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The Randolph at Broome was born on a lackluster summer night on the town for jazz musician Hari Kalyan, who found himself bored with the over-the-top bottle-service scene. A few weeks later, Halyan bought Lowest East Side watering hole M-Bar and put together the Randolph. Antique Edison lightbulbs hang over the L-shaped bar, illuminating deep-burgundy walls and the wooden chairs that provide the seating in the 1,000-ft. space, but overall, originality isn’t a strong suit here—you’ll definitely recognize more than a few elements from the city’s other cocktail speakeasies. (For one, there’s the requisite reservation number and e-mail address for the limited seats.) But to his credit, Kalyan does know whom to borrow from: The sandwich menu is done by Alidoro’s Walter Momente; the cocktails come from Milk & Honey’s Matty Gee. — Candace Taylor