HAPPY hours are here again!
If it’s true that New Yorkers are working harder than ever, they’re playing harder after work, too – piling into thriving bars and lounges all over town, from old standbys to trendy upstarts.
And happy hour isn’t just two-for-one drinks and greasy wings anymore – it’s all about tasty, sometimes free fare, designer cocktails and elegant atmospheres.
“I believe it’s because of the state of the economy,” offers Paolo Ruffi, manager of Bice, a Midtown bar and Italian eatery with a thriving happy-hour scene. “People are more willing to come out and have a good time.”
Whether you’re a Wall Street tycoon, a dot-commer, a fashion maven or an out-of-work actor looking to canoodle, there’s a watering hole awaiting you.
Here are some of the most happening in town:
* Happy hour at the Whiskey Blue in the W Hotel (541 Lexington Ave.) is straight out of the ’80s of a Bret Easton Ellis novel, minus the psycho killers.
The most swingin’ after-work spot in town, Whiskey Blue is packed with attractive professionals guzzling and nuzzling in near-darkness.
“I was going for something comfortable and sexy,” says Whiskey Blue owner Rande Gerber. “What I really wanted to create was something like an old ‘men’s club’ with a modern feel to it.”
Clusters of suits crowd the bar and waitresses in black miniskirts flit from one tiny marble table to another, serving single-malt scotches and 17 different tequilas ($9-$19). Some sports spring for a bottle of Dom Perignon ($285).
The sounds of piped-in jazz and pop can barely be heard over the din of conversation in this elegant and ample space – “a great place to meet young and wealthy singles,” says one gregarious drinker.
* Commuters and romantics alike gather to bend elbows inside Manhattan’s newly renovated landmark, Grand Central Terminal, which houses two distinct drinking environments: Michael Jordan’s (23 Vanderbilt Ave.) and the Campbell Apartment (15 Vanderbilt Ave.)
Don’t be fooled by the name – Michael Jordan’s is truly a New York experience.
The balcony’s smoking section overlooks the grand concourse, where the unhurried nibble on Jordan’s specialty, crunchy garlic-bread sticks in a gorgonzola sauce ($6.95), while watching the frantic masses dash for their trains.
Patrons at the art-deco bar can raise their glasses towards the station’s breathtaking aquamarine ceiling.
“A shift doesn’t go by when people don’t comment about the space and how beautiful it is,” says Jordan’s bartender Vincent Masterpaul.
* Next to Jordan’s and up a flight of stairs is the Campbell Apartment, the former office space of 20th-century business tycoon John Campbell.
This 1920s-styled lounge with Italian-influenced architecture and Moroccan flourishes serves classic cocktails in a cozy, timeless surrounding.
“I love the music and the room,” said Marissa Thompson, an ad agent from Murray Hill. “You feel really grown-up and special.” Jazz and cigar smoke mingle in the air as the appropriately attired sip on the gin-and-raspberry Bayard Fizz ($11.50), the joint’s most popular bracer.
* Over at Typhoon (22 E. 54th St.), it’s “Midtown types, investment bankers, dot-com people, middle management, some of the Wall Street crowd,” says manager Elaine Deanes. “On the ground floor, it’s sort of a fun singles scene.”
Resident brewmaster Jack Burkett created five house-brewed beers ($3-$4.75), all delicious, particularly the award-winning golden ale and the crisp, copper-hued pale ale.
Upstairs is a full restaurant, with wood paneling and an open kitchen, which serves Asian and American cuisine, including pad thai, filet mignon and rack of lamb ($17-$29).
* From 5:30 to 8 p.m., fashionistas gravitate toward Alex and Max’s (38 W. 39th St.), a small, bright-yellow bistro with an eclectic, friendly feel.
The 30-to-fiftysomething crowd rubs shoulders while listening to Jamaican music and feasting on a variety of free appetizers, from buffalo wings to shrimp lentil paté, and nursing their cocktails ($5-$7.50), beer ($4-$7) and wine ($5.50-$7.50).
Bartender Eddie Mercado, the 45-year-old mixmaster, whips up sugary concoctions including a special martini blended with grated watermelon ($7) in the summertime.
* For a slightly more downtown vibe, happy hour brings half-priced drinks Tuesday to Friday at Hush (17 W. 19th St.), a cool bar/club in Chelsea that draws from both uptown and downtown.
It’s a large, industrial space that holds up to 600 people and boasts a VIP lounge and three disco mirror balls.
Bartender Steve Grillo, former intern/whipping boy of “The Howard Stern Show,” is pleasant and attentive as he serves up the house special Orange Hush – a fruity concoction of Absolut Mandarin, Grand Marnier and OJ ($5) – cosmopolitans ($5) and bottled beers ($3) to parched professionals.
Free appetizers at the bar include quesadillas and dumplings.
Late-nighters are also welcome: Deejays spin Latin, house and hip hop into the wee hours.
“It’s a cool space, and it gets a nice mixed crowd,” said Jason Baum, 27, a medical student who lives in Chelsea. “And the drinks are big and cheap.”
* Those ready to smoke stogies, schmooze and mingle can snake through the beechwood and limestone corridors of the Four Seasons Hotel (57 E. 57th St.) to reach FiftySeven FiftySeven, the classy bar that opened in 1993.
Here patrons – in their late 20s and up – throw down dough and kick back in the confines of an updated Egyptian temple chamber.
“We don’t call it ‘happy hour,'” says Gerald Feurer, FiftySeven FiftySeven’s bar manager. “We don’t offer two-for-ones or themes … It’s New York down time.”
The liquor list features 14 different martinis ($15-$16), including a shagadelic potion – vanilla vodka, rum and pineapple juice – dreamed up by “Austin Powers” star Mike Myers and his wife, Robin.
And the room offers an abundant selection of standout snacks, such as savory sushi ($17) or a heaping plate of calamari ($16).
* Farther downtown, the young and hip jam into Sushi Samba (245 Park Ave. South, between 19th and 20th streets).
Brazilian tunes, Mondrian-style windows, bubble lighting and colorful walls in avocado, yellow squash and red pepper add to the flavor of this tiny bar and restaurant, set in the futuristic 1960s.
Between 4:30 and 6 p.m., rumbling bellies flock to pop light grub – Japanese creations with Latin infusions – into their mouths and wash it down with exotic rum libations ($7).
Try the beef skewers marinated in a tangy pepper sauce ($9.50), the deep-fried shrimp pockets ($11), or the rainbow dragon roll ($13.50) – eel with red pepper, mango and avocado.