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Settled in the heart of Hell's Kitchen in the '30s, this dive was "discovered" by the cool kids only during the last decade. Old-timers still drink themselves to death around the bar, but local youngsters, businessmen and the ubiquitous hipster element now rule the prime real-estate red leather booths. A paving stone-lined backyard (equiped with a tent and a heater for the winter) makes the standing-room-only weekends more palatable, but the real draw is dirt-cheap booze (order the house brand, Rudy's Red, a watered-down swill served in plastic "buckets"). If only they hadn't replaced their famous jukebox, packed with classic cool-bop jazz; the new one has a few Billie Holiday CDs sprinkled in among the U2 hits, but purists will never forgive this concession to modern times. — Peter Landau

Rudy's no longer offers its five-cent "boneless chicken dinner" (a hard-boiled egg), but hot dogs are still free.