New York on Tap 2008
Archive · modern edition Every bar New York on Tap knew, as it stood around 2008, with a 2026 check on each one. This page in the 2008 edition
Automatic Slims, photographed for New York on Tap
Photo from the 2008 site

Automatic Slims

733 Washington St. · at Bank St.
West Village, Manhattan

In 2026

Still pouring

Checked October 16, 2026.

Show on the map Directions See the 2008 page

Overview

Burger joint by day turns to frat boy playground by night. Women dance on the bar in high heels and feel empowered. Men feed them shot after shot to remind them that real power is a function of body weight and liver fortitude.

History

Named for a party that runs late

The name comes from an old Willie Dixon song, "Wang Dang Doodle," about having a party late on into the evening, which is about as clear a mission statement as a bar can have1. Doc, Mark Lee, Gunnar and KB(C) founded it in 1986, and it still calls itself One Bar under a Groove, a phrase adapted from Parliament Funkadelic1.

Our old listing knew it as a burger joint by day and a party by night. Its site still gives the address as 733 Washington Street, the premises Community Board 2 also lists as 131 Bank Street1, 2.

It opens Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 in the afternoon until late1. A review from August 2026 called it crowded, but said the music makes it so worth it3.

Sources

  1. automaticslimsnyc.com
  2. nyc.gov
  3. restaurantji.com

Researched October 2026.

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