All stories about "Nightlife"

If you're a generally enthusiastic and/or often drunk New Yorker, you likely already have several favorite karaoke bars. They're not hard to find, as the Japanese import (karaoke means "empty orchestra") has gained considerable local traction over the past several decades. It's found in abundance in bars, and increasingly, "karaoke boxes" where you can rent out a private room to serenade your unfortunate friends and colleagues with throwback hits from your youth. For the real skinny on karaoke, you might consider a fascinating afternoon on Karaokeforever.com, where you can learn about characters like Tonya, who boasts, "I sing 'Love Shack' everytime I go to the bar (2-3 x's a wk)." Or just sample our suggestions for the choicer locations to impress potential mates, win friends, and influence people -- particularly if you are "in a band."

Beyond the Aussie pub lies the European beer café (as distinguished from the beer garden). Whether you're after boutique Belgians, colonial brews, Bavarian bottles, or Czech imports, Sydney has a variety of beer cafés to suit any connoisseur's palate. Some are homegrown, while others cash in on the reputation of Old World producers. But all offer a good guzzle and a hearty feed.

Whoever said money isn't everything clearly never sat for a moment and weighed up the consequences of meeting a normal, two-figure-salary kind of chap who'll lead to a moderate home in the suburbs and 2.3 kids, against meeting a so-rich-it-hurts cash-splashing lad who paves the golden way to a life of utter luxury. If you don't have money, don't want money to get in the way of you having a good time (all the time), and don't mind turning a blind eye to the look and feel of the man who could make it happen, head to one of the following offerings. The eyelash battering, outrageous flirting, and dumbing down to make future hubby feel like a real man are all up to you.

As with all cosmopolitan cities, Berlin offers an ample selection of wild but run-of-the-mill world-capital nightlife: legendary nightclubs and trendy lounges where the young and successful (or at least hopeful) flirt and drink pricey cocktails. The style, patrons, music, and cocktails are akin to similar scenes across the globe. But then there is the other Berlin, the Berlin in which Berliners live, create, dance, and naturally, party. These are places from which the average local late-night reveler stumbles home. They have color, character, verve, and, as usual in Berlin, history.

The tiki bar was invented in Los Angeles, when Ernest Gantt opened "Don the Beachcomber" back in 1933. Since then, the concept of the Polynesian drinkery has bounced to the South Pacific and back, colonizing the rest of the West Coast and the world. Back in LA, summer is heating up. Weathered Angelenos can already feel the potential onslaught of a full-fledged heat wave. So, those interested in toasting the summer season with a cool drink in hand might consider (re)visiting your local LA tiki bar, as the city is home to several. Here are six of our favorites.

Ever since baby-faced oil swindler Roman Abramovich traded Moscow for Mayfair in 2003, a red tide of Russian super-rich have been making London their home. Belgravia estate agents have gleefully rubbed their hands raw as Russian bidding wars pile tens of millions onto already obscenely-priced luxury mansions, and obsequious Knightsbridge jewelers are now employing Russian-speaking staff to help part these newcomers from their cash. So if a prospective billionaire settler, fresh off his Lear jet, asks you to show him around town for a day (money no object of course), what are you going to do? Here's a sample itinerary you might try, costing a paltry sum northwards of twenty thousand pounds for the day.

When thinkin' of drinkin' in South Beach, tourists mob the beachside cabanas and sidewalk cafes. Locals hit up the hotels. As big-city style hotels proliferate worldwide, so do their stylish nightlife components, and Miami is no exception. Classy drinks, cool crowds, and designy decor rule the day, especially at boutique and luxury hotels. They generally beat the crap out of any club on Ocean Drive or Washington Avenue, both in terms of patrons and service. As proof, here's our list of favorite SoBe hotel watering holes.

In San Francisco, where everyone seems to be a vegan/plastic bag-hating hippie, there are still vices that other San Franciscans hold dear: our alcohol and our smoking. Despite smoking regulations and the annoyed looks smokers catch while trying to get their fix, we're holding strong to our convictions and looking for bars that support our habit. Even more reviled than cigarette smokers are those that smoke cigars -- and while technically you can smoke anywhere cigarettes are welcome, it's becoming harder and harder to find places that welcome the sweet smell of stogies. Here are the best places to take your cigar and light up -- with the least amount of glares, anyway.

Everyday on Gridskipper we give you a new map. Some are new, some are fetched from our archive, newly updated. Happy Gridskipping. So you've heard all about our clubs échangistes but aren't exactly sure how to get in there? Fear not, little libertine! Paris sex clubs are actually quite welcoming, what with their Western theme nights and all-you-can-eat buffets. First-timers and those without the courage to coucher appreciate the "no means non" policy and acceptance of voyeurism. So when you find yourself ready for a Michel Houellebecq sort of evening, remember our map and warm up with this inspiring video from Stereo Total.

Everyday on Gridskipper we give you a new map. Some are new, some are fetched from our archive, newly updated. Happy Gridskipping. Whether it's rot-gut bourbon in a Waylon song or high-priced single-malt in a Wall Street boardroom, the lure of whiskey is universal. This brown elixir has long drowned the woes of everyone from hard-luck cowboys to the business elite, leaving its victims moaning with throbbing hangovers in the process. And in a city filled with breakups and bad investments, New Yorkers need a place to hang their head as much as anybody, hence the following list of noteworthy whiskey dealers in NYC. Feel free to supply your own favorite bronze elixir haunts in the comments or the tip jar.

Megan Zanke is known throughout the pages of this site, but she's moved on to work as an editor of Coutorture -- a fantastic fashion-centered website with bite. While she definitiely knows a thing or two about fashion, Megan also knows a thing or two about being young and hitting the streets of New York.

We're going to imprison you in the city of your choice for the rest of your natural life. You can do anything you want there, but you must stay in that city forever. Where would you choose?
So Gawker really is going to take over the world, eh? Okay, I choose South Beach. Only kidding! I choose New York, of course.

Paul Mecurio is comedy's resident virtuoso; after graduating with high honors from Georgetown Law, Paul ditched a bright future in law for ... well, an even brighter career in comedy. He's even got awards to prove it. Let's see the firm Willkie, Farr and Gallagher hand out Emmys. We caught him in a brief moment between shows in the midwest and two headlining nights at New York's Comix (this Friday 26 and Saturday 27) and got him to dish on politics and why he's gotta have his 3am hot dogs with a side of "coffee milk."

It's a workday. You've peeled yourself up from your soft, warm bed only to be crunched into a humid subway(s) to get to a job you can't stand. You deserve a treat; a salty, sour and sweet treat that comes in a glass as big as your head and can knock you on your ass. The blessed margarita. You may still be stuck in midtown hell, but hey, it's quitting time and you've got a crush on a coworker who just so happens to love tequila. Get to it -- these margaritas aren't going to drink themselves. (photo)