XL Nightclub
512 W. 42nd St., nr. Tenth Ave.; 212-239-2999
The latest muscle-boy hot spot is actually a reboot, both of a former club in Chelsea that closed in 2006 and of a concept: the sprawling, hedonistic danceterias of yore. Co-opened by legendary gay-nightlife promoter John Blair (Roxy, Limelight, Palladium), the XL lives in straight-friendly complex the OUT NYC as a 14,000-square-foot bass-thumping, light-bending playground crawling with skimpily clad go-go boys and tank-top-busting bartenders serving gyration-prompting drinks like the XL’Tini or Blackberry Blackout ($14). Themed nights—Showtune Mondays, Twentysomething Thursdays—are often hosted by cult creatures like Alan Cumming and Janice Dickinson, and should be avoided by the glitterphobic. For more low-key cruising, the front lounge is open without cover until 10 p.m.