The Uptown Restaurant and Bar Bar / Restaurant

Upper East Side, New York –

Multi-faceted Uptown Restaurant and Bar is a popular after-work hangout that’s a good notch classier than a sports bar – from its bold décor and live jazz to its sizeable drinks list – but still promises a rowdy weekend vibe and a chance to catch the game in style.

The back area boasts pink and purple walls, sheer drapes, and a private bar situated under a thirty-foot skylight, beneath which martini sippers can sink into private velvet booths for a private affair. Further along, a more open area offers a half-dozen flat-screens, as well as several high-tops usually full of young twenty-somethings watching a game (or playing the dating one).

The vibe ranges from cool jazz and wine nights early in the week to live rock later on, while Fridays and Saturdays typically play host to DJs spinning loud Top 40 and a just-out-of-college crowd of Upper East Side young professionals mingling and boozing and falling in love at first pint.

Buffalo wings and pizza are a big hit off the Americana menu, but there’s also classier fare like fresh fish, filet mignon, and pan-seared tuna for date-nighters and trendy pre-gamers to dig into. Sunny weekends, meanwhile, draw a large neighborhood brunch crew thanks to prix fixe entrées that come with potent Bloody Marys or mimosas.

Although The Uptown Restaurant and Bar has a slight case of multiple personality disorder, its varied personas join together to cater to a mixed bag of loungers and bar crawlers with similar drinking aspirations.