Hooligan's

Hooligan’s attempts to bring the passion and fervor of soccer hooligans from the UK to the US, in a sports bar that focuses very little on actual sports and more on smashing someone’s face in. Be careful wearing your favorite team’s jersey here, as it will most likely result in the rival team’s fans beating you senseless, although this can be tricky since wearing a jersey is mandatory. Ordering at the bar can also be difficult, as drinks aren’t so much served as much as violently hurled at your head at random, but as your reaction time improves you’ll catch one eventually.

If you’ve never been in a sports-related confrontation before, the World’s Goriest Soccer Riots DVD that plays continuously on a loop on the bar television should give you a few pointers, but if you can’t see the TV through your freshly fractured retinas, just remember the hooligan’s motto: ‘When In Doubt, Gouge, Gouge, Gouge’.

Prohibition Tavern

Prohibition Tavern markets itself as a place with all the comforts of a regular bar, but without the alcohol. Not surprisingly, it blows. However, it’s maintained a small but loyal customer base, consisting mainly of dorks and nuns. They offer the usual assortment of non-alcoholic drinks, but aside from the variety of juices and teas, you can also try their house non-fermented beer, which is just a pint glass of barley and yeast filled with tap water. On second though, don’t.

The place maintains a nice 1920’s-era décor, with the parquet flooring and potentially fatal electrical wiring, but it’s not enough of a draw in itself. Most newcomers inevitably wind up next door at Hooch, the speakeasy-themed bar, where every half-hour a portly, comically-mustachioed Irishman in a constable uniform bursts through the front door and bellows “WHAT’S GOING ON IN HERE?” to raucous cheers and applause.

Leper’s

Depressed lighting, morbidly graphic murals and wheelbarrows of mannequin corpses await you at Leper’s, the area’s only Black Death themed bar. Although business has been spotty at best, Leper’s has been consistently lauded for sparing no detail in its devotion to the bubonic plague, right down to the staff, which consists only of cheerless amputees and acne-scarred bartenders.

Although the soundtrack of coughing, heaving, and pleas for the sweet mercy of death is a bit much, it’s worth it to stick around and check out the specialty cocktail list, where you can get an Abscess-tini, Tumor and Tonic, or house favorite Big Bottle o’ Puss, or as it’s commonly known, Busch Light. Also, don’t miss the live salsa music on Saturday’s with the peppery Senõr Loco’s Mariachi All-Stars.  

Shank

At the only bar modeled after the hit HBO prison drama "Oz," customers can delight in the culture of prison life without having to go to the trouble of stabbing someone in public. From the moment they enter the door, patrons are assigned a gang and are required to mingle only with fellow gang members. Those who disobey are sent to ‘the Hole’ for an hour, a series of dimly lit closets where you are only allowed to drink amaretto sours. Few re-offend.

Even if you’ve never seen "Oz," it’s easy to appreciate the effort that went into the theme, from the metal toilets to the heavily armed security to the almost suffocating sense of homoeroticism. Also, don’t miss Adebisi Thursdays, where all psychotic, homicidal Nigerians drink half off. 

(Photo by Sam Sessa)