.com] so you may want to have several at a time.
• Captain Brunch is loved by the masses [goats.com] for his multi-beer drinking ability.
• Cheers to McSorley's! [goats.com]