The best time to visit a bar depends on you and your preferences. Don’t base your decision on whether a place is good or godawful solely on someone else’s opinion. Opinions are like litterboxes: every cat’s got one and they all stink. Ho-ho. Make up your own mind

THE BEST TIME TO VISIT A BAR IS UP TO YOU

One man’s perfect nighttime haunt is another man’s loud, crowded nightmare circus with shrieking, liquored-up clowns. As a fan of good old wholesome day-drinking, this might be me we’re talking about. Someone else’s quiet oasis of sane afternoon tippling might be the seventh level of sad day-drunk hell to the fan of high-volume, cleavage-drenched clubbing. So if you’re going to judge a bar, first know yourself. What do you want?

McSorley’s: A Case Study in the Best Time to Visit a Bar

The first time I walked into McSorley’s, I damned near wet my pants (to paraphrase Frank Sinatra recalling the time he met Babe Ruth). As a history buff alone, the place was worth my devotion. Historical artifacts cover every wall and I think some of the ceiling, and if you count the dust as historical, every damn surface of the place. And I say this in a good way, from a place of love. But here’s the thing: I went there in the daytime, middle of the afternoon on a cool spring Saturday. Light streamed in the south-facing front windows, letting me see everything there, every artifact I’d read about in Joe Mitchell’s sublime 1940 New Yorker piece about the place. The bar was full of good-natured tourists, longtime local customers, bicyclists (it’s a favorite spot for weekend riders to grab a cold one after riding up to Nyack) and a smattering of NYU students. Note: a SMATTERING of NYU students. They can be the bane of a McSorley’s visit at the wrong time. What’s the wrong time? NIGHT. Especially a weekend night. Too many kids spoils the broth. As a daytime, growns-up bar, McSorley’s can’t be beat. As a late-night cauldron of screaming, drunken rich kids, it can be worse than carnival food. Granted, I say this from the other side of 50, so take it for what it’s worth. But I know what I like, and daytime McSorley’s is my preference.

I won’t throw the baby out with the dirty bar towels, though. If I’d only judged and dismissed McSorley’s after one or two crappy evening visits, I’d’ve missed out on a truly great place, still one of my favorites in all of NYC. And the same goes of other places, too. But I know what I like, which is why I usually check places out in the day. It’s a good policy. The more places I like, the better my life is. Same for everyone, right?

So don’t sell yourself short, Jimmy. Don’t judge a bar by the worst time (in your mind) to visit it. Embiggen your world! Visit when it’s best for you. If you’re 25, check out places on a Saturday night. You’re supposed to be social at that age! When you’re as old as me, go when it’s civilized. I did enough of the night-drinking crap in my 20s. I’m over it now. Of course, there are some venues that ought to be visited at night to fully appreciate the vibe, so places should be assessed and accordingly vetted on a case-to-case basis, regardless of your age, race, or social lameness.

My advice (from my vantage point in the Prime of Life) is get out there, visit a lot of bars, taverns, coffee houses and cafés, and check them out at different times. Find places you love, and the times of day you love them. Broaden your life. Make room for more love.