Popular Lower East Side gastropub Spitzer’s Corner is in trouble for serving alcohol to minors. Eater has it that the establishment, which boasts 40 "world-class" craft beers and microbrews on tap, was “infiltrated” by an undercover police informant who was served alcohol without being carded. The owners are paying a fine, the bartender is fired, and the neighborhood nightlife – which on weekends makes Mardi Gras look like a model U.N. meeting – just might get a tiny bit less rowdy if this is part of a wider crackdown. (We can dream.)





I received some of the WORST service in my life at this place -- plus all the glowing reviews on Citysearch were clearly written by insiders -- so this news item makes me rejoice in my heart.
I didn't think I would miss the fields of rubble and the junkies on the Lower East Side, but the people I see downtown on Friday and Saturday nights represent a more disheartening level of societal decay.
I'll be at Manitoba's or the Double Down Saloon, where yuppies might come for a few drinks but leave when they realize there's no trendy bullshit in the jukebox.
But Manitoba's is run by a jerk commodifying punk rock at a rate second only to the former CBGBs... he even sued to make Manitoba change his name to Caribou... talk about proactive wielding of totally punk rock intellectual property laws.
Call me a snob, but I'm all for any bar (and Spitzer's falls into this category) that takes enough pride in what it does to CLEAN their TAPS! Too many bars do the bare minimum. Nice to see a bar that "raises the bar" a bit. On the rare occasions that I've splurged on a visit to Spitzer's (it IS expensive) the service has been exceptional. Of course I do avoid visiting at the busiest times.
And no, I am not an insider.
^^ yeah right!