The Waiting Room

Step inside Midtown’s Bon Ton, ignore the hostess stand, and head up the dark staircase in front of you. The stairs give way to a carpeted, orange-tinted room—with live music, Austin Powers-approved interior decor, and drinks as strong as the kind they serve on Bourbon Street. Walk underneath the disco ball and past the curved booths with shaggy orange fur seats to get to the small bar. You can order everything from Bon Ton’s Cajun-Vietnamese menu downstairs (there are no exclusive menu items up here). But we usually stick with drinks (like the absinthe Hurricane) because it’s too tight of space to fumble around with a crawfish boil. And the place really gets crowded on Tuesdays when they have live jazz performances that make the space even more eclectic and fun.