Cuomo vs Tonic East

Breaking news across the birdy wire. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is accused of Tonic East, Murray Hill's brightest, baddest and most roof decky sports bar pub club, of racial discrimination! Our Little Birdy passed along a high level summary of the charges:

People of the State of New York; Andrew Cuomo v. 411 Rest. Corp. dba Tonic East
3/3/2008 CV-2088

Racial discrimination arising from defendant instituting a dress code excluding "Hip-hop" clothing or "Urban Wear" as part of a pattern or practice of denying African-Americans from admittance into its club TONIC EAST.

We couldn't find any written dress code on the club's website, but in their photos, we were able to find one African American (sans Hip-hop clothing or Urban Wear). Call us crazy, but the picture reeks of photoshop.

Anyway, we doubt that the "but look at our Tonic Crowd photos, there is one African American up there" defense is going to get them off the hook.

Developing.

Mr. Biggs Wants to Get Bigger

A sleepy little corner of the Upper East Village may get a little less sleepy if the folks behind Mr. Biggs get their way. We have heard that the sports bar, who's head quarters is in Hell's Kitchen, is attempting to open a second branch on the corner of 13th and Avenue A in the space formerly occupied by Nopal Del Este. Problem is the Mr. Biggs team has run into some stiff opposition from the neighbors and Community Board, who have little interest in having a maxed out sports bar that is known for its burgers and karaoke nights. While the old Alphabet City would have no interest in a Mr. Biggs type spot, times have definitely changed. Just ask the people who pack another uptown sports bar that opened up a few blocks away.

Consider this one developing.

An Evening Afternoon At: Bounce Deuce

Like we said, summer is over. It's fall. That means football. And sometimes that means headed to a bar to catch all the action. You know we like bars. We also enjoy football. So we joined some friends who had made a reservation at Bounce Deuce in the East Village to enjoy a day of NFL action. We showed up for the early games and this is what we observed.

Pros
1. Every game in HD - nuff said.
2. Above average food - especially for a sports bar in the City, they took it to a higher level. Let's not go crazy now. It wasn't next level, but still pretty good.
3. Super tall 3 foot beer keg things - A nice touch. You could order beer once and not need the waitress for at least 25 minutes. Which as we will explain, comes in handy.
4. Reservations - A nice touch, especially since this place was jammed from wall to wall.

Cons
1. Noise - This place was beyond loud. The volume for the main game was pumping through the place at level 11. You had to scream at the waitress to order.
2. Service - Not the best. Expectations are never high for a sports bar on a busy Sunday, but this certainly didn't meet the minimum requirements. Misplaced food, slow delivery and a bit too much confusion for the staff.
3. Temperature - Uh, it's still 90 degrees outside. Where was the AC? Requests to turn it on went unfounded.

Overall, the negatives outweighed the positives. Despite the rowdy crowd having fun, the heat and the noise made it hard to interact with our table. Alas, we have 16 more weeks to get it right.

Photo Courtesy of Peddler of Bombast/Flickr.