This past weekend, Inside New York threw a party to celebrate the release of its 2008-2009 edition. The party took place inside the new Village Pourhouse, the uptown counterpart to the popular original location, which caters to the villianous downtown adversaries of New York University. Bwog took along our camera and a notepad.

What we’re cautiously optimistic about:

  • It’s huge, and by Columbia bar standards — see: claustrophobia-inducing Heights and misanthropy-inducing 1020 — it’s the biggest place around. There’s a smaller bar area with several TVs, and this area opens up into a larger room with a dance floor and many spacious booths.
  • It’s sportsy. Athletic types and their acolytes have about 1,000 fairly large TVs to enjoy, all of which were invariably tuned to games, matches, races, etc. This is also a nice change of pace if you’re sick of watching 1020’s steady rotation of whimsical kids movies and bizarre vintage pornography.

  • Happy hour is from 10-11 PM, and Bud and Bud light are $2.
  • According to VilPour, the establishment has a kitchen, and they will be using it to cook late-night snacks like wings and the like. Bwog didn’t see evidence of the kitchen, but we’re willing to take them at their word.

What’s we’re less than enthralled about:

 

  •  It’s very, very hard on IDs. Bwog saw a number of friends (whose IDs normally work at bars far and wide throughout Morningside) get turned away. Now, one friend of Bwog speculated that this is because the bouncers at the Inside New York party were shipped in from the downtown location, and downtown bars are notoriously stricter on underage drinking. Still, we’re trepidatious about returning with friends with not-so-great IDs.
  • Mixed drinks were heavy on the soda, light on the alcohol.
  • The entire place smelled like varnish, paint, and wood. Granted, we’re sure this will eventually fade with time, but it’s something to keep in mind when you’re already kind of light-headed from the combination of alcohol and loud, bad music.

Verdict: Probably worth walking the extra few blocks, depending on your mood and tolerance for possible disappointment.