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AMNY ruined elitist drinkers’ fun today by outing some “secret” watering holes around town. One of them, The Back Room, is no secret, just a pain to find for first-timers. The capacious bar is tucked away at 102 Norfolk Street two doors down from a "Lower East Side Toys" sign; pass through a gate and down some steps to a narrow alley that leads to an unmarked door. Or just look for the bouncer standing on the sidewalk shushing people on their way in. Once inside you’ll be surrounded by a roiling mob of smug bros swigging bottled beer that comes in brown paper bags, evoking a speakeasy style on their way to the landfill.
A lesser-known establishment exposed in amNY’s article is a bar on St. Mark’s called PDT, which stands for Please Don’t Tell. Since we're bound to secrecy, we really shouldn't divulge that the cozy cocktail lounge is an outgrowth of Crif Dogs, the deep-fried hot dog joint beloved by offal aficionados. What’s most intriguing about PDT is the entrance; inside Crif Dogs you will find a vintage phone booth. Pick up the phone, press the button, and a hostess will escort you to the inner sanctum via a secret door. Within there are snug booths, mounted animals, old family portraits and fancy drinks. It all sounds so appealing until you realize that after today’s amNY article it’s now “so over”.
Though amNY did shout out Milk and Honey, the unlisted, reservation-only cocktail lounge that elevates exclusivity to the level of absurdity, the article thankfully overlooked our favorite camouflaged bar, the spacious and dimly lit [REDACTED] on Grand Street in Williamsburg that features an upstairs outdoor smoking patio, reasonably priced drinks and consistently great music on the house stereo. Also left under the radar is the near-mythical Brigadoon Bar, which serves but one patron per night in a cozy 6’ deep ditch located in the trendy Green-Wood section of Brooklyn – aspiring customers assemble nightly at midnight on the corner of 25th Street and 5th Avenue to battle with shovels for admittance.
Photo from Flickr.
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I LOVE on Grand St in Williamsburg.
I had a great first date there once and we made out in the long hallway for a long time before anyone else even came in.
Haven't been there in a while. Now I want to go back.
word on [redacted] on grand st. which reminds me i haven't been there in a while.
sakagura also belongs on the list, though they at least have a sign at street level.
I didn't realize [redacted] was a "secret" bar... But I guess if you're just passing by you might not notice it.
hm, i'd rather go to a bar that is less gimmicky, but that's cause i'm a hater.
The Post did a (somewhat bitter) write-up on PDT back in July. Anyone know what was with their tone in that article?
I know about a super, super sercret bar that you can't get into unless you are invited, it's actually inside someone's apartment.
Oh wait.
That's just called going to a friend's place.
What the hell is this Brigadoon thing? That sounds amazing. Is that a total joke?
I was recently in Japan, and was walking around Osaka with a friend, and there were all these back alleys lined with little bars that fit maybe 3 to 4 people max. So tiny and unique. And, because they were all over the place, they weren't mobbed. My friend and I actually discussed opening a place like that in NYC, but we decided that unless they were part of the culture, and were kind of everywhere, that they would be impossibly, annoyingly exclusive.
hslaton: They have a much bigger version in Tokyo called the Golden Gai. essentially, it's a few acres of shanty bars that hold only 4 to 8 people max. every bar has it's own theme - some might show movies, or play indie rock, or play classical music, etc. they typically don't let unaccompanied Westerners into the bars, but fortunately we had a friend in Tokyo who took us around.
unfortunately, I don't think a scheme like that would work in NYC. the real estate market just won't allow for it.
In the 80's me and my friends often preferred bars that were hidden in full view, like the Holiday on St.Marks near First Ave. The old guy who bartended (and maybe owned the joint) was often drunk himself and pour generous drinks. Though he was like an old sailor who at the drop of hat would deal with any disturbances in a wink. Nobody f*cked with him twice. Great juke box and booths in the back. It was often pretty empty. There was usually a very weird mix of patrons. That's how we liked it. Of course that's before the east village became a disneyland college campus. Ah, well...
slappy: Holiday is still there... I haven't been there in a few years, but the last time I went, it was still relatively overlooked (compared to all the commercialized crap surrounding it, that is).
@slappy holiday's still there... (presumably the same) older gentleman hanging around. an oasis in the EV bar scene.
PDT was over earlier than that. The Times wrote about it over a month ago ( http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/fashion/07boite.htm ).
Uh, Brigadoon Bar is the "cozy six foot ditch" one is BURIED in.
Green-Wood as in GREENWOOD CEMETERY, the enormous cemetery in Queens. (Where many of my relatives reside, actually.)
That was clever, Mr. Del Signore.
umm ... larry lawrence kinda sucks, dude.