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One day Erin's in, the next day she's out...braving the cold for "Project Runway" and drink deals.

Monday Dec 24, 2007.     By Erin Brereton

Lifestyle Feed

I've been to Roscoe's Tavern. I've been to Sidetracks. I've been to Kit Kat Lounge and Supper Club—with my parents.

Each bar has proved able to provide a good time (along with a delightfully short ladies' room line). And yet, despite months of hearing raves about one of the city's boy bars—Crew, which opened over a year ago and bills itself as a "sports-themed gay bar and grill"—I had yet to venture to Uptown to check it out. I'm just slow.

But every week, I get an e-mail from my friend Betsy, inviting me (and others) to the bar's informal "Project Runway" viewing party on Wednesday nights, because one of her friends is on the show this season. And every week, I don't go; it's freezing out and my living room is warm.

But last week, I checked Crew's website and realized the bar also has drink specials on show nights. And, thus, like so many times before, the can't-miss combination of alcohol and Bravo reality shows lured me to the warm glow of the television screen. Only this time it wasn't my own; it was Crew's.

After rounding up my friend Matt, the gay man in my life who is most resistant to the cold, we headed to packed-to-the-brim Crew. Betsy, her contestant friend Steve and about a half a dozen others were at a table near the center of the room; unable to find chairs, Matt and I stood behind it.

On Wednesdays, Crew offers $2.75 Rolling Rocks and $3.50 pints of Blue Moon—both good deals for decent beers. I first sampled the Blue Moon, which is a light beer even non-connoisseurs like me can handle. (I like beer, but in my perfect world, bars would always serve watered-down keg beer. And they'd refuse your money because your smile was payment enough. And I'd take a unicorn home. Not a cab.)

Watching P-Ro in a crowded room is a fun experience: People snicker along with you when Michael Kors spits out a sassy comment; everyone laughs when the designers roll their eyes and look stressed.

And then—suddenly—Steve was kicked off. I can think of few things as awkward as being a few chairs away from someone who just lost a reality show competition, minutes after getting a stern talking to from Michael Kors. (He's scary, but I do like his handbags!)

The bar heaved a collective "oh no!" Two guys patted Steve's back, and he smiled and gave a semi-shrug. And then—within about 10 minutes—most of the bar had cleared out, which was great news for us! Matt and I found an empty table, ordered up $2.75 Rolling Rocks and perused the late-night food menu. And kudos to Crew for offering food until 1 a.m.; if you're out that late, you *should* be eating. (This message has been brought to you by your tomorrow morning.)

We tried the chips 'n' salsa, which tasted a bit bland, and the cheese fries sans bacon, which had chives mixed in and were beyond tasty. And as uncomfortable as watching someone lose a shot at fame and fortune was, the situation wasn't any more awkward than the first time I met a "Project Runway" contestant last January, when, during a freak warm spell, I was vacationing in New York with some friends and happened to run into Daniel Vosovic from season two in a park.

Because we had all packed for winter weather—not the mid-60s temperatures that were inexplicably going on that week—I was wearing a knee-length college T-shirt and jeans with a hooded sweatshirt bearing the name of my friend's ex-boyfriend's made-up website tied around my waist.

I was one leg bandana away from becoming Punky Brewster, thanks to having to piece together whatever non-cold-weather clothing we had brought. I tried to explain this to Daniel, as he very kindly told us all about his upcoming elegant women's line, despite the fact our ensembles in no way indicated that we would ever be potential clients.

Still, the whole Crew business was somewhat embarrassing. Which is why this week, my unfashionable self watched "Project Runway" from home. In PAJAMAS.

Erin Brereton is our resident urban cowgirl on a bi-weekly search for life on the cheap. If you know of the mythic happy hour that she missed, do clue her in.