Banzarbar is upstairs at Freemans Restaurant on Freeman Alley in the Lower East Side, behind an unmarked door on the second floor. Freemans is itself already one of the more characterful rooms in downtown New York, with its hunting lodge aesthetic and the dead-end alley entrance. The bar above it picks up that sensibility and runs it into Antarctic expedition territory: nautical decor, small wooden tables, the general feeling of a room that was furnished by someone who actually thought about it.

The cocktail program is strong. Given that it's operating in the shadow of a well-regarded restaurant, it would have to be. Reservations are recommended because the room is small enough that showing up without one can mean a real wait. Hours run from five in the evening, earlier on weekends, later on weeknights.

The combination of Freeman Alley below and the upstairs bar makes for an evening that has more distinct chapters than most nights out in the same stretch of Lower East Side real estate.