What to Do in the Bronx – At Night
Nightlife is Thriving in “The Boogie Down”
By Mirlenia Difo
Bronx Journal Staff Writer
Originally published Fall 2008
According to the popular wisdom, the heydays of the Bronx are over. Gone are the times when one could enjoy a wide variety of entertainment and nightlife that made “the Boogie-Down” famous. Right?
Wrong! Nightlife in the Bronx is alive and doing well, thank you!
If you know where to look, you are sure to find enough restaurants, comedy clubs, theaters, and clubs to keep you fed, laughing, inspired, dancing, and amused for a long time.
People who lived in the Bronx in the late 1980’s and into the 1990’s say that back then it was hopping with nightlife. Some can recite a long list of clubs and other attractions that no longer exist, or have been replaced by other clubs with new names, music formats and crowds.
Derek De La Hoz brags about how Jimmy’s Bronx Café (now known as Tahbu) “was the place to be and meet people from different parts of the Bronx.” Noelia Burgos, a former dance teacher, swears that, the “Voice Club” played merengue and salsa and I love the fact that it consisted more of an older crowd. Nowadays there are too many chamaquitos (youngsters) in the clubs trying to be grown.”
Even so, there are many who say the good old days are still here, for both young and old.
“The club to be at on a Friday night is Melodias, eso se pone encendido (it gets hot),” said Jaritza Brea, who is a partygoer. “I love the fact that they play every type of music, from bachata to reggae.”
As it turns out, there is a variety of clubs where partygoers can get together with friends and others to have a good time. The types of nightspots vary from those appealing to young, hip-hop lovers, to Latin nights, to places where older people can go to dance and reminisce to the music they heard in their youth.
George Sanchez, a retired schoolteacher, said: “I’m more involved with the older crowd. That’s why I like going to Ambar Room.” You see people there ranging in age from their late 20’s and even into their 50s. “They play all different types of music, but when they put on the bachata or salsa that I used to listen in my day, I just grab the first lady I see and show her how a real man moves,” he said.
If you want to know which club is hot, ask a D.J.
“Coco Bongo Nightclub is the club to be at on a Friday night,” says D.J. Manchita, who spins turntables at several clubs. “It has reasonable prices for drinks and great-looking women.” On Sundays, he takes his music to Bamboo, where he said the drink prices are also low and the patrons are predominantly Hispanics. “I love seeing the people get hype to my mixes,” Manchita said.
If you’re looking to relax after a hard day at work, the Claro Lounge, in the South Bronx, could be the place. The Claro has a small dance floor, and small tables with stools where patrons can have drinks and conversations. “You choose how you want to spend the night; either sitting down having a nice drink or sweating on the dance floor after a hard day,” said Angie Ramos, the bartender at the Claro Lounge.
As for restaurants in the Bronx, there are all types, with all different cuisines. If you’re looking for Jamaican food and exquisite Caribbean dishes, they are to be found in Vernons Catering. “You can smell the scent of jerk chicken and BBQ Ribs from up the block,” said Jackie Brown, who works a few stores down.
If you’re looking for Spanish food, you should go to El Malecon. “Fridays are my days off from cooking [at home], and I love to come here and enjoy the sancocho made by someone else,” said Rosa Herrera, a working mom. The menu at El Malecon, consists of more Dominican dishes such as mofongo, mangu, tostones, pollo al horno and bistec encebollado.
The Bronx has its own Little Italy, a 10-square-block area on Belmont and Arthur Avenues, where the food is exquisite and the ambiance is genuine. The area draws thousands of people who go there to shop, eat, and sight-see.
Next time you visit the Bronx’s Little Italy, try the pizza at Catania’s or the calzones at Dominick’s; or sit down for a wonderful meal at Mario’s Italian Restaurant.
For those who love seafood, you’re in luck; The Bronx has a special place that serves fresh seafood, City Island. Its restaurants attract families from all over; on a clear day you can sit outside and enjoy their meals. The menus include every kind of seafood you can think of: including fish, lobster, shrimp, calamari and oysters.
“I beg my daughter to bring me to Lobster House on the weekends,” said Henry Johnson, a seafood lover. “I love eating marisco in the outside part of the restaurant where I can see the boats dock and enjoy the view with my family.”
The Bronx is not only the place for sports lovers, but for sports bar fanatics. Whether or not the Yankees are in town, one good place to visit is Stan’s Sports Bar. The loud, often drunken crowds flock there to eat, drink and argue about whether a player was safe or out on any given play. “I come here frequently and you will meet the craziest sports fans you can think of, but I love it,” said sports fanatic Peter Johnson. “It has two of the things men love, cheap beer and sports; it’s the best place anyone could think of.”
And of course, one of New York’s leading performing arts centers is in the Bronx, on the campus of Lehman College. The Lehman Center for the Performing Arts presents a wide choice of performances, from plays and Broadway-caliber shows to concerts by superstar performers from all over the world. Eva Bornstein, the Center’s executive director, says she strives to present something for everyone – a variety of shows that are representative of the borough’s diverse population.
For 2009, for example, the Center has already scheduled performances by Gato Barbieri, The Pointer Sisters, Kool and the Gang, the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Acrobats of China, the Russian National Ballet Theatre. There will also be different concerts devoted to specific music genres, including a “Doo Wop Night,” an “Urban Funk Spectacular,” and a “Forever Freestyle” show.
Lehman College’s other major stage, the Lovinger Theatre, is the home of Lehman Stages, the professional component of the college’s Division of Arts and Humanities, and the sponsor of wonderful productions staged by the college’s theater students and faculty.
“My daughter goes to Lehman College and I’m always asking her when the events are coming up so I can go,” said Lourdes Santos, who enjoys theater. “I just enjoy watching people perform in front of an audience; it just seems more real.”
For theater lovers, the Bronx also has its own Teatro Pregones, a place where Latinos often see their own lives reflected on stage. Pregones, the only Hispanic theater in the borough, presents original plays and musicals in both English and Spanish, by its own ensemble and by visiting theater companies.
Now in its new 120-seat theater, Pregones presents more than a dozen theater, music and dance productions per year. Even Pregones’ director, Rosalba Rolon, often expresses amazement about how much her theater has grown.
If the growth of Pregones is any reflection of the growth of Bronx entertainment, then the so called demise of the borough’s nightlife is only a myth.
When you talk to those involved in some form of Bronx entertainment, you realize that clubs, restaurants and theaters are thriving. They tell you that Bronx entertainment is more diverse then ever, and thanks to the internet, it’s now so much easier to find.
So don’t let anyone tell you that the heydays of Bronx nightlife are over. In fact, if you take the time to survey all there is to do out there, you may find that “the Boogie-Down” is better than ever.
A Guide to Bronx Nightlife
NIGHTCLUBS AND LOUNGES
● Bamboo, 985 Morris Ave. (718) 293-3944. www.bamboorestaurant.net
● Bruckner Bar and Grill, 2412 Third Ave. (718) 665-2001. www.brucknerbar.com
● Claro Lounge, 671 Prospect Ave. (347) 726-6660.
● Coco Bongo Nightclub, 1353 Edward L Grant Hwy. (347) 270-1060.
● Crystal Lounge, 1035 Prospect Ave. (718) 378-9279.
● Eros Lounge, 1973 Southern Blvd. (718) 299-0024.
● Gallery Lounge, 26 Bruckner Blvd. (718) 402-1400.
● Ibiza Lounge, 220 West 242nd St. (718) 796-1108. www.ibizany.com
● KoKonuts, 1332 Blondell Ave. (718) 597-8700.
● Monte Carlo Room, 2700 Jerome Ave., at Kingsbridge and 195th St. (718) 365-2665. www.montecarloroom.com
● Tabhu, 2297 Cedar Ave. (718) 364-4499. www.tahbunyc.com
● Stan’s Sports Bar, 836 River Ave. (718) 993-5548. www.stanssportsbar.com
● Sweetwater’s Bar and Grill, 2576 Third Ave. (718) 489- 4808. www.sweetwatersbarandgrill.com
● Tropicana Theatre and Nightclub, 1061 Home St. (718) 617-7500. www.tropicanany.com
RESTAURANTS
● Alexander Café, 129 Alexander Ave. (718) 993-5281. www.alexanderstogo.com
● Catania’s Pizzeria and Café, 2305 Arthur Ave. (718) 584-3583.
● Dallas BBQ, 281 West Fordham Road (718) 220-2822. www.dallasbbq.com/bronx
● Dominick’s Restaurant, 2335 Arthur Ave. (718) 733-2807.
● El Malecon, 5592 Broadway. (718) 432-4760.
● Lobster House, 691 Bridge St. # 1, on City Island Avenue. (718) 885-1459. www.cilobsterhouse.com
● Mario’s Italian Restaurant, 2342 Arthur Ave. (718) 584-1188
●Sammy’s Fishbox Restaurant, 41 City Island Ave. (718) 885-0920. www.sammysfishbox.com
● Vernons Catering, 1591 East 233rd St. at Dyre Avenue. (718) 708-5751.
THEATERS
● Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, 250 Bedford Park Blvd W. (718) 960-8833 www.lehmancenter.org.
● Lovinger Theatre, 250 Bedford Park Blvd W. (718) 960-7830 www.lehmanstages.org.
● Pregones Theater, 575 Walton Avenue, between 149th and 150th Streets, South Bronx. (718) 585-1608. www.pregones.org.
● Paradise Theater – 2403 Grand Concourse (718) 220-1015 www.paradisetheaterevents.com
Compiled by Sasha Mejia and Cynthia Rios