With The Dark Knight generating more money than most U.S. banks at the moment, the real-life Gotham City is overcome with Batman fever. But with the IMAX theater sold out for the next 17 years straight, many die-hard fans are left yearning for another way to indulge their inner caped crusader. Fear not, with so many underground NYC clubs operating with full-on kitsch these days, there are plenty of bars that make you feel like you’re chillin’ in Batman’s HQ.
La Caverna
122-124 Rivington St. (Essex & Norfolk Sts.)
Lower East Side 212.475.2126
If there were an award ceremony honoring a Manhattan bar for best gimmick, La Caverna would win without dispute. Rock-like plaster covers the lounge, giving it the appearance of a—you guessed it—cavern, complete with stalactites, waterfalls, and cave paintings. Weeknight patrons typically show up for the Italian restaurant version of La Caverna, while the weekends pack the cave with young scenesters eager to smoke hookahs and groove to hip-hop, ‘80s, and house music—the perfect soundtrack for a dark knight on the town.
Fat Cat 75 Christopher St. (@ 7th Ave.)
Greenwich Village 212.675.6056
Truly the greatest game-hall/jazz bar of its kind (ok, so it’s the only one of its kind) and with a $3 nightly cover, you don’t have to be Bruce Wayne to enjoy the underground splendor here. An unassuming facade, not unlike a recessed bookshelf, leads down to one of the most deceptive spaces in Greenwich Village. Below the city lies an unbelievable expanse filled with board games and innumerous pool, ping pong, and shuffleboard tables, all which can be rented by the hour. If you tire of the bar games, settle down on the couch for an evening of live jazz acts, however if you’re one of those people who thinks jazz is a musical abomination, don’t worry—the bar is large enough to escape from all that menacing freeform expressionism.
