"At this East Village neighborhood spot, 2010s club bangers play and almost everyone slurps bowls of the Madame Pho with a $10 short rib add-on. It's the kind of casual place where you can bring friends to drink whiskey-based Vietnamese espresso martinis, but don't take that to mean you should split the namesake beefy soup with short rib, which has nice warming spices and emulates a Fred Flintstone wet dream. Get your own. Then throw in some Vietnamese classics to share with your group, like the crispy chả giò stuffed with tail-on shrimp, pork, and crab, and you'll be in for a fun night out." - sonal shah, willa moore, will hartman, arden shore, carlo mantuano