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Home > Nightlife & Music > The Magician

The Magician

Critic's Pick Critics' Pick

118 Rivington St., New York, NY 10002
nr. Essex St.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-673-7851 Send to Phone

Hours

Daily, 5pm-4am

Happy Hour

Daily, 5pm-8pm; $3.00 bottles and $3 cocktails
Sun, midnight-4am; $3.00 bottles and $3 cocktails

Nearby Subway Stops

F, V at Lower East Side-Second Ave.; J, M, Z at Essex St.

Payment Methods

Cash Only

Profile

Perhaps it's the popular conviction that magicians (read: David Blaine) are aesthetically unappealing that keeps this pleasant tavern empty on week nights—particularly strange given its location smack in the middle of the Lower East Side entertainment zone.  But on weekends, you're gonna have to use a little magic to get a seat on one of the heavy, old-fashioned wooden office chairs. Birthday, goodbye, and bachelor parties usually command the airy, brightly-lit (for a bar) back room lined with a bench and clusters of massive, round tables. The décor is roughly L.A. noir: venetian blinds in the front windows and Raymond Chandler-appropriate overhead office lamps. Keeping it from being some irritating set piece is the jukebox, stacked with eighties sad-teen music like the Cure and the Smiths.

7.3 "Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10
Write Your Own Review
75% Would you go back?
75% Would you take a date?
25% Would you go on business?

Doorman nightmare

Thrump0 from 11201 | Posted on 10/19/08

Overall Rating: 1 (Not Recommended)

I never got into this bar so I can't tell you if itÂ’s good. I was recently married and afterwards we met up here with our friends. We arrived a later than them. I had forgotten my wallet, had other things on my mind. The doorwoman wouldn't let me in without ID. Ok. I get it. ThatÂ’s the policy. But I just got married, can she make an exception? She still says no. So there I am standing there all dressed up my wife IN HER WEDDING DRESS, with 15 friends to ready drink. Strangers at the bar came to our defense. I am clearly not under 21, I just got married, a little flexibility could be expected right? The doorwoman got very nasty told us to fuck off, that I was ruining HER night. She literally pushed me outside the door, told me I could not wait inside. A guy came out and said his friend owned a bar down the street, they would be happy to have us. So we left. I don't know if this is a good bar and now I don't ever care to find out

Always smells like bleach

leti from 11211 | Posted on 1/29/08

Overall Rating: 9 (Highly Recommended)

pretty nice place but it always smells like cleaning products.

Read All 4 Reviews >>

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