Profile

From the weathered wooden bench outside to the window seating inside, Puffy's offers a comfortably frayed melange of bar amenities woven into one big blue-collar welcome mat. While its TriBeCa neighbors price or concept themselves into self-parody, this dark shot-and-a-beer parlor is so low-key it even makes nearby Riverrun seem hoity-toity. Film Center meeting-takers, real estate buccaneers, cable installers, UPS guys and sanitation engineers alike drink with equal respect for the dreamy, Runyonesque lack of pretension of this otherworldly throwback to thirstier times. — Bruce Bennett

Puffy's eight taps and varying beer selection runs a close second to their small but extremely well-chosen list of wines.