Blah, blah it used to be good and now it sucks because people are actually coming to it and enjoying beer and pool… If I had a dime for every time I read a review of a bar in which some brat complained about people actually coming to his “neighborhood” bar, I’d have enough money to pay someone to go punch him in the face. Do you think the owners of Ace Bar appreciate actually having paying customers? Most likely. Do you think they care if those customers’ twenties come from the Upper West Side or three blocks away? Probably not. I mean who can resist the pseudo-divey bar with pool tables, jukebox and a relaxed attitude? Lounge in a corner banquet of the finest pleather and watch your buddies drunkenly play darts while some pierced dude at the bar sneers about the fuckin’ hipsters, and the fuckin’ hipster leans against the blood-red wall snarkily commenting about all the assholes with their messenger bags and “jobs.” But, in reality, the place is roomy, completely friendly, as comfortable as the world’s hippest frat house, and has beer that is available even to those of us with a paycheck and a dream. [MF]
531 E 5th St.
212/979-8476
acebar.com