She’s been coming to the trivia night at RPM Underground, which has about 20,000 albums in its upstairs record store and 18 karaoke rooms downstairs. “I just sang ‘Your Love’ by the Outfield,” says Jessica Orellana, 23, a finance analyst who lives in Queens. The Crowd: After-work drinkers and trivia buffs
I once had a customer come in and ask for a specific song,” says Big Nate, who adds, “we’ve been really into Khruangbin and Barry White to wind it down.” The bartenders control the music when the DJs are off.ĥ56 Vanderbilt Ave., Prospect Heights The VNYL “Grand Wizzard Theodore, the guy who invented scratching records comes in here,” says the bartender, who goes by Big Nate.Ī “No Request” sign is serious. The main draw though is the thousands of records and DJ sets. The bar, decked out in Star Wars paraphernalia, has stand-up shows, art pop-ups and food vendors on a weekly basis. “I love Steely Dan, I think the song ‘Peg,’ from ‘Aja’ is the perfect song.” They just played the last Tribe Called Quest album,” says Brian Bush, 32, a Prospect Heights resident who works in tech, and comes to BierWax for the neighborhood vibe and surround sound speakers. What You’ll Get: “We live close by, and I love the music. And if you’re a serious music lover, there’s some cool deep cuts of old music.”ġ27 Macdougal St BierWax Owner Ariel Arce says of the 1,000-plus record collection on-site, “I wanted to make sure that if you came in with your parents, they would see something that they like, and if two young people came in on a date you would see something you were nostalgic for. What You’ll Get: If you can get a reservation at the subterranean cool-kid hangout, you’ll be treated to a seven-course omakase menu on a recent night it started with togarashi popcorn, and ended with a post-dessert slice of square pizza, for $55, not including drinks.Īs for the music in the cramped 20-seat spot, guests make requests by writing a single song on a piece of paper, selecting from a list of 200 or so tunes spanning from the ’50s - think Ray Charles and Billie Holiday - to the early aughts, like Jay-Z and Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black.” The crowd-sourced playlist, and dinner, lasts about an hour and a half, and sounds crisp over the hi-fi McIntosh sound system. The Crowd: Well-heeled first dates and skater boys