In their ever growing State the Obvious series of articles, the New York Times took a look at nightlife’s move away from bottle service toward more frugal minded drinking activities. They cite the keg service at Superdive, the no reservations policy at 675 Bar (a Barfly favorite) and the gritty vibe at Cabin Down Below as evidence that the drinking world is adapting to tough economic times.
We’re a bit dubious of their other examples. Swanky club Avenue has forbade the use of the words “bottle service”, opting for the less contentious moniker “table service.” Whatever you nickname it when a waitress brings a $350 bottle of hooch over to your table, it will always have the same name to us: a fucking rip off. Oh, and we forgot, we’re supposed to call it a gastro-lounge, not a club. In related news, club owners are trying to recast “credit-card debt” as “quality of life gold-stars”.
Superdive seems to be doing better in keeping the low-key vibe. Check out our favorite part of the article. Viva la Manday!
At a table, a group of men in their 20s and 30s shared a 5-liter keg of EKU Pils beer to celebrate what they call “Manday,” a semiregular male-bonding night out.
Superdive suited them more than a noisy club with menacing velvet ropes and $400 bottles of vodka, said David Sitt, 32, a Manday regular and psychology professor at Baruch College.
“When you watch the Flintstones and they are at the Water Buffalo Lodge,” he said, referring to the homey clubhouse where Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble and pals partied, “they don’t have bottle service there.”
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