Revisiting 124 Rabbit Club

We went back to this little basement nook of a beer bar recently – it’s right near local hot spots Minetta Tavern and Mermaid Oyster Bar. Macdougal Street tends towards the touristy and fratty, so this is one speakeasy that’s not mysterious just for the sake of being clever. The black metal basement door repels the hoi polloi and opens for people who look like they have a clue, which should be especially handy now that the annual holiday tourist invasion has begun.

If you’re a fan of craft beers and haven’t been here already, by all means go now. This dark sliver of a bar has dozens of hard-to-find beers, with a focus on Belgian and German brews, each served in the correct glass. When the weather gets cold, it’s a cozy burrow, a rarity of a beer bar with no TV blaring, just the owner’s very good music, like a rare track from Juice that was on recently.

With minimal decor and shaved off beer bottles as votive holders, 124 Rabbit Club will always feel like a boys’ club. (They serve wine now, but you’re still drinking in a basement.) But the right atmosphere, the right crowd and the right beer make it a grown-up experience worth repeating.

124 Rabbit Club
124 Macdougal Street between Bleecker and West 3rd Streets
New York, NY
212-254-0575