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The street cred of this Bleecker Street club may have peaked long ago, but for a bar on one of the city's most homogenized nightlife strips, hosting up to five bands every night, the interior retains a surprising bit of mystique. The more than 40-year-old club has played host to the New York Dolls, Blondie, Kiss and Patti Smith, witnessed the meeting of Joey and DeeDee Ramone, and, a little less punk rock, introduced the city to Phish—a group whose jam band spirit is carried on by some of the club's current rock, blues, experimental and R&B acts. Gold records, signed photos, lanterns, buoys, an illuminated stained-glass Kenny's sign and other bric-a-brac decorate the bar, which leads back to rows of tables in front of the small stage. Up an old-fashioned wooden staircase, the dark mezzanine is a little sexier, with couches, beaded lamps and a cut-away floor allowing a privy view down to the band. The crowd varies with the performances, but suburban youngsters, long-haired oldsters, clean-cut and shaggy musicians, and urbane friends of the band are all mixed together, vying for space with the next act's guitar cases. — Karen Hudes

Magic Hat and Blue Point are among the beers on tap, and the bartenders mix up special shots every night.