You know those Saturday nights when you don't have any plans? I must say it is a pretty refreshing feeling. The only problem with nothing planned, is choosing something from the about one zillion options outside of your doorstep in NYC.
Last Saturday night, my roommate Theresa and I found ourselves in just this situation and it was a perfect night - something necessary to take advantage of. Theresa's friend Lauren had stopped by the bar
Painkiller around 11:00pm on the Lower East Side, but said it was too crowded to get in. Lucky for us, Theresa and I weren't even ready to go out until about 1:00am so we decided to take our chances (plus
New York Magazine listed the Painkiller's Zombie as, the "Best Lethal Drink").
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| Source: nytimes.com |
When we arrived on the quiet Essex Street block, we thought maybe we had written down the wrong address? There was an unmarked bar with a door that read, "Tiki Bar," which turned out to be the right place. Let me tell you, 1:00am might just be the perfect time to hit up this island themed oasis. When entering, you are greeted by a superfriendly bouncer who could moonlight as Cee Lo Green and loves Charlie Sheen. The bar was definitely not crowded, but it seemed most of the tables in the back were full of couples or good friends and the bar itself was just dotted with patrons. Also, the bar is perfectly decorated to look like a classy tiki bar with its bamboo walls, masks and framed beach themed pictures.
We were a little overwhelmed by the amount of tropical sounding options on the
drink menu, so we decided to just ask the bartender to ease our pain - aka bartender's choice. What resulted were two colorful, beautifully crafted drinks ($12 each) - one made with vodka and one with rum, both topped with mountains of tiny ice cubes (think grown-up snow cones) and pipe-cleaner bird decorations. I must say, we both could have handled something stronger, but the drinks sure were tasty!
I will definitely head back to Painkiller again sometime soon, especially next time I want to get a taste of the islands in both my drinks and my atmosphere.
Check out this
video from Thrillist!
Painkiller
49 Essex Street (
map)
Hours:
Sun - Thu: 6:00pm - 2:00am
Fri - Sat: 6:00pm - 4:00am
