Hang outs

[EL COLORADO]

Ok,...where do you guys and gals go once youre suited up and duded/dolled out.
Any favorite places you go and hang out in particular and fit right in.
Restaurants, jazz clubs, lounges, vintage diners, car shows, etc.?

 

[Senator Jack]

Good question, EC. The fact is, there's not much. My gal and I have been going to the swing dances at Connolly's on 45th and I ain't tootin' my own horn when i say we're among the best dressed there. 85% of the people are in t-shirts or pullovers. We used to go for drinks at the Algonquin but that's gotten pretty terrible too. They can't mix any more and the clientele aren't much to look at. We just went back to the Lit Lounge for the first time in 6 months but the DJ went sour on us. The Saturday night guy used to play 60s garage and Motown but this past week he was playing mostly 80s. What was cool about it is that when he was doing the 60s stuff, because it's in a brick basement it looks like a scene from a Peter Sellars movie. Some discoteque in Paris circa 62 perhaps. Maybe last week was just off. I dunno.

The Felix Hernandez Rhythm Revue dances at Roseland are hit and miss depending on what he's playing. He used to play a lot of 50s/60s soul and then get into 70s/80s at about 11:00. The last time we went it was mostly the latter. The one good thing about it is that nearly everyone is dressed to the nines. The older black crowd shows up, guys in their 60s and 70s, and they always look sharp. Lots of suits and hats. I suggest you check it out. The next one is Dec. 10. here's the link: http://www.classicsoul.com/

If you know of any place else, please let me know.

Cheers,

Senator Jack

 

[EL COLORADO]

Well NY is fulla places.

One of my favorite all around hang spots is The Lenox Lounge in Harlem.
That place is frozen in time. The interior in unbeleivable. Great Jazz.

Another place for just relaxin is the Campbell Apartment.
Unbeleivable lounge. With swing sometimes on the weekends
"Hidden" in the Grand Central Terminal building.
Another place frozen in time.
(proper attire required sign at the front entrance)

N' when im a little hungry Ill hit Chan's Dragon Inn, right over the bridge in Jersey. An untouched 60's Tiki bar/ restaurant,..frozen in time.
I cant even begin to describe that place!

I know what your sayin about that 60's vibe though. Joints that play that authentic kinda music is impossible to find. Me and my buddies were talking about how cool it would be to open a early 60's type lounge that played that kinda music,...like the old Whiskey A Go Go in Chicago or the Peppermint Lounge in NY,....with a few house bands and a dance floor. That would be crazy!

 

[Veronica Parra]

THE DERBY on Hillhurst and Los Feliz Blvd. in Los Angeles. For about 15 minutes back in 1997, it held the best vintage '30s-'40s dressed group of people on the face of the earth. Root knows what I'm talking about! Remember Erik and Sylvia? Peter and Lisa? Jerry and ... well, a lot of girls? Nathan Marsak and Nigel Cox?

 

[Senator Jack]

Ill hit Chan's Dragon Inn, right over the bridge in Jersey. An untouched 60's Tiki bar/ restaurant,..frozen in time.

Wow, you know Chan's! This is one of our favorites. Even the waiters are from that era.

I just found out about Campbell by passing the sign outside GCS. It read 'Cocktails from another era" and being a cocktailian I thought I should put them to the test. Maybe I'll go there next week.

And, ah, the Pep. The drunken days of my youth watching The Cramps. That is one place I sorely miss.

I had been looking into opening a tiki place in NY long before the half-hearted tiki craze hit. I thought it would be impossible to make money playing the sort of music I'd want to play AND have a dress code. Seems I was right about that. When they opened Otto's and Wally's they did everything just as I expected. Musicians for bartenders, bad cocktails, loud music.


Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[MudInYerEye]

Sadly there is nowhere left in the city that inspires me to get dressed up for club-wise on a regular basis. Of course there is the odd event. Going out to eat is an entirely different story. I've never been to Luger's suitless.
My favorite watering hole: Lakeside Lounge on Avenue B. Best jukebox downtown no contest.

 

[EL COLORADO]

Yeah, Lugers is a class joint.
Jack, if you dig Chan's you woulda hit the roof at Lee's, not too far away in Clifton. Another 60's tiki lounge/restaurant/time machine. They used to have a real Hawaiian floor show review on the weekends. The place would be packed.
That was the place to be!
Would you beleive early last year, the place caught fire. Totally destroyed.
I really miss it. :cry:


EL C.

 

[Senator Jack]

Yeah, I've eaten at Lee's, EC, but I never did get around to seeing the floor show. I can't believe they're gone! What a loss.

SJ