HARLEM — Within a week of opening, locals have already made Harlem Nights, a new bar on the corner of 138th Street and Seventh Avenue, their neighborhood bar.
“It has a kind of rustic, old timey, juke joint feel,” said Rich Ledson. “We really needed a place like this because we didn’t have a place where you can just stop by and grab a drink."
Harlem Nights, with a wooden exterior, exposed brick walls, original tile floors, music instruments hanging from the roof and mason jars full of drinks, is the brainchild of Claud Fatu, a bartender turned contractor who designed and built the place with a skeleton crew.
During the opening night Friday, a DJ spun from an elevated pulpit-like podium near the front of the room. On the back end of the bar is a stage where a jazz group played on Sunday and anyone can play on Monday during open mic night, Fatu said.
A month before it was scheduled to open, the bar was burglarized while under construction, forcing Fatu to push back the opening by a week or so.
Ledson, who lives nearby on Lenox Avenue and normally walks to 115th and Eighth Avenue for a drink, had walked by the bar several times and peeked into the window during construction. One of his favorite features of the bar were its prices.
“I got a Tito on the rocks for $6,” he said. “Once people find out about this place it’s going to be packed.”
Its happy hour also includes $4 beers, and $9 beer and meat pie combos.
The bar had a steady stream of customers Wednesday evening. The crowd included small groups, couples, and people stopping in for a post-work drink.
For some, like Lala and Los Rod, this was already their second visit to the bar.
"We were here for the opening night," said Lala Rod, an actress. "I'm really impressed by the decor, I can see that they put a lot of work into it."
The couple used to come to Harlem Nights’ predecessor, a lounge-club called Epiphany. The now-closed club was “like a cave,” with exposed wires hanging from the ceiling and dark walls. The new bar has made a strong first impression, said Lala's husband Los.
“You can’t compare,” he said.
