The party’s there, you just have to find it.
It’s right off Tompkins Square Park in that dive bar you’ve walked past a million times, and it’s in that underground joint with the illuminated Russian sign. That second-floor party on the corner of Broadway and Canal – always going off on Thursday nights to nuclear levels about 3 a.m. – is actually open to the public.
You just have to know where the door is.
New York City is the biggest party in the world. Vegas is a drop in the bucket, and while London, Buenos Aires and Paris like to throw down, they don’t compare. They can’t. Ibiza is seasonal – and a weakling compared to Manhattan’s nonstop, year-round prowess.
Here’s a guide to 10 of the hottest nightspots in the City.
Mehanata
A night at Mehanata is like going back to college. Imagine, they’re doling out free glasses of absinthe, slivovitz and ouzo at the international dorms after finals are over and a dance party erupts. The music throbs while the ridiculous line weaving its way to the micro-rest-
rooms looks more like a sixth-
grade make-out party than it does an adult exercise in patience.
Amazingly the scene in the bathroom is even more severe as people enter and exit two at a time.
Mehanata is the best party in Chinatown – and possibly New York. And it’s also one of the best-kept secrets – especially since nobody calls it by its real name. Its street name is the Bulgarian Bar. (It’s actually called the Mehanata Cultural Club.) And judging from this wild time – which includes guest DJs like Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello and the wildest international mix of punk, disco, electro and rock – we need more cultural clubs.
Mehanata, 416 Broadway, 212-625-0981, mehanata.com.
6 p.m.-4 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Teddy’s Bar & Grill
A bloody mary should come to the table looking like an overgrown Guatemalan rainforest. And a mimosa should arrive in the form of a pint glass half-full of orange juice and a full, still-
smoking split.
The cats at Teddy’s know this. And when you combine those drinks with low prices and an epic brunch in a building that used to be a union organizing hall just off the bustling Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, life is good. It’s easy to live large at this Brooklyn favorite, which sports a comfortable dining barroom and a small – but active and lively – patio. And best of all, you get your daily dose of veggies from a single bloody mary.
Teddy’s Bar & Grill, 96 Berry St., 718-384-9787. 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m., 6 p.m.-2a.m. daily.
Bowery Ballroom
Not only is this Lower East Side rock club one of the hottest rooms in Manhattan for live music, but it’s also a killer post-show lounge. The Bowery is the Mercury Lounge’s older brother, and it’s the best mid-sided (550-seat) theater in New York City.
The upstairs theater has great sightlines – thanks in part to the wraparound balcony – but the key element here is the escape route. Don’t like the opener? Duck downstairs to an excellent, albeit expensive-for-
New-York, lounge that caters to the inquisitive indie rock fan.
Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St., 212-533-2111, boweryballroom.com. Schedule varies.
Lucy’s
Many visitors to New York City are dumbfounded at the city’s severe lack of dive bars. How could a city with streets smelling of trash and urine lack bars smelling of trash and urine?
Those in need of a fix head to the East Village’s excellent Tompkins Square Park, which borders two divey locals-only favorites. While some prefer the loud, brash, country-western attitude of Doc Holliday’s, others take on the sweet yet unorthodox fun of Lucy’s, which was formerly known as Blanche’s.
While some of the old-schoolers still call it that, the bar is dominated – both early and late – by the influx of hipsters flocking to the East Village for its slightly cheaper rents and righteous nightlife. And while it lacks the hot youth behind other nightclubs’ bars – twentysomethings are often served by a gentleman or lady twice their age – Lucy’s has a class to it that’s unmatched in the neighborhood.
Lucy’s, 135 Ave. A, 212-673-3824. 4 p.m.-4 a.m.
Happy Ending
Theme bars can be tortuous. And they can also be delicious. With a name like Happy Ending, you can imagine where this Chinatown massage parlor-
turned-nightclub falls.
While this trendy club draws the young and beautiful, it’s an excellent place for everyone to mix in. The upstairs lounge is loud and fashionable, but the downstairs area – the former steam room, complete with a separate bar, private rooms, white tiles and unisex bathrooms – is where the action is. You’ll cocktail with models and party like a rock star in the stunning environs – a quintessential New York experience, of course. All this sans a membership fee.
Happy Ending, 302 Broome St., 212-334-9676. 7 p.m.-4 a.m.Tuesday-Saturday.
Sputnik
Brooklyn isn’t lacking live music venues – especially after the Williamsburg boom of the past decade. But this large Clinton Hill bar has carved a special place into the hearts of many as an excellent place to wind down and also a righteous place to catch a rock show.
The sandwiches and oversized margaritas served on the main floor are key, but downstairs is the ultimate chill room – with post-Ikea furniture, hip aesthetics and collegiate clientele in fine support.
Sputnik, 262 Taaffe Place, 718-398-6666. Noon-2 a.m. Sunday-Wednesdays; noon-4 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Pravda
This SoHo bar is part of a royal family (read: ownership) that also includes Balthazar, Lucky Strike, Pastis and others, and the well-bred lineage is obvious. Calling itself an “underground caviar bar,” Pravda is one of the more attractive offerings in SoHo, which is saying something.
The ceilings are low, the walls tarnished, the aesthetic foreign, the lights muted and the doorways arched. It feels like a little-known Czech poker parlor or a refurbished vodka tasting room in Moscow. But while it feels hidden, it’s not. Pravda is very popular with locals and tourists alike.
Pravda, 281 Lafayette St., 212-226-4944, pravdany.com. Open 6 p.m.-1 a.m. Sunday-Tuesday; 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesday-
Thursday; 6 p.m.-3 a.m. Friday-Saturday.
288 Bar
While most know this NoHo bar simply as its nickname Tom & Jerry’s, the majority of its regulars just call it “the bar.” As in, “I’ll meet you down at the bar,” and no matter the vagueness, everybody knows what it means.
Few bars have the Cheers vibe. And while many think they do, they don’t. Remember, while there may be a few strays wandering in, Cheers was a place where everybody knew your name. And that’s the way it is at Tom & Jerry’s – and in this situation, we were the strays. But the next time through, they knew our names – and we knew theirs.
Tom & Jerry’s is just out of the tourist-hustle, the locals-shuffle and the chi-chi-bustle, and it’s plum in the middle of a very tightly knit neighborhood. This is their gathering place, and they’re quick to take in newcomers – so long as you’re not afraid to dance the night away to the jukebox until 4 a.m. and beyond.
288 Bar, 288 Elizabeth St., 212-260-5045. Noon-4 a.m. daily.
Gotham Bar and Grill
Looking for the classic Manhattan in Manhattan? Try the Gotham, where Bruce Wayne nightcaps on his nights off.
This classic NYC bar is truly classical in nature. Tall ceilings tower over the good-sized bar area, which has room to spare at the bar and at tables. It all overlooks the dining room, which is decorated with the silver and crystal to match its power-broker clientele.
Gotham Bar and Grill, 12 E. 12th St. in the West Village, 212-620-4020. 5:30-10:15 p.m Sunday-Thursday; 5:30-11:15 Friday-Saturday.
CBGB’s
There was a time when
CBGB’s encapsulated the world of punk rock. And while that time is long gone, it’s still a killer rock club with unmatched history and unprecedented back-story.
CBGB’s is currently trying to salvage its lease on life – with superstars performing in the small venue as fundraisers – but as has been pointed out, the club’s reckless desperation is anything but punk rock. Not that it cares. The worldwide merchandising of those black-and-white T-shirts already soiled their soul.
Still, selling out aside, a visit to CBGB’s is worthwhile nevertheless just to stand on that worn, torn, duct-taped floor and to walk down the sketchy back hallway to the bathrooms. Just watch where you step.
CBGB’s, 315 Bowery in the Lower East Side, 212-982-4052,
cbgb.com. Schedule varies.
Staff writer Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
