Drinkin' For Cheap in NYC.

The better dressed younger brother of the famous and infamous Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas, this E Village new standard deserves a hand for adapting to the city while staying true to its Las Vegas roots. I should know; I cut my drinkin’ teeth in the west coast location. The bartenders are fantastic (Allison will keep you laughing all night) and the booze is cheap! $3.50 Double Down Lagers, $5 wells, $4 shots of Ass Juice (I ain’t gonna tell you what it is, you’re going to have to suss that one out on your own.) The juke is rockin’, and in the summers the back patio is a great place to throw back a few during their great happy hour specials. Even better? On Sundays, weather permitting, there are honest-to-goodness barbecues. It’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven. Stinky, bleary, boozy heaven.

Remember sneaky pete’s in your friend’s parent’s house in junior high? Drinkin’ schapps on the plastic covered couch or takin’ swigs of rotgut under the billiards table? If so, then Welcome to the Johnson’s will bring back some fine memories. If not, I’d say you’re due to make up for lost time. Designed to have the look and feel of a rec room in the 70s or 80s, Johnson’s is a good, loud dive with good, strong, cheap drinks. You might have to withstand a slew of downtowners to saddle your way up to the bar, but it beats drinkin’ in midtown any day. Just don’t spill on the sofa.