7B

Now that Alphabet City has gone public, this dive is not such a deep, dark trade secret anymore -- everyone's got a 7B story. Also known as Vazac's or the Horseshoe Bar, 7B is on the edge of the East Village now surrounded by chic bistros and brunch places. Yet for decades, the dark, dirty, wooden watering hole has remained one of the last unpretentious places for locals to truly hang out. One of the reasons is cheap beer, offered in bottles or in over twenty varieties on tap at the horseshoe-shaped bar. Another is the jukebox, which drowns out any traces of conversation with loud punk or hard rock. A third is the games, where tattooed regulars and angst-ridden playwrights play pinball or kill deer (and time) in Mighty Buckhunter. Weekends are packed, mostly with the neighborhood crowd doing shots and downing pints. The service is spotty, there's probably gum on your seat, and some big biker dude just stole your girlfriend -- yet you love it.