Homey tapas bar in Hell's Kitchen. Settle in for a fun night.

Freaky people dancing to a mélange of Blondie, blues, and rock 'n' roll.

Foosball-lovin' after work pub with a family-style juke that's full of your neighbors' mix CDs, for better or worse.

Bring your pup to this jukebox-and-billiards drinking den.

Red Hook dive with impressive beer list, sweet back yard.

150-year old bar with classic wood details draws cool crowds of cognoscenti and ghosts.

More than members only at this dingy, comfy spot. Bartendress Heather's iPod is an indie audiophile's dream.

Faux dirty hub of S. Slope indie scene. Sick juke and carefully rumpled kids who will name that tune. Just try them.

Social spot for alkies, dirtballs, suits, and assorted EV neophytes.

Clean-cut bar with a juke so good it's got its own stool. Plus, Scrabble!

A cramped but worthy respite from Amsterdam's frat bar row.

Formerly O.W. (as in Oscar Wilde), this is the least interesting of the Upper East Side gay venues. The Chelsea-generic bar’s most enticing feature is the patio out back. Come after work for happy hour and mingle with friendly enough retail queens a

Try to ignore the pentagram mosaic in the middle of the garden.

Known for brunch, but infamous for the bar scene.

Play your favorite 31,000 songs on the juke while lamenting demise of live music.

Legendary corner in the middle of a midtown block.

Tin-ceilinged throwback to classier times, with patio and live jazz.

Handsome Dick Manitoba teaches a living history lesson to unschooled E. Vill youth.

Cranked up just enough to become a neighborhood mainstay.

MySpace.com, the musical. You have 900 friends, and they've all been wasted here.

Happy gay bar with fireplaces. Lesbian Wednesdays rule.

Old-school drinkery that remembers when Ave B was scary and still hasn't received the rezoned-for-gentrification memo.

Tasty tapas + stiff drinks = good times.