Café Khufu

I have spent a lot of time looking for my "usual". That place you can always go to and are sure to just be able to kick back and enjoy yourself. The Seinfeld crew had one, the Saved by the Bell crew had one, every group of friends in almost every television show and movie I have ever seen have one. And now, I have one. Café Khufu has become my "usual". What can be wrong with comfy brightly colored couches, an assortment of teas, Mediterranean food and giant hookahs? The answer is nothing!

You can walk in anytime of the day, any day of the week and find people lounging around sipping tea and enjoying some great Hookah with friends. Khufu is located on 61 E. 3rd street but once you enter you will forget where you are. You will leave the city streets and enter a relaxing Bob Marley filled world where you and your friends can forget life for a couple of hours. The music is never over-powering so you can catch all the juicy details that your friends might be dishing and there are no obnoxious disco lights fanning around the room.

Most hookah bars are filled with rowdy teenagers. You know the type. The ones that feel hella cool because they are smoking Hookah like it is a big deal and are trashed because the pre-games on the bus ride over with vodka and punch filled water bottles. The teeny-boppers take over and turn a relaxing joint into a make-shift club. I could do without that. Café Khufu is great because there are no teenagers. It is mostly a twenty and up crowd. I like to call it a sophisticated Hookah bar.

The staff at Khufu are friendly and very relaxed. The first time I went in, I was not even sure who was on staff. Within two seconds, though, a young guy came over and asked where we would like to sit. He had been hanging out with some of the customers. Made you feel more comfortable. I l hate stiff next-tie clad waiters and waitresses and Khufu has none of that. Which makes me happy! They're always friendly, they work quickly, they're helpful, they never rush you out the door, and they refill your coal for free.

I have no complaints. Café Khufu is a great place to hang out after work, after school on the weekends or whenever. I am glad I stumbled upon it. I am sure that from the moment you enter it's magnetic pull will take hold of you from there on out. Venture out to Café Khufu and enjoy!

Soccer Mecca in Manhattan

The US is dominated by tailgating football fans, tobacco-chewing baseball fanatics, and wannabe basketball fans. If you are in Manhattan and you are into the real international kick ass game of futball, then you have to go the mecca of it all. Nevada Smith – on 3rd ave, between 11th and 12th street, right across from an NYU dorm – was probably the first bar I considered my bar when I just arrived in NY. It's a huge place with a basement space, where young hooligans and older European dudes come and watch soccer games on any of the 12 screens.

I have only had the beer there, but they have a full bar and the bartenders - Irish and English dudes - will know you by face after the second time. It's a sports bar and the focus is defiantly soccer, so if you are in the mood to get drunk and hit on some girls, this place and you are probably not a match for each other. However, with that said, the girls that do go to Nevada Smiths are girlfriend types. I define girlfriend type as a girl who likes sports, beer and doesn't mind hanging out with the guys.

The best part of this place is definitely the chants. If you are lucky and are able to get in when a huge match is on, you get to hear some chants from all different countries. These guys really get into it and the ecstatic commentary is something you miss in all American sports, with exceptions of college football and basketball.

Other than that, if you are lucky to get in when a game is on, you should definitely remember to bring along your handy cam to record the variety of chants and people jumping out of their seats.

Bowlmor Lanes & Strike

When I first stumbled across Bowlmor Lanes I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sandwiched on an average looking street in the village, it attempts to pull itself off as one of those hole-in-the-wall super trendy finds, but its ostentatious glowing signs and VIP red ropes give it away as an up and coming chain, complete with overpriced food, drinks, and pics of celebrities a la Paris Hilton having the “time of her life” splashed everywhere. The only entry and exit appears to be one teeny tiny elevator, which you have to wait in line for even though the operator tries to sardine as many people as humanly possible into the small space (not sure what the contingency plan is for fire or emergencies, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it entailed George Costanza pushing the elderly and children out of the way to escape). The interior vibe is definitely urban hipster (or trying to be), complete with glow in the dark bowling lanes and glass-encased pins signed by various celebs decorating the walls. There is a separate second floor designated for private parties, but really seems to be the newest hot spot to hold a bar/bat mitzvah; on any given Saturday night, don’t be surprised to find tweens and their parents littered among the intoxicated twenty-something bowlers. On the whole, it’s not an awful way to occupy a Friday or Saturday night, but I’d probably save my pennies and just head over to Lucky Strike. At least you know where the exits are there.

http://www.bowlmor.com/

110 University Place, between 12th & 13th Streets

Ship of Fools Bar and Grill

Sojourn to the purported Notre Dame bar on the upper East Side to catch the game and take in the sites. Prior to the game broke bread at Big Daddy's Diner right next door.....great ambiance, with the 50's decor to boot, along with reasonable prices-- desserts definitely worth "the price of faire." Check out the cookie monster shake or the hot fudge sundae mmmm.........

Ship of Fools, beyond the charming name fatty foods, beer, and multiple large screens align this joint. I thought I stepped into a time capsule and walked out to my college fraternity as the 20 something crowd attempted to re-claim their golden years with a riotous game of flip cup at the back of the saloon.

The couple next to us were on a first date-- probably not the best of venues since the music and sports blaring from the speakers create an impossible environment for meet and greet type conversation.

Still, affordable food and drink are not easy to find in this neighborhood as the ritzy gals from Gossip Girl will have you know---"you're in our hood bii---otch!"

Worth the visit with the lads, but leave the non-sports loving gf at home (sry babe).
; )

1590 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10028

http://www.shipoffoolsnyc.com/

55 Bar

55 Bar is a jazz spot on Christopher St. touted by the establishment as, "A prohibition era dive bar with incredible jazz, funk, and blues nightly in Greenwich Village," Though the venue is fairly small, it was in no way cramped during the second show on a Saturday night. At least one or two tables were open throughout the set, and bar seating was available. 55 charges a reasonable $10 cover for live shows, a competitive price for quality jazz in the city.

Signs litter the wall claiming a two-drink minimum, though the drinking pace of this evening never gave me a chance to see if this was maintained by the servers. While the band playing on this particular night was undoubtedly talented, abrasive acoustics were less than flattering for the keys. The patrons were the mixture you tend to expect at a village jazz bar...from old jazz heads to young professionals, and my favorite.. chicks that love the blues and never stop dancing.

55 bar features at least one live show on most nights of the week.. a calendar of upcoming artists is available at www.55bar.com.

55 Christopher St.
New York, NY 10014
(718) 965-9177

The Creek and The Cave

‘Vibrant’ is a detestable word. The kind of adjective you read in every tour book ever written as an excuse to avoid getting the right details of the place in question.

But I’d love to write tour books, detestable though they may sometimes be.

So: New York’s improv comedy scene is ‘vibrant.’

There are the main comedy theaters such as the Magnet, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and the PIT and then – the true test of vibrancy – there are the small upstart performance spaces. The Cave, a forty-seat theater inside The Creek, is one such space.

The Creek, at 1093 Jackson avenue in Queens, has clearly sought to cater to this upcoming comedy crowd. On any given night the bulk of the patrons at the bar downstairs – and some few at the restaurant upstairs – will have either just performed or are about to.

As such, it parallels the improv scene: it’s mostly men. And mostly somewhat shlumpy, nerdy men. Bachelorettes beware... unless you come on one of the irregular nights when the stage of The Cave caters to a musician or filmmaker.

The food, also befitting its primary clientele, is a fattening traditional mexican and reasonably priced ($12 or so for the priciest items).

Still, the drinks are affordable ($5 Bloody Mary’s that will leave you staggering) and the environs are homey and convivial.

Suck on those adjectives Fodor’s.

Raggs of Harlem

Despite the rapid winds of gentrification, Harlem is still essentially an ethnically black neighborhood. Or, if you go east, Latino.

So there’s a definite deficit of good old Irish-themed dive bars... Enter Raggs of Harlem. Set on the border between el Barrio and central Harlem (101 E. 119th, at Madison Avenue), Raggs boasts the cheapest drinks in the neighborhood. Specials include a five-hour happy hour (from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm on weeknights) where beers are $3 and well drinks $2 and all-night pitchers of Coors Light for $10. Raggs also boasts your typical sports-bar staples: there’s the pool table, the glowing Big Buck Hunter terminal, and the three TV monitors set, invariably, to Ultimate Fighting.

In a neighborhood with a – not fully justified – dodgy reputation, Raggs is also unequivocally safe. It sits across the street from the police station on 119th and is owned by two of the former officers there. Fights don’t happen here.

Most nights, the place sits largely deserted after about 8:30 pm, though the bar is usually open until at least 2 am. During these later portions of the night, a lonely bartender caters to a few lingering men smoking cigarettes on the porch and shooting pool as they drink themselves into a happy delirium. There’s a certain charm to that, but if you want a party, bring your own.

That said, lonely bartenders are known to give away drinks.

Saturday nights are salsa nights and the sleepy atmosphere of the place explodes with a largely Latino crowd. It’s a blast, but if you aren’t latino you will get the fisheye from some of the boozier patrons.

It’s hardly a hopping nightspot, but if you are looking to hang out with a few buddies, you could do a lot worse.

Lennox Lounge

Surely the sharpest inflation rate in America occurs every time you get on the 2 train at 125th street and get off in Times Square. In just thirty five minutes (and a little less than five miles) a coke, for example, jumps from a dollar to $1.50. Coffee goes from the eminently reasonable 50 cents for a small to the yuppy standard of $2.00 for a tall or more yet for a ‘Venti’. Gypsy cabs become yellow cabs; off-brand menthols turn to Marlboros; and $5 bootleg video CD’s are replaced by Best Buy’s finest.

Lennox Lounge (288 Lenox Avenue at 125th) is the exception to this rule. If you are looking for midtown prices north of the park, here’s your spot. Beers (Harlem-brewed Sugar Hill is the best) run for $6 and martini’s cash in upwards of $10, depending on the girlyness of the drink. Price-wise, the cocktail crowd should feel quite at home.

Of course, there is reason behind the money. Lennox Lounge does Jazz well. On any given night you will find musicians in the back room, the front room, or – more rarely – both. (On the night Michael Jackson died, the band played jazz covers of every song on Thriller). And it is good Jazz. And it is right next to the subway for those looking to leave after a few drinks.

And the ambiance isn’t half-bad. It looks like a joint you would see in Capote or some similar period piece. The management renovated it to its original 1939 splendor ten years ago and it looks good.

Still, for all the jazz-age glamour of the decor and the jazz-fueled chatter of the patrons, the place feels fundamentally overpriced, especially for one of the few neighborhoods in Manhattan that isn’t.

Black Bear Bar & Grill

Upon first walking into Black Bear Bar & Grill it was not easily distinguishable from one of the two hundred other bars gracing the streets of Hoboken; however, on closer inspection this one stands out as a lively combination of sports bar, restaurant, and impromptu dance club. Over fifty TVs are spaced throughout its two floor setup, ensuring that you’ll get a good view of whatever NY game is playing even if you don’t have a seat. Both floors offer bar and restaurant seating and the second floor bar also has a DJ pumping out dance music during game time commercial breaks. The menu boasts a wide variety of choices – from brunch to burgers to rigatoni in vodka sauce – and is a major step up from most bar food (the French fries are irresistible). NY sports fans mingle with pride here, but don’t expect to enjoy too much conversation – the cheers, TV, and dance music make it next to impossible to hear what anyone is saying unless they are sitting on your lap. Overall, this place has a fun atmosphere, good food, great sports and to top it off, is reasonably priced. Sure, it’s not technically located in NY, but I’d say it’s worth the trip over the bridge.

Address: 205 Washington St, Hoboken, NJ

Gallaghers' Restaurant and Pub

I couldn't quite place this joint on the scale of things: great space, bar, area for a band, Irish lady to check your jacket. Great location to the theater and Time Square; yet, the decor was most definitely mismatched, if not confused. Picture of Western buffaloes and horses mingled with long time retired IRA agents typically do not go together. Additionally, the red and white checkered table cloths came off tacky. Finally, only one television and bad lighting make for a bad first date or place to hang out with your mates.

Overall, C+




Address: 228 W 52nd St (bw 7th and 8th)