New York

151 has no sign, just a staircase covered in graffiti leading down to an unmarked entrance. Once inside, you’ll find all the trappings of a sleek seventies rec room—vinyl wraparound couches, amber bead curtains, and glossy mod lamps—and the messily coiffed, sleaze-chic crowd to match. Music ranges from Guns N' Roses to angry girl punk—but never strays far from the irony-laden, hard-rock mainstream.

This cocktail lounge and coffee shop on the southern border of Morningside Heights begins selling hot drinks, breakfast foods and fresh baked bread at 8 a.m. then switches to small plates of cheese, chorizo, gratin de broccoli and the like until last call. At night Sip has drinks that will sate all your cravings from the French-style Absinthe Cocktail to the Bee’s Knees with honey to a Champagne–Southern Comfort mix.

Don’t miss the $5 Schmidt-faced (a can of Schmidt with a shot of well whiskey) or “reverse happy hour” at 2 a.m.

Housed in a converted garage, this blithe, quirky bar may share some of its neighbors' taste for vinyl kitchen chairs, cheesy nature paintings, and curtains stenciled with mallards, but it's more artsy, too: Check out the winding staircase that hangs from the ceiling like an Escher print come to life. Summer finds the garage door sliding open and transforming the setting from mildly ironic to as casual and lively as the stoops of the rowhouses nearby.

Besides beer, this bar has more than 30 vintage video games: Tetris, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, and, of course, Miss Pac Man.

Happing Endings use to be an "erotic" massage parlor, hence where the name came from. This club, featuring two floors, each with it's own feel. The first level lounge has sit-in red velvet booths, with low lighting. Downstairs kitsch has the original tiling and waist high show heads. The pervious sauna rooms have been turned into private party coves. There is no doubt that the previous massage parlor has kept, and passed down, the sex appeal to this, now, lounge bar.

The atmosphere at The Dead Poet is amiable and upbeat. The Dead Poet has a reputation for pouring one of the finest pints of Guinness in New York City-the pint is always fresh and served with a Shamrock. Or you can sample the extensive Irish whiskey menu.