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.

Slavic Lit-Bars

Various Slavs of New York featured heavily in this week’s New York magazine roundup of lit-bars, “Bookish Boozing.” At the top of the list was Barbes (376 9th Street at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope), not exactly a Slavic spot, but home to Slavic Soul Party each Tuesday evening.

Similarly, number two on the list, Bowery Poetry Club (308 Bowery, between Bleecker and Houston) regularly hosts Slavic readings, particularly the Project Gorod series.

More directly, both KGB Bar (85 East 4th Street between Second and Third Avenues) and the Russian Samovar (256 West 52nd Street between Eighth Avenue and Broadway) fly the Slavic flag proudly.

On KGB Bar, New York writes: “Sundays bring fiction, Mondays poetry, and Tuesdays non-fiction. From Wednesday to Friday, you’ll hear everything from sci-fi to prize-winning journalism. The monthly ‘Drunken! Careening! Writers!’ limits each participating novelist/poet/hack to fifteen minutes and insists each work must have ‘at least one thing that makes people laugh.’”

And on the Samovar, “Sporadic readings take place in the upstairs room, where listeners gather around a large table and knock back exotically infused vodkas.”

Also on the list? Half King (505 West 23rd Street), Happy Ending (302 Broome Street), Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction (34 Avenue A), Pete’s Candy Store (709 Lorimer Street), and Rocky Sullivan’s (129 Lexington Avenue).

(Photo: UN Secretary of Staff, Mr. Mark Malloch Brown at KGB, by Julia Calfee for New York)