Black Rabbit

With 19th century floorboards and booths with saloon-style swinging doors, Black Rabbit takes a cue from the true spirit Prohibition-era bars: I'm here to drink, get out of my way. Upon entering here you feel like kicking back a few shots of whiskey, doffing your fedora to the barkeep, and sauntering off to punch Hemingway in the guts. It's a noble endeavor for a New York speakeasy in the new millennium to cast off the popular artifice of "hiding" the bar, as the Back Room does, say, or as modern speakeasies like PDT do.

While the aesthetic is a decidedly American period piece, the menu comes off more like a London pub. Take, for example, the Welsh rarebit, a continental beer fondue. Or, more likely, don't. The menu also includes Black Angus mini-burgers, an Acme smoked trout plate, Bratwurst with German mustard, and other seasonal goodies that are the only anachronisms to be found in the joint.