MANHATTAN — Tucked just past the corner of East 33rd Street and Park Avenue is a not-so-secret hideaway for fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Just a couple blocks south of the Empire State Building is The Ainsworth in Midtown, a bar and restaurant that has dubbed itself as New York’s home for Alabama football.
I was one of a number of folks who took over the Big Apple to watch the Crimson Tide this weekend as Alabama basketball faced St. John’s in Madison Square Garden. A majority of patrons at The Ainsworth did the same thing I did in my role as a reporter, which was go to Alabama’s 103-96 victory over the Red Storm and then realize there was too much traffic at around 4 p.m. to get back to my hotel, freshen up and still make my reservation by 7:15.
After all, I was going to have to take the metro if I wanted the most New York-coded Alabama experience possible. A little different than the gameday shuttle to Bryant Denny-Stadium, and not just because the destination is Grand Central, where the subway awaits.
After getting off the route to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall, I had a 2-minute walk to NYC’s Mecca of Alabama bars. I was 15 minutes early to my reservation (which I only got when I pulled the “I’m a journalist who wants to write about the gameday experience in your bar” card after I found out the venue was booked out) and ,like every single person who had a reservation, I still had to hang outside in a line that wrapped around the block by the time I got through the door.
The 30-plus minute wait was about as close as Alabama alums could get to feeling like they’re stumbling down The Strip again, only this bar doesn’t have a $40 cover.
Even for those still outside nestled in trench coats and beanies, cries from the rooftop terrace signaled that it was kickoff. Those far enough up in line were able to peer through the windows and watch Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer’s entrance on one of the ten of TVs around the front bar.
But once the rope was pulled and feet crossed the threshold, it was like stepping into Tuscaloosa. Elephants on crimson flags hung behind the bar, and the entirety of the staff working it was decked out in Alabama gear, matching the tailgate feel brought about by jerseys and houndstooth coats.
Due to the capacity, reservations that neared closer to the 7:30 kickoff against LSU were directed straight upstairs to the terrace.
Ivy and flowers lined the wall to the outdoor pad, which had notably fewer screens behind the bar, but offered a large screen to the left that didn’t turn on until a clip of Gene Hackman’s iconic speech in the 1995 movie “Crimson Tide” played.
Hackman saluted Alabama, echoing “And what do we say?” to his soldiers.
“Go Bama! Roll Tide!” they cheered in response.
All knowing what to do next as if it were unspoken bar etiquette, fans raised their arms and ushered Alabama into action with a cheer of “Roll Tide Roll!”
By the time quarterback Ty Simpson threw his first pass, hands were glued to brews like eyes to the screen.
Uncertainty hushed early excitement for Alabama fans as the game remained scoreless until Conor Talty entered for a 45-yard field goal attempt, which one table was so confident that Talty would miss that its members started talking about Alabama and LSU in “The Game of the Century” – a 9-6 LSU victory in 2011 in Tuscaloosa.
Right around that time, memories of being in a packed-out Gallette’s or Innisfree resurfaced for the table. A 2023 UA grad decided that he was going to perch at the lone empty seat, but had no concept of personal space – or the fact that he made a better door than a window when it came to watching the game.
For alums fresher off the college scene, it’s not a true Alabama gameday experience if there’s not a “What’s the problem here?” guy who protests every word – positive or negative – in drunken refusal.
After that interaction, Talty made the kick for Alabama’s first score. It wouldn’t match the volume of the celebration that followed Alabama’s first touchdown on a 4-yard rush by Daniel Hill.
The cheers were followed by fans joining together to sing Alabama’s fight song. The choir regrouped at halftime to sing the adlib-filled rendition “Dixieland Delight” before a round of “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Before the Crimson Tide rolled on to a 20-9 win and celebration continued in the city that never sleeps, Gabe – a 2024 UA alum and the only New York native of the group at the table – grinned as he looked around the room and confetti shooters built into the ceiling rained colorful shards of paper onto fans singing “And LSU… .”
“This is literally the best place to be for college football,” he said. “I am so blessed.”
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for The Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@usatodayco.com.