darkroom Bar / Lounge

Lower East Side, New York –

First-timers who come upon the plain exterior of Darkroom won’t be able to tell what they’re in for, but those who dare to venture down the dim staircase will need only one look at the crowded room of drunken young urbanites rocking out on the dance floor and making out in the corners to understand the venue’s appeal.

This black-on-black room with stone walls, leather banquettes, huge round ottomans, and plenty of mirrors for checking out other patrons is usually full of excitable guests sipping cocktails and flirting over the music or pushing their way through the boisterous crowd to the jam-packed zebra wood bar to buy each other drinks.

During the week, a somewhat mellower crew of Lower East Side hipsters and grungy types shows up to dance to the heavy beat of the DJ in the cramped center dance space, while weekends see an influx of rowdier and sufficiently smashed young professionals doing the same thing to a more upbeat pop soundtrack.

Weekends begin on Thursdays when the hard-partying clientele stays late for the vodka specials, then continues on Fridays and Saturdays as sweaty singles escape to cozy corners to engage in the heavy drinking and “mingling” that Darkroom is famous for.