Voted “Best New Bar/Lounge” by Time Out New York, this saucy brothel-turned-bar heats up the revitalized “Loho” (Lower Houston) lounge scene. You may just miss it with its non descript entryway with a hot pink awning that reads “health club”, but those in the know have just spied the hippest downtown lounge.

But once inside, lounge in set-in red velvet banquettes on street level, where you always feel like a VIP, or descend to the DJ-ready basement, where the original steam rooms have been renovated as tiled booths hosting private parties. The almost naughty feel harkens back to a 70′s New York where it was the last days of disco and anything could happen below the Bowery.

The patrons are mostly fashionistas who haunt the nearby trendy Chinatown shops, however, a bevy of bi-weekly reading series has drawn the smart art kids. The now-infamous Happy Ending Reading Series (2 Wednesdays per month) hosted by the charming author, Amanda Stern, showcases emerging authors and musicians, who are all required to take a public risk during their performance. Village Voice columnist, Rachel Kramer Bussel’s new In the Flesh Reading series, evokes nostalgia for this former massage parlor, where a happy ending, rather than decadent cocktails, was on the menu.

Happy Ending Lounge
302 Broome Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 334-9676
Cross Street: Between Forsyth Street and Eldridge Street
Subway: B, D train to Grand St or F to Delancey

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