Phoenix   

Walking down East 13th Street, the exterior of Phoenix is kind of what you make of it, which is a pretty clever set-up for this most pleasurable and laid-back of gay bars. A bit foreboding, the gable-like entranceway and windows either make you think you're going to enter some medieval dungeon (which has its own pleasures, of course) or that you're entering a gay bar, which you are. The atmosphere inside the bar, in addition to being super-spacious, is very much the same. Certain touches -- let's see, red walls, well-worn pool table, an absolutely killer jukebox that's all about alternative rock -- differentiate Phoenix from other neighborhood dives, whether gay, straight or come-what-may. Fortunately, while the boys at Phoenix are far from uptight (think more old-style Hell's Kitchen than new-style Chelsea), there's often enough of a male-female ratio to make the place feel just as social as it is sexual. And it's also frugal: the single-dollar, small-cup beers on Wednesdays give hump day extra appeal.