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Like a child dressed up in ill-fitting formalwear, this lounge is charmingly awkward, adding (as it does) a welcome touch of rive gauche to Astoria. Beyond the long mirror-backed bar, a seating area invites with cushy couches, Hopper-esque nightlife paintings, and bulbous lighting fixtures evoking the selfsame. Such artful touches fly in the face of the simple calamari-and-burgers pub menu. Yet despite a daily happy hour, four plasma screens blaring the game, and programming running from karaoke to jazz, the crowd is confined to spillover from the nearby Euro discos and billiards halls—young couples and singles temporarily in search of a relaxed atmosphere and perhaps a delicious chilled espresso made with Kahlua and vanilla vodka. — Dustin Goot

The “Rendezvous” is a blend of peach vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine.