vip in the city

Pub lunch

The crowd waiting inside the foyer at Adrienne’s did not bode well for a speedy lunch, so we ended up at Ulysses, just a few doors down — another in the Poulakakos family-owned Financial District empire. (See also: Bayard’s, the three Financier Pâtisseries, Harry’s Bar, and the 24-hour Gold Street.) This pub on Stone Street is a packed to the rafters with suits during happy hour — and increasingly on weekends — but at lunchtime, the scene is decidedly more laid back.

Since opening five years ago on Bloomsday — that’s June 16 to those for whom James Joyce’s masterpiece is but a faint or nonexistent memory — Ulysses has stayed open nightly until 4AM, and served a Sunday brunch buffet, making it a beacon of activity in a neighborhood which still tends to empty after the closing bell. (Those late nights may be numbered throughout our increasingly sanitized city, though, as 2AM closings become the new norm.)

The bar boasts a 130 foot long wraparound bar — the longest in the city — and a slicked up Irish pub vibe, with blue glass, dark, gleaming wood and plenty of cozy nooks; as spring approaches, Ulysses takes over a section of the historic cobblestone street with outdoor tables that increase in demand with the temperatures.

The menu is a solidly pleasing assortment of carving station and raw bar offerings, Irish (bangers & mash, cottage pie) and Greek (gyro, Aegean salad) specialties, and other pub fare. Monday is Lobster Night: a 1-1/4 lb. lobster, sweet corn and potatoes for under $20, while it lasts. Guinness on tap, too, of course… along with about 50 other brews.

We do love the Irish… pubs.

Tags: Financial District, Stone Street, Ulysses