Profile

This venue is closed.

Before descending downstairs into the basement space that is Bar Below, you must first enter the tasty pan-Asian restaurant Faan and get through a bouncer who is strict about the “no athletic gear” policy. From the looks of the futuristic, funky and even foreign-looking (the bathroom doors are marked with a “W.C.”) layout, you wouldn’t imagine there’s been a past problem with brawls, but there has, so they’ve become more particular about their clientele. It’s working out nicely--there’s a racially mixed crowd of hip-hoppers, B & T’ers (before they go out clubbing), and even some local young professional types sprinkled in. The long paisley-shaped peninsula of a bar divides the space into two different zones: In the front, a dual-leveled, white-tiled curvy seating area looks like a sauna, in the back it’s dark and loungy with people chilling to the grooves. Once the DJ starts working it out though, the “no dancing” sign, which already hangs upside down, seems even more futile. Attentive bartenders serve up the Kool Aid (vodka, peach schanapps, cranberry juice and amaretto) and the dessert-like Snickers Martini, which indeed satisfies (although it tastes more like Milky Way). — Kevin Dwyer