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The Lakeside Lounge 162 Avenue B at E. 10th St., Manhattan The Lakeside Lounge is one of those tiny New York places that, if you didn’t know better, you could walk past every day and never see. Although a mere stumble from Thompkins Square Park, it manages to avoid the weekend East Village invasion and, aside from a map of New York State and a few vaguely fish-related items, the place isn’t much on décor. And it doesn’t have to be. Among its fans, the Lakeside is famous for three things: a vintage Asbury Park photo booth, a Nuggets-quality jukebox (full of real vinyl!), and its small but sassy live shows. It doesn’t hurt, either, that there’s a nice selection of beers, ranging from a classy pour of Guinness to the ever-practical $2 can of Milwaukee’s Best. The U-shaped building comes in two halves—the chummy bar area, and the tiny stage side, with just room enough for a four-piece band and about twenty chairs. Packed to standing-room capacity—which often happens—the Lakeside holds an audience of maybe fifty people. But don’t let the small size deter you—this place is a regular, underhyped stopoff point for some serious talent, much of it of the up-and-coming (or already famous) “alt-country” variety. (And you have to love a venue that, at various times, has played host to the likes of Wayne Kramer, Rudy Ray Moore, and Hasil Adkins.) It must be noted, too, that the Lakeside has one of the more practical bar Web sites I’ve ever seen—besides an up-to-date band calendar, the Lakeside lists its beer, jukebox selections, bartenders, and a few of its more notorious photo-booth moments.
phone: 212-529-8463
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