Okay, here's my take:
I found the internal first-person narrative to be a bit overdone. I think a lot of the details of the MC problems could have been brought out in a conversation with The Stranger. This would give you the opportunity to developer the MC as well as The Stranger.
If the MC is inebriated throughout the first 5-6 chapters, would you consider altering his internal monologue into the thoughts of a drunk person? Much of what he was thinking was a bit too clear and precise. If his thoughts are muddled on top of his actions, then he could be an unreliable narrator.
There was some repetition that I found hindering. You first told us he was a drinker, told us he was at a bar, told us again he was in a bar, later on told us he wanted to just be in a bar, told us he wanted a drink. How could you revise this such that the character's actions or environment indicate his intoxication?
For example: (after The Stranger first speaks to him) I sipped the last of my drink -- like so many before it -- and pushed it towards the bartender. "Anuth'r" I said as I fished for my lighter. Where was that lighter? I just had it! Oh, it's in my other hand! "Hey, buddy" the bartender said, "that fifty you dropped is almost gone. You sure you want another?" "Yeah," I said, as the cigarette fell from my lips.
Okay, that's a bit cheesy, but I hope you get the point.
Lastly, I didn't care for your over use of semi-colons to link partial sentences. It made for difficult reading.
On the bright side these are all things that can be fixed. I don't have a problem with the setting or characters (the little we know of them). This is a good start! And don't let the revision process prevent you from moving past this into chapters 8-1000!!