Slavs at the World Cup

We've gotten a few emails lately about where to watch the five Slavic teams compete at the World Cup, and so we figured we should blog it. Games begin on Friday, and not all bars will show all of the games so call ahead to figure out where's best to go. In no particular order, here's the list:

• Czech Republic: Bohemian Hall (29-19 24th Avenue, Astoria, 718-274-4925). You can't go wrong with this big giant beer garden behind the historic Czech cultural center in Astoria. Aside from Czech beers, they're also having BBQs.

• Croatia: Scorpio (3515 Broadway at 35th Street. Astoria, 718-956-8233). We're not 100% sure they're playing the games, but if anyone is rooting for Croatia, it's Scorpio. Be sure to try the bijela kava (like a latee), certainly the best in the city.

• Serbia and Montenegro: Serbian Club (72-65 65th Place, Glendale, 718-821-9875). The mothership for Serbian fans. We've never been, but we hear it's well worth a visit. They've got cold beer, Balkan food and a big-screen TV. Can't go wrong.
  
  Fans of Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro can also check out Zum Stammtisch (69-46 Myrtle Avenue between 69th and 70th Streets, Glendale, 718-386-3014), which of course caters to Germans, but is also frequented by the x-YU communities in the area.

• Ukraine: Ukrainian Sports Club (122 Second Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets, East Village, 212-475-1340). If you're a Ukraine fan, there's no other place to be. Aside from the full bar with Ukrainian beer, there's a five-foot projection screen TV. The game schedule is on the front door, pass by and check it out.

• Poland: Smolen Bar and Grill (708 Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, 718-788-9729). There must be a stack of places rooting for Poland, but we came up with nothing. Sage, a Slavs of New York reader, came to the rescue by pointing out Smolen, a neighborhood bar frequented by Russians and Poles serving up Polish beer.

UPDATE: Croatia's games will also be shown at the Croatian Center (502 West 41st Street, 212-563-3395) in Manhattan, open to the public and free admission. Croatia v Brazil (13 June at 2:55 p.m.), Croatia v Japan (18 June at 9:00 a.m.) and Croatia v Australia (22 June at 2:55 p.m.).
And Cafe Blue Light (30th Street & 35th Avenue, Astoria) also has a live feed on a plasma TV, as well as Balkan food and $3.50 beer.

Fieldtrip: Slavs of San Francisco!

The latest in our Slavs of New York vacation reports is from San Francisco, where we just spent four glorious (though chilly) days. It’s a young city, but surprisingly vibrant and definitely full of Slavic types. Here’s the rundown:

Croats are quite well organized, thanks to the Croatian American Cultural Center (60 Onondaga Avenue), which also features events touching on other South Slavic cultures, as well as Romani culture.

Czechs have a homepage and a technological organization, as well as the Cafe Prague (584 Pacific Avenue), Bohemia Pub (1624 California Street at Polk) and Frankie's Bohemian Café (1862 Divisadero Street). There is also a bust of Thomas G. Masaryk in the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park, and a Sokol Hall.

Poles also have a homepage, as well as the Polonia w San Francisco i Krzemowej Dolini. There is a Polish Club (3040 22nd Street), a Polish Arts and Culture Foundation and the Lowiczanie Polish Folk Dance Ensemble. If you’re hungry, try Old Krakow (385 West Portal Avenue. One of the major Polish churches is the Church of the Nativity (245 Linden Street).

Ukrainians have the Consulate General of Ukraine (530 Bush Street, suite 402) and St. Michael Ukrainian Orthodox Church (345 7th St.). Bulgarians have a homepage. Serbian Easter in San Francisco is described here, and the situation of refugees from Bosnia is described here (.pdf).

Surprisingly, the Slovene community at least used to be quite vibrant. A brief history is here. There is a Slovenian Hall (2101 Mariposa St), and even though it’s Italian, Caffe Trieste (601 Vallejo Street and 1667 Market Street at Gough) can certainly summon a bit of nostalgia among Slovenes.

The Russian community has the deepest roots. Its history is briefly described here, and the situation of recent immigrants is explored here (.pdf). Thanks to the discovery of Cyrillic-inscribed tombstones, one district is called Russian Hill, though most Russians live in the Richmond district.



The focal point of the community is the Russian Center (2450 Sutter Street), home to a number of institutions, including the Congress of Russian-Americans, the Museum of Russian Culture, the Russian Life Daily Newspaper, the Slavyanka Russian Male Chorus and the Russian Library. Other landmarks include the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco (2790 Green Street), St John of San Francisco Academy and Sts. Cyril & Methodius High School.

Restaurants include Katia's Russian Tea Room (600 Fifth Avenue), Russian Renaissance Restaurant (5241 Geary Boulevard at 17th Avenue) and the Samovar Tea Room (498 Sanchez Street).

Shops include Globus Slavic Bookstore (332 Balboa Street) and Archangel Bookstore (1352-A Ninth Avenue between Judah and Irving Avenues), and the music store Rasputin (69 Powell Street).

The community has also produced one of the few North American Russian Orthodox saints, Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco. And so it is no surprise that there are numerous Russian churches in town.

There is the Moscow Patriarchate’s St. Nicholas Cathedral (2005 15th Street at Church Street) and the OCA Christ the Saviour (2040 Anza Street) and Holy Trinity (1520 Green Street at Van Ness Avenue), but the largest number seem to belong to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia: the Church of the Resurrection (109 Sixth Avenue), the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (1346 12th Avenue), the Chapel of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (598 15th Avenue between Geary and Anza), the Church of the Mother of God of Kazan (5717 California Street), the Holy Virgin Cathedral (6210 Geary Boulevard at 26th Avenue) the Old Cathedral of the Holy Virgin (864 Fulton Street between Webster and Fillmore) and the Russian Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir (3365 19th Street). There’s also a Russian Byzantine Catholic church, Our Lady of Fatima (101 20th Avenue near Lake).

Outside of San Francisco, there’s a homepage for Russian Berkley and the Russian colonial Fort Ross, now a state park.

Mehanata’s BACK!

After a brief pause, Mehanata is on its way back! The fab Bulgarian bar will reopen on Friday, 9 June, at its new digs at 113 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side. And headlining the evening? Gogol Bordello!


By the way, the name-change scare is over: they’ve settled on retaining the old name, Mehanata, with the tag line “House of Gyspy.” Very nice.

Fieldtrip: Slavs of Las Vegas!

Vegas is one of those places where it’s a bit difficult to imagine people actually living, but Sin City is a real city, and has its very own Slavs. Who knew?

Local Bulgarians have their own homepage, and a restaurant called Magura (1305 Vegas Valley Dr.). Croats also have a homepage, and featured in the book The Peoples of Las Vegas: One City Many Faces. Apparently Croats have been in Vegas since the 1920s, and many can trace their lineage back to the Pinjuv brothers, who owned a gas station and motel at Fremont and 10th Street in the 1930s.

Poles have also contributed to Vegas’s history by lending the city one of their own: Wladziu Valentino Liberace. The local Polish community also supports the Polonez Polish Restaurant Bar & Deli (1243 E Sahara Ave, Las Vegas) and the Polish American Social Club of Las Vegas.

Pseudo-Russian Vegas attractions include the bar Red Square (Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S. at Tropicana Ave.) and the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum at the Venetian, as well as the Men of Russia spectacular.

A bit more authentic are the Eliseevsky Restaurant (4825 W. Flamingo Road) the Russian Tea Room (3743 Las Vegas Blvd S). Other landmarks include St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church (OCA; 5400 Annie Oakley Drive) and the Life-Giving Spring Retreat Center (in near-by Boulder City). There’s also a Russian Vegas homepage.

The city also boasts a Serbian church, St. Simeon Serbian Orthodox Church (3950 South Janes Boulevard), and a Rusyn one, St. Gabriel the Archangel Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church (2250 East Maule Ave).

And if you can’t make it out West, Slavic Las Vegas is featured in the novel Blood of Montenegro, by Bajram Angelo Koljenovic and James Nathan Post.