Best Place to Take a Drunken Mess of a Date

Maybe it's the fact that the Grand Street Café's dining room, boasting over-the-top décor by Hal Swanson (think of the junglelike garden in Tennessee Williams' play Suddenly Last Summer), is almost always alive with vibrant energy and high spirits. Maybe it's the servers, who have the discretion and courage of international spies. Maybe it's the noise level, which measures somewhere between throbbing and raucous. Whatever it is, the dining room at Grand Street is one of the few places one can dine with a sloppy, mouthy drunk without raising an eyebrow from the servers or the patrons at the adjoining tables (who may not even notice). There are exceptions to that rule, of course. Drunks who lurch head-first into their food, stumble on their way out of the restaurant, or begin loudly snoring at the table are all reasons to call a taxi. But for lesser-grade drunks, who just need to nibble on some solid food to regain their equilibrium, this is the most tasteful place to do it.