How I Met The Perfect New York Bar: A Review of McGee’sHow I Met The Perfect New York Bar: A Review of McGee’s
Back in 1994, people from all around the world found out that you can have a well-paying job and still be able to spend most of your time sipping coffee with your friends. Friends made Central Perk a staple of youth culture in the 1990’s and all of us wished for the same lifestyle.
Friends might have wrapped production in 2004, but the idea to create friendship bonds as strong as familial ones lived on. Thus, soon after, in 2005, How I Met Your Mother came out and with it five new fun-loving friends navigating their professional and personal lives in New York City.
These new friends, however, scrapped the trendy café for a cosy bar – MacLaren’s Pub. There are many more hijinks that can (and did) occur in that bar, considering our main guys were sipping on beers and whiskey rather than coffee.
By risking to kill the suspense of disbelief, MacLaren’s doesn’t really exist. However, while Central Perk was only a figment of someone’s imagination, MacLaren’s is based on a real bar in New York City – McGee’s Pub – and this very real bar is the focus of today’s article.
We will tell you more about how McGee’s came to inspire Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, as well as how similar it is to the fictional McLaren’s. Last but not least, we will tell you what to expect as fan of the hit TV show when you visit it.
The Bar, The Legend, The Inspiration
Although How I Met Your Mother shares many similarities with Friends, and of course, it came out right after it, it is actually (loosely) based on the experiences of Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. It could be said that they are the “real” Ted and Marshall; Ted is based on Carter, while Marshall and Lily are based on Craig and his wife.
Right after graduating, Craig and Carter moved to New York and where they started working on The Late Show with David Letterman. This wasn’t their original plan, but they soon found out how much they loved dabbling in comedy.
The duo wrote episodes for American Dad, Quintuplets, and Method & Red, before getting the idea to “write about [their] friends and the stupid stuff [they] did in New York” and that’s how their show How I Met Your Mother was born.
It was during this time that they frequented their local bar, McGee’s Pub, so they figured out that they should create a similar setting for their fictional counterparts. That’s how the MacLaren’s Pub was born (Carl MacLaren, a producer of HIMYM became the inspiration behind the bar’s name and the name of the infamous bartender).
Similarities and Differences
The MacLaren’s Pub is visually different from its inspiration, the McGee’s. The floor plan is different and the MacLaren’s is much smaller than the iconic New York bar, which boasts of three floors. They look different from the outside too, so make sure you don’t miss the giant McGee’s sign!
What they have in common is that they are both old-fashioned Irish pubs that offer cozy atmosphere and lots of beers to choose from. The mosaic on the floor, along with the classic red booths and the mural you can see in some episodes are also there.
Last, but not least, there are apartments right above both bars and that’s where the famous Ted and Marshall apartment is.
How I Met Your Mother Fun at McGee’s
Although the bar looks a bit different than its show counterpart, it is every bit a HIMYM hot spot. You’ll notice it right as you walk in and see the walls adorned with pictures of the cast inside the pub. You might be able to get a picture of them yourself as the actors are known to pop up to surprise customers!
You can also purchase merchandise from the show if you ask the bartender. Now, let’s talk food and drinks. As you might expect, there are a lot of items on the menu that are inspired by the show, with a separate menu for HIMYM cocktails. There are 14 cocktails in total, which were named for iconic moments in the series.
We have personally tried a few and we give them two thumbs up. Our favorite must be “The Pineapple Incident”, referencing the episode where Ted got really drunk and mysteriously woke up next to a pineapple. We can attest to the realism of the episode having had a few of these bad boys.
Visiting the McGee’s
The McGee’s Pub is located in the busy Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York. The full address is 240 West 55th Street (between Broadway and 8th Ave), New York, NY, 10002. You can reach the bar by using the subway or by getting a cab (just make sure Robin isn’t around to steal it).
It’s always a good day to visit it, but we recommend going there on Monday; that’s when they broadcast episodes of HIMYM and you can meet many die-hard fans (perhaps even a cast member). You should probably make a reservation beforehand.
Another way to visit the McGee’s Pub is by going on the NYC TV & Movie Tour, whose last stop is the famous bar.