Brass Monkey: The city’s best spillover bar has all the energy of the clubs that surround it, but none of the hassle. Granted, dudes in khakis stand where models might be if you were down the street at Bijoux, but try scoring a $6 pint in any MPD club. This pub is more than a little fancy for a watering hole that has 20 beers on tap, several TVs, and a DJ who’s stuck in the ’80s. A new second floor (complete with the same style of exposed brick walls, copper ceilings, and a mahogany bar) leads to a wood-planked roof top. With a few plain tables and stools, it’s certainly not highfalutin', but that also means you’re less likely to find a pretentious crowd here. In addition to serving up tasty burgers, Brass Monkey flexes its kitchen power by putting mussels and calamari on the bar-food-plus menu. Late nights here get the predominantly male crowd that the nightclubs didn’t want, but when you look at whom area nightclubs do admit—particularly on weekends—that’s not a bad thing. |
