"Bavette’s is one of our favorite restaurants for a special occasion, but unless you want to celebrate your birthday at 4:45pm on a Tuesday, good luck reserving a table for more than two people. Fortunately, Gilt Bar is right next door, has the same speakeasy feel (meaning dark with ’20s jazz playing), and is owned by the same people. It’s much easier to get into and the food is pretty similar too (including the same tenderloin tartare you can get at Bavette’s). There’s even a downstairs area called The Library that can be reserved if you realize you have more friends in your 30s than you realized." - adrian kane, veda kilaru, nick allen