Gotham Guides 1998 NYC Bar and Club Guide

Rating:
Summary: A superior guide to New York's nightlife!
Review: As someone who doesn't frequent New York too much, this guide was able to give an honest, succinct and humorous dipiction of the clubs and lounges. I was able to choose what kind of atmosphere [live music or not, smoking or not,etc] that I was in the mood for! Bravo for GOTHAM GUIDES!

Rating:
Summary: Good for addresses and phone numbers, but not much else.
Review: The Gotham Guide is, admittedly, one of its kind--the only comprehensive listing of NY's clubs and bars. But the problem is the authors simply don't have their fingers on the scene. Wonder Bar is not, contrary to what the authors say, filled with "ragged old drag queens," instead the crowd is surprisingly lesbian for a gay bar and very East Village: young, hip, and laid-back. The three Merchants bars are far from being the "hottest and hippest" lounges in the city. They're great bars, especially for a drink after work, but they're filled with suits. (Every New Yorker knows that nothing north of 14th Street will ever be the "hottest and hippest" thing in the city.) Idlewild, which has brought the unfortunate theme bar concept to the Lower East Side, gets three martini glasses! Please! I could go on and on, but the main point is that readers should take everything the guide's authors say with a grain--or perhaps a large lump--of salt. Kudos to The Gotham Guide for providing a handy phone directory of nightlife and a toast to the next edition providing more accurate reviews.

Rating:
Summary: excellent information, informative reviews
Review: The only guide I could find in NYC with extensive coverage