east village idiot

Kissing a New Bar’s Ass

February 28, 2008 – 1:10 pm

Citysearch is pretty good at shilling for crappy bars.

One of my favorite, yet short-lived bars in the East Village was The Rook. It was a fantastic subterranean bar that had a mind-blowing selection of beers, a pleasant decor, and tons of seating.

Of course, like everything else that has ever existed at 85 Avenue A, its life was short. It has now gone through some re-tooling. Enter the fourth iteration just in the past two years: Arrow. And inexplicably, Citysearch loves Arrow, even though it is only vaguely different from The Rook and looks remarkably similar, since absolutely no changes were made to the interior of the bar.

Having paid Arrow a visit myself, let me count the ways that Arrow is different from The Rook. 

The Rook: A 50-variety-strong selection of microbrews and imports on draft and in bottles, including cans of Dale’s Pale Ale for $3 and cans of PBR for $2.
Arrow: According to Citysearch, “$5 Buds (which beat a $3 can of Hipster Juice any day of the week).”

The Rook: According to Citysearch, “an absence of food, good music, and, um, customers.”
Arrow: No food, an empty DJ booth that looks horribly out of place in a bar the size of a one-bedroom apartment, and a completely empty bar apart from myself, a friend, and a bartender at 11pm on a Saturday night.

The Rook: A laid-back vibe, and a weekly Guitar Hero competition on their big screen TV in the back.
Arrow: According to Citysearch, “regular weekly parties (including Heavy Metal Happy Hour Fridays),” which I’m sure will have all seven heavy metal fans in the East Village flocking there.

The Rook: According to Citysearch, “pleasant enough but totally unremarkable, and obscured from the hustle and bustle of Avenue A (it’s set in from the street, down a flight of stairs).”
Arrow: The bar didn’t move; it just changed its name. But somehow, this makes it better.