Greenwich Village: The Olive Tree Cafe

The Olive Tree Cafe is a wonderful bar/restaurant on MacDougal Street. It's connected to the Comedy Cellar, a hot-spot for stand up in the Village, and it offers reasonably priced eats and drinks in a fun atmosphere. (Read: blackboard table tops which you can draw on with chalk, Charlie Chaplin films playing on the wall, and lovely sketched portraits hanging on the walls).

For a modest little place connected to a comedy club, the Olive Tree has a surprisingly extensive drink menu. There's a whole page of martini variations, plus champagne cocktails and the usual suspects. Sipping a mojito ($8) and watching Chaplin's tramp stop an eccentric millionaire from drowning himself has become a favorite after-work tradition of mine.

As for food, the Olive Tree serves Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare such as falafel and Israeli salad, though burgers and (ridiculously addicting) fries are available as well.

The Olive Tree Cafe is open daily from 11 am to 4 am. Take the A, C, E, B, V, D, or F to West 4th.