"When he passed away in 2017, Rod Dibble ended a 50-year run playing jazz standards at the u-shaped piano bar, but the Alley is still a dark and fusty grotto, a tunnel into a more unabashedly day-drinking age. The liquor is basic and nobody you know is likely to find you, here where stapled-on business cards cover the walls and vaulted ceilings like scales and the glow of red rope lights makes everyone look good. [$$]" - John Birdsall