Botanica

Botanica
47 E Houston St
New York, NY 10012-2749
(212) 343-7251
Between Mulberry and Mott

Though the westerly address and the name hint of a trendy lounge, Botanica is a very down to earth place nestled between an environmentalist collective and an empty lot on Houston street. Pretty spacious, with booths, tables, and a great back room, the decor is "sturdy ramshackle" (not sure what that means). The set-up is a big draw, as there are three types of layouts in the one bar. In the front, tables and booths with high, faux leather benches. In the middle, round tables for groups, then something that looks like a fireplace, some more group seating with a lower height, and then the backroom, which looks like someone's social club for hipsters.

Decor (4/5) - Divish, vintage furniture, shaky tables and chairs, looks like everything was bought at the flea market

Crowd (3.5/5) - Hipsters and locals seemed to dominate on Thursday night, though I hear NYU kids come to the place on the weekend. Not a hard drinking crowd though, hence the knockdown from a 4.

Drinks (3/5) - Not the cheap, but not too bad. $3-5 beers (though there was a $2 bud light pint special). You can also get food from the "kitchen" (some unknown source of delivery).

Dive Factor (3.5/5) - Somewhat divey, but too enjoyable to get the true sense (friendly people and medium priced drinks take away from the dive factor but add the the good bar factor).