Inside Mayahuel, the East Village's Dark New Tequila Cocktail Den

Undeterred by their Kafkaesque struggles with the local community board over the stellar cocktail lounge Death & Co., two of that bar's owners have boldly branched out with a second establishment on the very same street. Named Mayahuel after the Aztec goddess of fertility, this cozy, bi-level temple to tequila and mezcal is unofficially open now. The menu by cocktail craftsman Phil Ward consists of almost two dozen mezcal and tequila cocktails ($13 each), plus a few beer cocktails, some punch, and sangria.

There's also a small plates menu (see below), featuring empanadas, plantains, tamales, and some very spicy popcorn. It's a sexy-looking place, but a recent visit convinced us that downstairs is the place to be—on Saturday night the second level lounge was a bit stuffy and cacophonous, with too many fratastic tools blathering about how they discovered Mayahuel through a trendy lifestyle newsletter. Instead, secure a seat at one of the intimate little downstairs booths or gather around the bar to let Ward's passion for mezcal work its magic. Below, a look at the food menu and what goes into two of his cocktails.

Mayahuel // 304 East 6th Street // "Soft open" now, with an official opening May 1st. 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly.