Blue Ruin
538 Ninth Ave., nr. 40th St.; 646-684-3657
There’s no shortage of dirty-bathroom dens surrounding Port Authority, but only this alehouse has fire-breathing barkeeps and buxom servers who occasionally clamber atop the bar to dance to “Star Star.” Such are the charms of this patriotic, tin-ceilinged tavern that alums from Kabin and Hogs & Heifers opened last spring. Though the saloon’s name is pre-Prohibition slang for bad gin, the motley mix of mid-morning drinkers (doors open at 11 a.m.) generally swills whiskey and PBR. The bar is loudest—and cheapest—from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., when all drinks run two for one.