Vibe Rater: Spitzer's Corner, 101 Rivington Street

Spitzer’s Corner raises a big middle finger to the regnant sensibility of au courant Lower East Side nightlife.

Unpretentious, friendly in service, possessed of immaculate oysters and mussels, and with a beer list to rival any pub in the borough, the bar felt on a recent Thursday night like your favorite college hangout—only scrubbed much cleaner and featuring a clientele old enough to remember Pedro and Puck, but not young enough to be up on The Hills.

One hopes that the wood that dominates the bar—the floor, the walls, the table, the benches—serves as a balustrade against the Lower East Side and its dictates of what’s hip and what’s worthy of hip. May Spitzer’s Corner glare from the intersection of Rivington and Ludlow for many years, reminding everyone that a night out with friends over good beer is nothing to be ashamed about.