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The name is a holdover from the Prohibition era and the just-for-show peep slot does coyly reference a speakeasy, but this college bar is more of a speak-loudly. When the game isn’t on the four big-screens and five plasmas, videos from nineties alt-rock faves—Pearl Jam, Blind Melon, Counting Crows—are projected on the screen behind the massive bar. From there, they careen off the tin ceiling and onto the wood floors. You’ll have to shout to order the pub grub (mac and cheese and cheesesteak, along with the standards) from the waitresses serving the pine booths lining the walls. But the still-in-their flip-flops patrons, who wander in from NYU’s Palladium dorms across the street, count on Blind Pig for rowdiness and the sixteen beers on tap. The adventurous types, still wet behind the backward baseball-capped ears, should consult the cocktail menu for the difference between a Manhattan and a mint julep. At least that lesson, unlike those learned on campus, is free of charge. — Daniel Maurer