by Alex Goetzfried
The Baker St. Pub is named after a road in England, and is also the address of Sherlock Holmes, but on the Upper Eastside of New York City it is the second home to many Irish immigrants.
Baker St. Pub on 1st Ave
The Pub was the location for the original scenes from the film Cocktail starring Tom Cruise, as well as the location of the original TGIFridays. Now the pub is a place where Irish immigrants can go to see soccer and rugby games, and to chat about the old country. It is ironic that a bar with an English address serves mostly Irish customers.
This is a true neighborhood bar, the bartenders know everyone’s name and there is a family atmosphere that most bars in a city as big as New York don’t have. The place is packed at random times like 10 on a Saturday morning because they get all of the major soccer and rugby games. With St. Patty’s day around the corner a feel good story about Irishmen and their sports bar is appropriate. The history is interesting as well. Tom Cruise has acted there and it was where TGIFridays took off, originally planning on opening a TGIMonday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. until realizing that Friday is what bar patrons are looking forward to. It is also located around the corner from Sloan Kettering and has a good number of nurses who go there, and they serve traditional Irish breakfasts as well.
The profile of Sherlock Holmes watches over Baker St.
I will interview the bartenders, managers, and patrons, who are Irish and a few patrons who are not but live in the neighborhood. A few short articles have been written about this pub but nothing substantial the links are attached.
http://nyclovesnyc.blogspot.com/2011/03/baker-street-irish-pub-in-new-york-with.html
http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/c/cocktail.html
http://nymag.com/listings/bar/baker-street-pub/
Interesting!