New York City's Top #4
A list of standout bars featured on the Danny’s-O-Meter, a ranking system that puts nightlife on a scale of 0 to 100% Danny’s Tavern, my favorite-now-shuttered bar in Chicago
Read about my favorite spots in New York City, as featured on the Danny’s-O-Meter, my ranking system that puts bars, clubs and other venues on a scale of 0 to 100% Danny’s Tavern, my favorite-now-shuttered bar in Chicago.
If you want to learn more about The Danny’s-O-Meter yet, click here.
1. Gabriela
90 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Last Fall I was reading an article and glazed over the mention of Gabriela’s planned opening, eye-rolling at the mention of Williamsburg and fearing imminent disappointment at the thought of a good-club-concept-turned-mid (scroll to the bottom for my Honorable Mentions). It wasn’t until few months later, after publishing my piece on Danny’s Tavern that I received a recommendation from a reader to check out Gabriela, particularly their free Thursday nights dubbed Romance Thursdays. An ‘everything goes’ kind of night, I read, with a focus on disco, house, hi-NRG and new wave, led by Gabriela owner and DJ Eli Escobar, with plenty of surprises and other genres from guest DJs.
Seemingly so, Gabriela has triumphantly echoed many of Danny’s sentiments that I’ve been missing — these same qualities have been mentioned in rave reviews from a handful of New York culture magazines. An example from Time Out below:
We really deeply care about the landscape of our city, as Escobar was quoted — I have felt this while at Gabriela. I’m charmed by the reasonable-to-no-cover and friendly bouncers; the small-yet-spacious layout that includes huge booths; the winding metal staircase that leads to a loft-like upstairs with extra seating; the candles (I can’t remember if they’re real or fake) and dim light and casual fog; multiple corners of bathrooms and corners to stash your coat if you’re frugal like me and don’t want to pay for coat check. A perfectly medium-sized dance floor, easy to get lost in or shimmy through to dance right in front of the DJ booth. This isn’t a cash grab or some aesthetically pleasing vibe trap.
The place is already busy at 10:30pm on a Thursday night (early by rave standards and perfect for my sleep schedule) and can grow a small line out the door just an hour later — it’s for this very reason I haven’t even tried going on a weekend, plenty satisfied by the Thursday status quo. Even reading the weekly newsletter in my email inbox feels personal and heartfelt, which shares the weekend schedule and straightforwardly describes what music to expect so we don’t have to try and interpret what some vague, over-synonymed DJ description really means, which always makes me question who the hell was hired to copywrite for club newsletters and why it’s not me instead.
The only downsides to Gabriela have been the pricey drinks ($16-$18 cocktails) and a sometimes unenthused crowd. While the majority of the dance floor is usually dancing amorphously, I have noticed myself becoming distracted by girls turning their nose up to me when their purses bump into mine (literally, relax) and too many people yell-talking to the point of why are you on the dance floor. This is the type of crowd that will not only aggressively shove you for a spot on the dance floor, but also refuse to move when you say, “Excuse me” and try to move past them. But then again, in these situations, I share the advice I give to myself when experiencing these crowds which is to not give a fuck because you’re here to dance.
So I digress, the place is full of life. And full of damn good music. And the spirit of this place makes it feel extra welcoming to talk to strangers, which is a win these days.
Check out Gabriela. Dancing will save you!
Rating: 89%
2. Barbès
376 9th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Barbès, the most established venue of this list, opened in 2002 by two French expats looking to provide a Brooklyn-based music venue for all world genres. Today, I joke that it’s the night club for Park Slopers, besieged to a crowd that ranges from salt-and-pepper-haired intellectuals, to new parents, and to people like me (living in a neighborhood outside of my age demographic). Barbès is for music lovers, for jazz lovers, for live bands, for flirting if I ever actually did, for those who love dancing, for people who speak more than one language, for people who speak a language I can’t understand but will eavesdrop on anyways because I like to listen.
Weekdays are just as important as weekends at Barbès, and that’s why their seven-days-a-week live band programming makes me consider this place a beating heart of New York’s nightlife culture. Every Tuesday is Slavic Soul Night, featuring an 8-10 piece American Balkan brass/jazz band, and every Wednesday is Mamady Kouyate’s Mandingo Ambassadors, a West African/Guinean guitar troupe. In a city of where there’s allegedly something going on every night of the week somewhere, it’s a surprise to me that many popular dance clubs are not open on off days like a Sunday or Monday. Back in Chicago, I can recall a particular Sunday night wandering into Danny’s, the bar relatively quiet except for a few regulars, and my friends and I going to dance on the otherwise empty dance floor— it’s where I heard Forget Me Nots for the first time. It’s moments like these that are integral to the joy of discovery: finding new music, spending time with friends, finding community; the quieter moments that stay with us, the moments we do not expect.
Barbès is a bar for all, whether you want to attend a show or not. Regardless, they’re either free or a suggested donation or range from $10-$20. If not going to see a show, you’ll hear the performers music no matter what, and if you want you might be able to get a peek through the small window that separates the bar from the back room. The bands play against a dark red curtain, and seated spectators can take watch at tables and chairs on the sidelines, or sometimes sit right in front. You can always assume the crowd will be dancing. Barbès may be untread territory by Bushwick and Ridgewood transplants who do not leave their neighborhood, but I could bring my parents here and my friends and a hot date; I could even bring all these people here at once. Not many places can say the same.
What would I want to book there? An Italo disco night. With a live singer, of course!
Rating: 91%
3. Rash
941 Willoughby Ave, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY 11221
Rash opened in the early months of my first year living in New York, back when I was going out with the fervor of a newborn experiencing life for the first time. I accidentally happened upon the club’s soft opening one night, then the next weekend for the official opening night, and then various weekends after that, including a Sunday night on Halloween and a free Vegyn DJ set in early winter.
If I felt like a regular anywhere during my first year in New York, I felt like a regular here, even though most nights I commuted a near hour to Bushwick from my rent stabilized apartment in South Slope, where my bathroom ceiling leaked sewage water (among other nightmares1). My rent was cheap, I worked a deluded retail job in Soho, and it was agreed upon by myself, God, and society that I deserved a strong drink for every cockroach I murdered for disrupting my peace (this occurred often). The cover at Rash was either free or $10, and in the first few months you could just draw an X on your wrist in Sharpie and sneak in through the side door.
Rash was made up of two rooms: a main room with a bar and benched lounge area, plus a horrifically unkempt two-stall bathroom with short saloon doors and fresh graffiti, too new to be at all authentic. There was only one narrow pathway that led to the dance floor, which was not only probably a safety hazard, but made it feel similar to Danny’s, as if you were shimmying past lines of people down the hall of a busy house party.
While most Bushwick clubs have an unavoidable hard-on for techno2, I was surprised for the variety of music I heard during my time spent there; Rash quickly became the place to go when there was nothing ‘going on,’ because there was always something going on, something different from the weekend before. The dance floor was small and angular, and the only way you could see anyone around you was if the room was packed — the fog made it hard to see really anything.
I could easily run into an acquaintance or two any night spent at Rash, which did quite cater to a crowd: black-clad, clod-stomping youth, slinging poppers, wearing belts as tops, and using the dead-end street beside it as a homebase for vomiting, pissing, and snorting coke. A place meant for a Bushwick party and not much beyond that. Even if an early evening or weekday night warranted a chiller environment, I wouldn’t have thought to take a date there or go to catch up with a friend. Frankly, if a date took me to a bar with half-exposed saloon bathroom doors, I’d probably run.
But then in April 2022, not even a full year later, an arsonist set the place on fire and the club closed. It was reported that they’d reopen, but the news has been all sorts of quiet, except for a Rash-sponsored summer DJ set series in the heart of Times Square. If only my friends were at all enthusiastic about loitering in Times Square for happy hour as I have ever been.3
UPDATE as of Wednesday, April 17, 2024: I’m pleased to announce that Rash announced their comeback — tonight and through the next two weekends is their official reopening! I’ll have to share updates when I finally go check it out…
UPDATE as of Thursday, January 21, 2025:
At this rate, I’ve become an aggressively loyal Gabriela patron and can’t quite say if I’ll ever make it back to Rash, but I hope whoever is going there is having a good time. If a night eventually leads me back into that cloud of fog, I will be sure to post an update.
Rating: 85%
4. Mansions
46-63 Metropolitan Ave, Ridgewood, Queens, NY 11385
In between the time of Gabriela and Rash, if anything could so mirror the familiar homestead layout of Danny’s Tavern, it’s Mansions, a natural wine bar/club that lives in the industrial corridor bordering Ridgewood and Bushwick. With a full bar and small dance floor, plus an back outdoor patio with high tables, bench seating, ashtrays for chain smoking, and a counter for peddling late night food, it’s almost as if they want you to stay there forever. If only the drinks weren’t so expensive (this seems to be my most common qualm with NYC nightlife), and it wasn’t in the middle of a desolate, transportation desert, I’d be there as much as I’m at Gabriela.
The dance floor is small, carpeted (some people really hate it, I do not) and cast in fog. Look up at the ceiling to see those orb lights that modern restaurants love, except they glow and change color, like this is some sort of spaceship. The wood-paneled walls make me feel like I’m at my old duplex apartment in Chicago, and the space is decorated with so many pieces of gaudy grandma-level ceramic fruit art that it’s really almost like being back in the Midwest. Top it off with a friendly bouncer (this one middle-aged guy— if you’re reading this, love you!) and a help-yourself coat rack.
The only downside to the space is the bathroom being smack dab at the entrance to the dance floor, which creates a traffic jam of drunk people who need to pee and drunk people who do not. But extra points go to the weird VIP-vibed outdoor port-a-potty section just beyond a mysterious door next to the DJ booth, if you’re daring enough to explore — I had no idea what it was for a while and could not discern the sign on the door. I guess “layout” could’ve been another key element on my bar ranking system.
Mansions is also a haphazardly late night crowd; show up at 11pm and it might be too early, show up at 1am and there might be a line out the door. This is a crowd with a stomach made of steel, pockets full of cash and no plans to get out of bed tomorrow. But despite its unclear peak hours and steep drink prices (only somewhat redeemable because of the no cover), it can just about mimic the house party feeling I’m looking for.
If only I lived close enough to be a regular, then I’d have a better insight to their DJ programming, because recent reports from friends have been on both ends of the good-to-bad spectrum, anywhere from ‘the music was pretty good’ to ‘the dance floor was empty at 11pm. And to top it off, Charli XCX did have her Boiler Room after party there, so it’s seemingly become what people might describe as ‘popped off.’ I choose to still have hope, but take what you will with that information.
Rating: 80%
Last but not least,
Ciao Ciao Disco
97 N 10th St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Self-described as “a 1970’s Roma-inspired cocktail lounge & discoteca,” which genuinely couldn’t be more accurate in regards to its light up dance floor and mirrored walls. No cover and simple 2-room layout. Bathroom enclave to separate pissers and dancers alike. Most DJs I saw looked to be over 50 (for disco, this is usually a trustworthy sign). Downsides include overpriced clunky cocktails and being unable to avoid a pretty stiff Williamsburg crowd (a Reddit thread calls it a “Manhattan vibe”), due to the inescapably well-lit dance floor, where I can witness people being awkward. I did bring my mom there though, and she did dance with a woman in a crazy neon getup.
Rating: 59%
Winnie’s Bar
58 E Broadway 2nd fl, New York, NY 10002
An upstairs karaoke bar with more red curtains and a bamboo-lined smoking patio. Roomy bathrooms for safe peeing and funny business, plus big U-shaped booths perfect for groups, public singing, and having the mic yanked out of your hand when your song is too long (6 minutes) and too depressing (End by The Cure). When it’s crowded it’s crowded, so you’d better have a spot secured. Decent ‘dive’ prices, even though every song you put down costs a $1 (or $2?). Sadly not open on Monday or Tuesday nights, which are arguably great bar nights (and two less days out of the week for a potential dramatic falling out with your friend).
Rating: 67%
Big Bar
75 E 7th St, East Village, New York, NY
Contrary to its name, Big Bar is small. Good luck showing up with a group unless it’s a weeknight or off-peak time to squeeze into the wee-sized booths. No rowdy business or bullshit, which is written on the mirrored bar wall in a markered scrawl. No going in the bathroom in pairs. No room for a dance floor, but the DJ will spin vinyl in the corner and it’s always good. Cash only. Bathed in the red light. Perfect for dates, parents, birthdays, a drink after dinner, or catching up with a friend. All a must!
Rating: 70%
Maimonides Park (I can’t spell that)
1904 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224
Yes, folks, you heard me correctly. Not a bar or a club and yet Coney Island’s Home of the Cyclone’s Minor League baseball stadium does sell alcohol and has both music and entertainment at the ready. I discovered this gem last summer thanks to my friend Henry who said I had to come for a Friday night baseball game or I would live a life full of regret. He couldn’t have said it better.
Thanks to a $20 game ticket that comes with 2 complimentary beer/seltzers, I now know how to get properly and affordably sloshed on Friday nights in the summer. Finally, I have a place to dance in the bleachers free of judgement and dream that I could one day become a Cyclones cheerleader myself. If not, I’ll settle for being a participant in the Hotdog Race (people dressed up as human-sized hot dogs compete in a 50-yard dash). Who would you be: Ketchup, Mustard or Relish? And where is the Sauerkraut option?
Top it all off with the fireworks show, a loaded Nathan’s hotdog and a ride on the Cyclone roller coaster, and this stomach turner of a night is complete. There’s always the possibly of waking up the next day with some gastrointestinal issues, but hey, it’s worthwhile (and a normal morning for me). A club away from a club, you might say. More on Maimonides later (anyone know him? I heard he’s a philosopher).
Rating: 73%
On My Hit List:
Sugar Hill Supper Club, iconic supper club and dance hall in Bed Stuy with karaoke and light up dance floor. Sounds right up my alley and almost offensive I haven’t been yet…
Jean’s, clubstaurant in Noho — have been for dinner but must investigate the basement disco
Danger Danger, 80s themed tequila bar in Bushwick
The Box, just cuz
Have a spot in mind that I missed? Let me know.
My year of roaches and a gaslighting landlord. Plus a boiler implosion in the middle of December, no heat or hot water for 10 days while I had COVID in the middle of winter, my next door neighbor died, lobby ceiling fell in, mouse family, bathtub overflowed, roommates ceiling leaking.
That’ll be the subject of another essay
I LOVE Times Square! That place is nuts.