Rare Bar & Grill (Chelsea)

Chelsea / Flatiron, New York –

Chelsea’s Rare Bar & Grill serves much the same purpose as its Murray Hill predecessor: putting a lux spin on typical diner fare and topping it all off with one helluva city view.

Located inside the Hilton Fashion District Hotel, the venue transports guests on its ground floor from the bustling garment district to a swanky, upscale lounge with dark wood and deep red furnishings.

Young sales assistants from neighboring designer showrooms join fashionistas at the long polished bar to sip rum and passion fruit, as hotel guests and successful local bros polish off artisan burgers and tequila-flambéd T-bones while they catch the game.

The real highlight, however, is the covered rooftop space, which offers patrons panoramic vistas of the Empire State Building and beyond and the same tasty booze served downstairs.

Cozy twofers and indoor/outdoor furniture offer groups the chance to chill in the open air and still keep an eye on the bar’s flat-screens, while stylish young couples fill the dark chairs and pass the time with Vodka Thymes and Kumquat Punch.

DJs usually turn things up a notch by 7:30pm Thursdays through Saturdays, just when the Charlotte Olympia-heeled ladies start to get tipsy and gush over the cityscape or the guys who just walked in.

A place that can satisfy football seekers, romantic daters, and packs of pre-gamers before they head to a nearby club, Rare Bar & Grill is a rare spot indeed.