I tried to get into this book and I just couldn't. I don't think I am the specific target audience. I think lots of people would like it though!

A poignant and nostalgic love letter to a much adored neighborhood Irish Bar once considered the beating heart of NYC's ethnically diverse Washington Heights. You'll meet the bar's patrons and owners and quickly discover why this iconic institution was revered by so many and was so much more than just a local watering hole.

A very entertaining and interesting book about a neighborhood and a community and the bar that brought everyone together and was sadly a victim of the Covid pandemic. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did!

This one was particularly heartbreaking, as I have been to Coogan's. While it's the story of one dearly beloved establishment that succumbed to the pandemic, it is a broader representation of so many other bars and restaurants that had the same fate. Anyone reading this will be able to picture themselves in their own "Cheers," and deeply feel for the actual humans involved at Coogan's.

My running club used to go to this bar all the time and it was a cornerstone in the community. Great read of a great locale!

I honestly didn’t think a book about a bar in Washington Heights could be riveting, but it really was. This was such a well researched, well written, well developed book and a sheer pleasure to read. I enjoyed very much reading about all of the ways in which the bar influenced the community and vice versa. It was fascinating to read about the current events happening around the bar in that period of time. By the end of the book, I was feeling quite nostalgic for a place and a time I had never experienced.

This is so much more than a story about a bar. We learn about the importance of a community bar and what it can do for a neighborhood and its residents. Coogan’s did so much to support its Washington Heights community, more than I have ever known a bar to do. It brought people together in a way that made it a staple in the community. And that community is Washington Heights, so you can be sure that Lin Manuel Miranda showed up when this landmark was struggling. The immigrant connection is not lost on the reader either, from the original Irish immigrants to the Latino community it is today. A very interesting read, especially for those with NYC ties.

Did not finish. I’m sure there is a good story here but I got bogged down in locations, historical references, and the like, and lost any semblance of a story.

Great story about a classic bar. Loved reading about the history and heart behind this Washington Heights bar and the love those who went there had for it. It was well researched and tells a story of course particular to this bar but probably similar to many other institutions who were hit hard over the years.

This is a great ode and history of an emblematic bar located in neighborhood of Washington Heights in Manhattan, New York. It details how rooted in New York the establishment was and how important it was to an ever-changing neighborhood.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my gifted finished copy.

Last Call at Coogan’s details the rise and fall of the Washington Heights neighborhood institution of the same name. As someone who has worked in the service industry for a number of years, I found it interesting to follow along with Coogan’s journey as it became more than just a neighborhood bar. I also liked learning about the sociopolitical climate of New York starting in the mid-1900s and going all the way into the present day. I found this account to be engaging in many ways, and I feel like I learned a lot!

Interesting story of the history of a neighborhood bar and restaurant. Was a little too dry for my taste but I'm sure everyone will be delighted with the book.

While this book was a little hard to connect to at times (the restaurant biz isn’t really my thing), I enjoyed learning about NYC history and how it related to this bar.

The research is top notch, and I’m sad that COVID was the straw that broke this camel’s back, because Coogan’s sounds like the kind of place my husband and I would love to visit.

Thank you to the publisher and Jon for the opportunity to read and learn about Coogan’s.

This book was such a fun read. I really thought this was a fun read and would love to read more by this author. The subject matter was fun.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when I started reading Last Call at Coogan's. While the book's focus is on the much beloved restaurant and bar in NYC's Washington Heights, it's so much more than that. Author Jon Michaud provides an unvarnished account of this multi-ethnic neighborhood and how Coogan's became a refuge from the violence on the streets to an "institution" that sought to bring a sense of community to so many different cultures and people from all walks of life.

While Coogan's had a long run as far as NYC's restaurants go, sadly it was no match for Covid and closed permanently in 2020. While I couldn't always keep track of the individuals mentioned in the book, I found Last Call at Coogan's a fascinating read.

My only regret is that I never got to eat/drink there.

Thank you to #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an electronic ARC of #LastCallAtCoogans.

I’m not normally much of a non fiction reader but I thoroughly enjoyed this little gem! Hearing the interviews from the people who knew Coogan’s best made the bar and those who loved it come to life in my head.

I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and also really appreciated how, through the stories relating to Coogan’s, the author also managed to delve into some serious, important topics such as race relations, gentrification and the impact of the pandemic.

Despite never having had the pleasure of visiting Coogan’s myself, thanks to the author I can fully understand why it was so well loved.

If you’ve ever had a “local” that you loved, I think you’ll appreciate this book too!

4.5 rounded up
Non-fiction that reads like fiction. Story drew me in and the writing was great. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

As a midwesterner born and raised, I've never been to Washington Heights, and have only been to lower Manhattan a couple times as a tourist. When I picked up this book I didn't even know where it was located, it just seemed like a slightly different take on the history/biography genre I've been into lately so I thought I'd give it a try. Coogan's turned out to be a griping narrative history that I had a hard time putting down! I learned so much, and I'm so sad that the bar was lost to the pandemic so now I can never visit. However, while reading I did google some things and discover that their Facebook and Instagram pages are still alive and I had a fun time scrolling back through pictures to put faces to the names, see the bar in all its glory and was especially thrilled to find video evidence of the story about Lin-Manuel Miranda once singing Happy Birthday to a group of diners! Once finished, I sent them a nice message on Facebook and Tess quickly sent a lovely reply. It really seems like a great group of people and I hope they're all doing well!

“Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.” Bars should be special places and Irish Bars, more often than not, are the best places to have a great pint with old or new friends talking politics or listening and singing along. I really enjoyed Michaud’s book, “Last Call at Coogan’s.” Unfortunately, I never had a chance to visit this NYC institution, but this book made it as if I was sitting at the bar. It is not only a great history of this bar, but of NYC and what was happening throughout the 35 years that it was a place that provided a special, important meeting place in Washington Heights. I highly recommend this book if you want to know more about this bar or even the history of NYC.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Last Call at Coogans by Jon Michaud!