Having known about the owner's dream (once the love of my life, now a dear friend)to open his own tavern in New York City for over a decade, I felt undeservedly like a proud mama when I entered Marshall Stack for its "soft opening" last night.
Formerly a Spanish restaurant in a once-dicey neighborhood, Matt and Justin thoughtfully started with a complete gutting of the space, unearthing the beauty of the original room down to the brick walls and discovering a glass door that's now a decorative touch behind the bar. You never know what you'll find behind sheetrock, do you?
They then added just the right touches to give it a classy pub feeling -- no hammer-back-shots sports bar, this. Even though it's not "officially" open, it's clearly meant for a more grown-up crowd than you'll usually find on the Lower East Side. A brand-new-though old looking tin ceiling (hiding five layers of soundproofing, from what I'm told... the community was less than welcoming to our friend Matt.)
I hope they don't introduce happy hour drink specials -- I firmly believe that such things lower the "class" factor of a bar, and encourage a fly-by-night, drink-to-get-smashed mentality (think about all those open bar events you go to, or the always-loathsome ladies night). If you have that two-for-one mentality, all you are doing is opening the door to a) drunken frat boys trying to get laid, b) pathetic should-be-at-a-meeting-instead-of-happy-hour sad local drinkers or c) a fly by night trade that vacates at the stroke of "happy hour prices are over." He could actually do himself a favor by adding a buck to the price of every drink. Matt, do you want to be Costco or Tiffany? You can buy a diamond ring in both places, but do you really want to go to your grave knowing you bought your girl's ring at a place where you can buy 100-packs of Charmin at the same time?
The jukebox is a little bit twee, getting big style points for its kitsch, then losing some for its dearth of selections. That's the problem with the old jukes -- this one holds just 30 discs or so, and I can see the selection will get pretty stale fairly quickly, unless Matt stays vigilant and keeps it rotating. If I know him, and frankly folks, I know him pretty well (and not just in the biblical sense you big bunch of pervs) he'll manage to keep it fresh AND classic. The man he do love his music.
I understand that since I started writing this little plug, the sidewalk has been repaired, here's hoping the Board of Health has given them all the requisite approvals for their kitchen to start operating.
I can't wait to see it OPEN open, because honestly, the Lower East Side is ready for a place for the grownups to go out and play.
The Marshall Stack
66 Rivington Street
at the NW corner of Allen
F train to 2nd Avenue
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