RIP

There Was Another Hidden Armory Bar, Too

By the way, the Garryowen isn’t the only soldier bar to grace Manhattan — until recently, there was also one inside the Lexington Avenue Armory’s Upper East Side counterpart. Back in 2006, one of our favorite bar writers (and occasional Grub Street contributor), Joshua M. Bernstein, included the Park Avenue Armory’s eatery, the Seventh Regiment Mess Restaurant & Bar, in New York Press’s “Best of Manhattan” issue: It was the “best bar to get drunk with homeless women and the ghosts of old soldiers,” but it closed shortly after the write-up (the Park Avenue Armory is now home to an arts nonprofit), so for now you’ll have to settle for reading about the “ghostly Bavarian beer hall two bowling lanes long, outfitted with antlered moose heads and super-sharp sabers.” We couldn’t find any interiors of the former restaurant, but photos of other reception rooms should give you an idea of how fantastic it must have been. Oh well, there’s always Mess Night.

Eats & Drinks [NY Press]
Park Avenue Armory Photo Gallery [Official Site]

There Was Another Hidden Armory Bar, Too