Raggs of Harlem

Despite the rapid winds of gentrification, Harlem is still essentially an ethnically black neighborhood. Or, if you go east, Latino.

So there’s a definite deficit of good old Irish-themed dive bars... Enter Raggs of Harlem. Set on the border between el Barrio and central Harlem (101 E. 119th, at Madison Avenue), Raggs boasts the cheapest drinks in the neighborhood. Specials include a five-hour happy hour (from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm on weeknights) where beers are $3 and well drinks $2 and all-night pitchers of Coors Light for $10. Raggs also boasts your typical sports-bar staples: there’s the pool table, the glowing Big Buck Hunter terminal, and the three TV monitors set, invariably, to Ultimate Fighting.

In a neighborhood with a – not fully justified – dodgy reputation, Raggs is also unequivocally safe. It sits across the street from the police station on 119th and is owned by two of the former officers there. Fights don’t happen here.

Most nights, the place sits largely deserted after about 8:30 pm, though the bar is usually open until at least 2 am. During these later portions of the night, a lonely bartender caters to a few lingering men smoking cigarettes on the porch and shooting pool as they drink themselves into a happy delirium. There’s a certain charm to that, but if you want a party, bring your own.

That said, lonely bartenders are known to give away drinks.

Saturday nights are salsa nights and the sleepy atmosphere of the place explodes with a largely Latino crowd. It’s a blast, but if you aren’t latino you will get the fisheye from some of the boozier patrons.

It’s hardly a hopping nightspot, but if you are looking to hang out with a few buddies, you could do a lot worse.