Bar Shots: Upper West Side, June 26, 2008

Bourbon Street Bar

When we asked the bartender for permission to photograph these remarkable advances of the great human endeavor, he replied, “Let me ask you one question: Do you need me to take my shirt off?” He was cute, so we said yes.

Sadly, he wasn’t serious, but there was plenty of shirtless action happening on the flat screen TVs, where Mardi Gras footage presumably serves to inspire Bourbon’s rowdy crowd (if not the bras dangling overhead). An adorable waitress balancing a tray squeezed her way forward to offer us kamikaze shots in test tubes. We politely declined, but complimented her saint-like patience for dealing with everyone's constant harassment. She informed us it was her first night on the job.

We’re giving her a week.