Rudy's Bar & Grill

Hell's Kitchen, New York –

Since opening in 1933, Rudy’s Bar & Grill has embodied the perennial Hell’s Kitchen dive: a place where old men go to turn their livers to paste amid the persistent odor of free hot dogs.

The grizzled farts are still there, as are the heaping plates of weenies, but the dominant patrons at this time-honored dump are young, rowdy, and – thanks to beggarly beer prices – usually hammered.

Once past the smiling pig statue out front, after-work crowds of fun-loving Midtown professionals, exuberant bros, and laid-back musicians file into the red-walled space to down rounds of $7 pitchers of house Blonde Ale from their spots in bright burgundy booths, most of which are swathed in so much duct tape they’d send a germaphobe screaming.

Packs of outgoing co-workers squeeze in at the counters by the front windows, yelling at each other over the din of conversation and the jazz, pop, and classic rock blaring from the jukebox in back, as no-nonsense bartenders zip between the thirsty college kids and roaring drunks perched on barstools, doling out $4 domestics and the dogs they come with.

Usually by mid-afternoon on any given day, the space is tightly packed with drinkers who, weather permitting – or if the damn thing is even open – spill out to the lawn furniture in the backyard to smoke, bray, and maybe barf till dawn.

Though its neighborhood is now cluttered with trendy lounges and tourist traps, Rudy’s Bar & Grill ensures that at least a little bit of Hell’s a-poppin’.