21 Essex Street (btw Division & Rutgers)
New York, NY 10002
no phono
Bathroom situation
- 2 single-person honey bucks in the back on the right. There’s one in
the way-back that has a quasi-hidden sliding door. Charming pink decor
in both, which we can only assume is an homage to Pink Panther-era King
Killa. Suck it or not!
Crowded on weekends? -
this spot is still deliciously new and, though it’s firmly ensconced in
the LES, is still on some “you gotta know someone in the know to even
know about this shit” shit. This’ll likely change come this summer, but
fuck, it’ll be Summer in NYC - the time of year when frowns and grumpys run off to some corner of Queens to hibernate. Exposed dentals is a must.
Seating - a big ol’ booth in the front, 10ish stools along the bar and a Spades setup in the back.
Neighborhood
- the only part of the LES left to develop, really. May have to walk
uptown a bit to catch a late-night cab...unless you’re, you
know...entitled. Or, even better, entittied. And white.
Pretentious/assholes
- we’ve had a few bolos roll up on us and start it up with us with that
“Dude, i’m just trying to talk to you...” shit. Drunken bolo’s of NYC,
here’s a thing: no one actually has to listen to you. You can’t get
incensed when someone says to you, “Ok, we’re done here.” and turns back
to the conversation they were having before you tsunami’d your way over
here like it was all good. Go die somewhere.
Cost of Stella
- not yet, but that’s not a “forever no” like the possibility of an
Arrested Development feature film is (trust us, it’s really not a good
idea anyway).
What time people start showing up - Cheers was always like the perfect amount of full at all times, right? Not sayin’. Just sayin’.
Bartender efficiency
- fully decent. Because of the narrow nature of Beverly’s floorplan,
there’s not much room around the bar, which cleverly, naturally reduces
any crowding, eye-rolling, bumping or “Hey, why’d that
singer-from-Korn-lookin’ suckfuck get his drink before me?” type of
bullshit.
Official Website - here. A lot of it is still “coming soon” (GROAN!!!), but we still see what they did there...
Food? How late - they have art exhibits and shit here from time to time, which is something to “oh, nice” about.
TVs? What's on - this season of Mad Men’s
focus on infidelity is a welcome change of pace and all, but can they
at least for a second acknowledge that the triflin’-ass dirtbags of the
60’s knew of and engaged in positions other than missionary? Would it
kill them to have a salad tossed or a tower Eiffeled?
Guy:girl ratio - real talk: how do
the hot-ass tall chicks of NYC hear about all these swaggy new joints as soon
as they open? Marketing is the easy answer, but there’s gotta be
something more, right?
Toys
- the ATM outside, which you’ll be headed to if you didn’t adequately
prepare for the bartender’s 1-sentence speech that goes “Oh, sorry, we
don’t take credit cards.” And that’s how you feed your joke a sentence, bitch! No charge.
Age of clientele
- turning 30 is nothing. It’s 31 that’ll make you feel like you chose
the wrong cup from the ending of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Space for dancing?
- there is a little spot just past the end of the bar where you can go
to show the chicks that you know more couplets from 2 Chainz’ “Birthday
Song” than just “All I want for my birthday is a big-bootie ho.”
Sing/Rap along! Awwwwww...
Music medium, style & volume - all types of ill shit.
Specials or most popular drink
- not sure - hopefully the “Coming Soon” part of the Menu section on
their site will tranform into “Free booze for trill-ass muthafuckas” at
some point...keep checking back.
