No, you won’t find Claudia Schiffer hanging out at this UES watering hole. Luckily, you won’t find any mulleted, leather panted magicians either. In fact, this place has absolutely nothing to do with the swarthy illusionist, but is named after Charles Dickens’ autobiographical novel of the same name. That said, this joint is hardly as tragic as Dickens’ story. Quite to the contrary, good times can be had by all in this friendly pub with its large menu of foreign and domestic beers, tasty burgers and pleasant surroundings. The waitstaff–as is the case with many pubs–needs to be told about twelve times to bring ketchup or napkins or anything other than beer. We have no idea what causes these brain-farts among servers, but we’ll just chalk it up to ineptitude. Despite the somewhat suspect food service, the bartenders are very attentive and quick to pour a nice pint. We even got a couple buybacks (tada!) after showing them that we were in for the long haul. Overall, DC’s is a darn good place to meet a group of friends for a few pints and a burger. The only drawback is that you may feel a little like Tiny Tim by the time you drag your ass all the way over to York Ave. [MF]
1394 York Ave.