124 Old Rabbit Club Bar / Speakeasy

Greenwich Village / NoHo, New York –

Situated in the middle of historic MacDougal Street, 124 Old Rabbit Club is a veritable Shangri-la of suds that any self-respecting beer lover will want to add to the barhop list.

The venue shares an address with a restaurant on street level, so patrons in the mood for brew must descend a flight of stairs and ring a buzzer to get into this tiny single-room bar – which reaches capacity at barely thirty guests.

Industrial bulbs and the odd votive candle cast a dim glow over the edgy downtown professionals and chill rockers who settle in to peruse the lengthy beer menu – several dozen options, heavy on Belgian goodness – overseen by morbid bunny images, from bloody paintings and hunting targets to odd book cutouts, that decorate the exposed brick walls and tiled bar.

Groups of chatty work friends, deafened by the indie, noise, and classic rock blaring from the speakers behind them, pile in around the single tables in front and back, as good-natured booze snobs dole out advice to the NYU film students propped up on the room-length line of stools.

In the early evening, this bombed-out, Berlin-esque ale house sees a steady stream of regulars, though late at night is when it really overflows with excitable intellectuals ready to sip Tripels and scream over the music.

Dark and industrial, the strangely cozy 124 Rabbit Old Club is living proof that New York’s coolest spots are hard to find and easy to fill.