I’ve sometimes found hotel bars to be depressing. Those faceless midtown joints where sad salesmen or mid-level execs wind down their evenings in tired surrounds. You know the tie-at-half-mast places that basically serve as a numbing way station for solo travelers before they head upstairs to fall into bed for a flight or another round of soulless meetings the next day. Back Bar ain’t that. And while, yes, it is behind the lobby of the Hotel Eventi, it can serve as a standalone should you need a nightcap or a pre-party cocktail.
Lighting is an underrated factor when it comes to drinking. There’s this perfect level of soft and dark that somehow makes alcohol taste better. It — along with the booze, I suppose — makes everyone and everything look better. It just generally improves the way things are. And Back Bar has found that level of luminescence. Granted, it did make it a little difficult for my increasingly aging eyeballs to see the drink menu without some iPhone assistance, but it made for a lovely atmosphere in and amongst the classic, mid-century decor. Honestly, the thing is catalog nice. Not overly fussy or anything, but certainly thoughtfully decorated and reminiscent of small boutique hotel bars of yore. Honestly, it’s a hex-tiled, rich-woods, gold-and-brass look we tried for in Casa del Hipster’s kitchen, but couldn’t have possibly gotten to this level of cool.
We sat at a high table / counter in the bar area, eschewing what I’m sure are super-crafty cocktails for a couple beers. Those mixed drinks look to be their forte, but we’d both already had our cocktails for the evening. Looking at the menu, they do sound delicious, and at $20 a piece, I suppose are in line with what classy joints charge these days. In retrospect, I probably should have gone for a Manhattan or something, but for some reason I was feeling beer. Anyhow, the server was super-nice and, seeing as we were pretty much two of around four people in the bar area, she was probably bored and just looking to chat up a couple people she probably figured were tourists, out-of-towners or, god forbid, foreigners. I’m sure our local-ness was disappointing, but she was very pleasant nonetheless. Also pleasant was the kind of lounge area next to the bar that has some couches and a wacky giant chandelier type thing that is made of what looked like a a million of those orange extension cords (but was probably something completely different). The bathroom was also cool, with its central sink setup (ladies and gentlemen sharing those wash stations) and its silvered mirrors and old-school white subway tile. I’m always up for an alt. toilet layout.
Anyhow, I liked this place’s vibe. I’m not certain I’d make it a destination per se, but if you do have out-of-town guests who are either staying in or around Chelsea, or need somewhere to chat for a bit in comfort with a nice drink late night, it would certainly suit. It looks like they have some sort of guest bartender thing on some nights and even live music on occasion. I kind of liked the volume it was at when I was there, so not sure how things would go in a more crowded or turnt up night, but it could always be one of those happy serendipitous finds if you happened to wander in on the right night.
851 6th Ave. (bet 29th & 30th St.)
212/201-4065
backbarnyc.com
