Nightlife in Brooklyn

Sending chuckles echoing throughout the surrounding neighborhood for more than 25 years, Standup NY has staged dozens of nationally acclaimed comedians including Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, Caroline Rhea, and Judah Friedlander. The intimate, 100-seat venue hosts as many as three available nightly performances from performers who have appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, and the kiss cam at an NBA playoff game. A full bar unleashes torrents of humor-helping cocktails, wine, and beer, and the kitchen plates piles of pub grub such as buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks chosen from a full menu of eats.

Named The Godmother of Burlesque by Vogue Italia, Bonnie Dunn has led troupes of pasty-wearing burlesque dancers for more than two decades. In nightly shows, her daredevil performers perform acrobatics on the ceiling, gulp swords, and spit fire. Dancers also venture out to parties to reveal the secrets to their art, and in-studio classes teach students how to shimmy and shake like a pro. The class ends after students make their first set of pasties, then incinerate them so foreign agents never learn how to duplicate our burlesque technology.

Peri Wine Bar curates a varied stock of quality vintages, serving them by the glass and bottle, alongside a menu of light fare. Rows of obsidian and amber bottles perch on hardwood shelves hanging from the rustic brick walls, their fragrant contents sourced from wineries across the world. Beneath hanging chandeliers, patrons divvy up gourmet pizzas, salads, and appetizers, emerging from a kitchen that remains open until the last, bleary-eyed call of the night. The bar hosts live music, DJs, jazz, and dancing during the course of the week, and the in-house WiFi pipes in with pairing recommendations and aerates chardonnays with essence of funny-cat videos.

Fusing the best parts of a posh New York nightspot and a low-key Moroccan hideaway, Disiac Lounge graces nightly crowds with a menu of falafels, paninis, and cheese plates to pair with a panoply of sumptuous cocktails. Plush red stools line the neon-lit bar, where tenders whip up a host of chocolate-liqueur-infused libations, stir signature martinis in 16 flavors, and pour spirits aged in the choicest of camel humps. Bedecked with hints of crimson and gold, the intimate lounge plays host to a daily happy hour, and can be reserved in advance for private parties. Profilers from New York magazine praise the laid-back lounge for its mesmerizing interior, and maintain the bar's real draw lies in "pleasant patio […] laden with lanterns and Moroccan-style poufs for perching." Readers also chimed in with an almost-perfect 9 out of 10 review, only previously achieved when Roger Ebert reviewed the film adaptation of Ebert: An Autobiography.

Dancers in shimmering gowns and tutus, tall hats, and sweeping silks—many crafted by costume designers at St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre—leap, sway, and spin in front of dinner guests. They flow through choreography set to Top 40 hits, contemporary international pop, and Russian classical music, filling a Broadway-sized stage with movements that glow and cast dramatic shadows. Though the show changes frequently, it currently packs in its most popular dances from its 20-year run as a moving homage to what Rasputin Supper Club and Cabaret has been treating its patrons to throughout its history: a taste of royalty.

That doesn't stop at the edge of the stage. While the dancers frolic under a 15-foot projection screen, guests sit back under 30-foot ceilings at the center of a palatial, double-tiered club with an interior designed to reflect the opulence of the old Russian monarchies. On chairs draped in shimmering crimson, guests cluster around gold-clothed tables spread out across hardwood floors. Gilt railings and gates separate the public from performers and private diners, and columns glowing with blue and amber lights scare off swarms of lost noblemen. During meals, the space fills with aromas from the contemporary French and aristocratic Russian dishes that occupy a collection of menus. Often using local ingredients, chefs craft frequently changing dishes such as smoked-salmon rolls, pheasant julien, roasted potatoes and mushrooms, and linguine with red caviar, leaving guests in a state of supreme relaxation while the regal dining area continues to excite.

Neon lights dart across the Cali Red Lounge to decorate the stone and tile walls with luminous graffiti. These rays of indigo and green provide a backdrop that complements colorful signature cocktails such as the refreshing Sunflower made with peach schnapps and Midori, the pucker-inducing appletini, and the all-ages water on the rocks. The expansive space fits a variety of moods with beer-pong tables, flat-screen TVs for sports, and a network of private Japanese-style karaoke rooms. As disco lights splash banquettes with glowing confetti, patrons can croon a beloved ballad and munch on Cali Red's savory snacks including wine-flavored edamame beans, onion rings, and popcorn chicken.