Superdive will never die, probably

As we pointed out yesterday, 200 Avenue A was on the State Liquor Authority's full board meeting agenda. Well, we should have caught this one...

A group calling themselves Hospitality LLC with a concept for an "art gallery with a full-service restaurant" concept has appeared before and been rejected by the CB3/SLA committee three times. The group then decided to go directly to the State Liquor Authority for its license.

However, as you can see, the SLA hearing had 200 Avenue A on the agenda under Rapture Bookstore LLC — the trade name for Superdive.

According to someone in attendance, the Hospitality LLC reps were not at the hearing. It was Allan of Superdive and his lawyer present to argue the legality of their denied license renewal last year.

As we understand it, district manager Susan Stetzer was prepared for Team Superdive's appearance. SLA Chair Dennis Rosen tabled their hearing so he could meet with all the interested parties later this month. There's some question about the legality of denying a renewal for Superdive.

At this point, it's unclear whether Superdive wants to reopen as, well, Superdive, or whether the management wants to be part of whatever new venture opens here.

We sent an email to Allan at Superdive seeking comment.

Previously.

From Eater: Superdive is for sale (Update: "Superdive will live forever"; may roll out nationally)

Eater is reporting that Superdive is for sale. As they note:

The asking price: $350,000 key money (the price to just take over the space) and a $10k per month 10 year lease. Now the listing doesn't necessarily mean the Dive will close, nor must it change hands.

The owners could just be testing the waters to see if they can unload it at that price. Potential new owners could keep it running as is—$20 all you can drink beer specials and all—or they could turn it back into a coffee shop, something it still somewhat resembles.

Meanwhile, one small matter for any new owner to consider: According to the SLA Web site, Superdive has former tenant Rapture's existing license, which is only effective through April 2011.



So anyone who takes over will have to go before the CB3 to get a renewal. This one will be filed under "renewal with complaint history." Good luck.

UPDATE: The Superdivers responded to the Eater report with the following:

A) SUPERDIVE will live forever.

B) SUPERDIVE will never close.

C) SUPERDIVE is looking for additional locations as well as weighing national expansion



Previously on EV Grieve:
CB3 didn't approve a liquor license for Superdive; "a nice neighborhood Internet café-bookstore" becomes a bar with keg service at tables

Superdive sign recap (and bar recap)

So Superdive has reopened — at least temporarily. And there are all sorts of signs out front....



So the bar is open...



...and it's for sale...



And we asked the folks at Superdive just what's going on. Here's their response, via e-mail:

1) our new literacy program ( invented by babydive with his "dive says read" slogan) needs money to support it.

with that in mind superdive is available for benefits designed for parents associations in the east village that support or benefit local schools. superdive will contribute the space as well as 2 kegs to any school or association so that they can have a party designed to benefit local pals of babydive. quite simply "A KEG PARTY TO BENEFIT KIDS" . the school or association can organize a pay to enter party with the proceeds donated to the school. soft drinks as well as kidfriendly health drinks served for the little ones. pass it on.

2) despite the best efforts of all concerned, no single legitimate operator stepped forward to buy and or lease the superdive space. this even with the magnanimous landlord, one michael taub, pulling out all the stops to accommodate any interested parties. everyone was scared away by the big bad wolf aka the sla committee of comm bd 3. this in spite of the fact that this space has always been a bar, i.e. korova milk bar which was open for 10 years. oh well, it is a tale for a late night yarn of monsters and the triumph of good over evil to enrapture babydive during a stormy, dark, sleepless night.

3) who doesn't love a nice cold glass of beer? even babydive from the attached picture likes to be around a good party...... A SHOUTOUT TO THE SOUTHAMPTON PUBLICK HOUSE'S IPA !!!!!!

LONG LIVE SUPERDIVE !

DIVE SAYS READ !

At Superdive: "You hear the concept and it sounds like it could be too much of a frat party or too whatever, but it hasn't been"

The Post explores the world of Superdive and dive bars today. Fasten your seat belts! We're going in!

With its clean taps, friendly service and young, attractive patrons, Superdive is in many ways the anti-dive. Where's the bearded tranny? The surly, toothless barmaid? The non-functioning alcoholic cashing his SSI check for another round? Sure, it's teeming with college students looking to get wasted, but where's the dank?

Unlike New York's classic old-man bars, Superdive is neither moody in decor (it has large front windows and light pinewood accents) nor spirit (its patrons are prone to high-fives and huzzahs). "People are coming to celebrate," says manager Keith Okada. "Not to get dark and down in a hole."

And!

[M]aybe Superdive's no-frills, keg-centric vibe is just what the Type A alcoholics of tomorrow are looking for. "In a world where everything is so designed and chichi, we just wanted a nice place where people can sit, relax and not feel pressured to spend mega amounts of money," says Okada.

And you have to agree, it sure beats $20 mixed drinks.

And!

And if the list of more than 700 beers -- from a $180 sixtel (one-sixth of a keg) of UFO Hefeweizen to a $360 half-keg of Coors Light -- proves too overwhelming, "keg master" Matt Breinich will help you navigate the list.

Breinich's duties don't end there: "I haven't seen any beer pong disputes, but if there was one I would certainly be there to help resolve it."

In addition to Ping-Pong balls, the bar also keeps cards, dice and poker chips on hand for impromptu drinking games. (Keg stands, however, are officially frowned upon.) Meanwhile, the piano underneath the perpetually lit "Applause" sign in back of the bar may be the site of future "Hair Metal Karaoke" nights. And instigating the party some weekends is mini-metal head Nick Reddy, who's been known to jump on the bar and dole out Jager shots to ecstatic college kids.

With its emphasis on drunken comradery, the frat bar has a direct lineage to the dive bar -- even if it does stem from a love for competitive drinking and Dave Matthews. If dive-bar habitues are self-loathing outsiders, then their frat-bar brethren are the cool kids at the party, explaining why Superdive initially comes off as exuding typical jock one-upmanship.

"You hear the concept and it sounds like it could be too much of a frat party or too whatever, but it hasn't been. The people who come in are excited about the concept, they want to come back," says Breinich.

And!

It may not smell like stale beer -- yet -- but Superdive does smell like a winner: It's currently booked almost a month out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights -- so if your name isn't on the guest list, good luck getting past the front door. "We're working on those hiccups," says Okada. But try telling that to the dejected- looking guys outside.

Hiccups?

CB3 didn't approve a liquor license for Superdive; "a nice neighborhood Internet café-bookstore" becomes a bar with keg service at tables

In previous posts about Superdive, I wondered how the SLA/CB3 could have approved such a boozy concept (mix your own drinks, keg service at tables, etc.) ... Well, it turns out they didn't. Check out the minutes from the May meeting. (Item 4 below from the May 11 SLA meeting.)



The owners of Superdive were denied the renewal of a full on-premise liquor license (click on the image for a better view).... in part, because the owners "did not appear before Community Board #3" ... and "the location has been closed for several months." (Actually, Rapture Cafe & Books, the previous occupant here at 200 Avenue A, closed in April 2008)



Regardless, the State Liquor Authority has the final say in these matters. Meanwhile, according to the SLA Web site, Superdive has Rapture's existing license, which is effective through April 2011.



Rapture owner Joe Birdsong's name is on the SLA licensing information, operating as trade name Superdive. Birdsong was interviewed for a Dec. 28, 2006, article in the Observer about the cafe's opening:

Proprietor Joe Birdsong said the 2,200-square-foot space (formerly occupied by the Clockwork Orange-themed Korova Milk Bar)... is still awaiting his community-approved liquor license, which he hopes to receive once the State Liquor Authority's present moratorium on new licenses expires next month.

For now, patrons can sip coffee or tea as they browse the cafe's prerequisite bookshelves.

Mr. Birdsong, who, in order to some day sell alcohol, pledged to operate primarily as a bookstore, said he has, in fact, sold some books, particularly back on Christmas Day.

The Observer had more on Rapure on Jan. 7, 2007.

Rapture owner Joe Birdsong expects to receive his license to sling suds any day now, as the State Liquor Authority’s four-month-long freeze on processing such permits expired with the change in the calendar year.

The bohemian-style café’s entry into the booze business won’t technically exacerbate what many S.L.A. critics have denounced as a citywide proliferation of liquor licenses in recent years. Mr. Birdsong is simply taking the existing license from the location’s prior tenant, the Clockwork Orange–themed Korova Milk Bar. Keeping the license at that address was of particular concern to the building’s landlord, Mr. Birdsong said: "The owner doesn’t want to lose the value attached to it."

Not that Rapture’s ownership would choose to emphasize the alcoholic content of its business plan, penned by Mr. Birdsong. In fact, his proposal barely mentions the venue’s "extensive and unique beer and wine menu," even though his pending permit would grant him the freedom to serve Jägermeister shots or far stiffer drinks, if he wanted to. A wise strategy. Given the city’s current bar-wary climate, prospective restaurateurs and tavern operators are subject to an ever-increasing degree of scrutiny.

Even a self-described "nice little neighborhood Internet café–bookstore–performance space" is not immune, as Mr. Birdsong found out when he appeared this past September before local Community Board 3, a panel that specifically singled out Avenue A as a bad example of area bar sprawl. In order to garner community approval for his own "limited bar," Mr. Birdsong had to promise in writing that his proposed literary hangout would not someday morph into a troublesome, boozy nightspot.

Specifically, he was required to submit a "signed notarized stipulation" that Rapture would "operate as a bookstore with the service of alcoholic beverages incidental to its operation as a bookstore" and "with the predominant space being used for bookshelves," according to the minutes of that meeting.

Whoa. So, what just happened here?

Meanwhile, a few people were inside Superdive last night for what looked like a private party...

The possible future of 200 Avenue A: A destination restaurant 'that involves all the senses'

Tonight, the folks who want to take over 200 Avenue A (aka, Superdive) go before the CB3/SLA subcommittee... Last Monday, the team who plans to open a new restaurant here met with neighbors to explain the concept...

I did exchange e-mails with one of the partners who wants to take over the space... However, we never were able to meet to discuss the concept. Jill at Blah Blog Blah attended last Monday's confab... and she passed along some notes....

• They were very sincere in their desire to create something special and unique that would also provide a high return on investment.

• They were truly surprised that there would be opposition to their concept. They knew that SuperDive had a lot of problems ... but did not seem sensitive to the issues about how SuperDive had impacted the residents.

• Most of the owners/investors (there were about 6 people there from their organization) had never been to the block on a weekend night. The residents with the most vocal opposition were those that have been directly impacted by the problems that SuperDive caused in terms of direct noise and loss of sleep and lowered quality of life from those crowds. The next set of opposition came from people who are dismayed with the change of character in the neighborhood brought on by the frat bars, as well as the loss of retail diversity.

• Their concept is more about the concept and the branding than about food. They don't have a menu, prices or chef, but they do have an idea, funding and a manager.

• The landlord representative said that the owner of the building will not consider any tenant other than a restaurant ... but did not want something that was only a bar.

• They want to create a "destination restaurant" that involves all the senses. They will have several large video screens in the back room lounge, with couches and maybe a smell machine. In the front there will be a 13-foot bar with an unknown number of seats and an unknown number of tables seating an unknown number of people.

• They want to build a brand and then take it to the west coast (or possibly sell it?). To my ears, I heard something akin to "Hard Rock Cafe" — a branded theme chain with locations all over the world.

• They did not have a menu, a potential menu, or a chef. When asked the price point of the entrees, they had no idea. When asked $8 or $30, they said "somewhere in between."

• They intend to operate 6 pm-4 am 7 nights a week, serving food until within an hour of closing. When asked if they would consider closing earlier, they said absolutely not.

• They will have doormen and not encourage the fratboy scene

• They intend to do extensive work to soundproof the interior

• They were unclear about the music but it would fit into their "sense" theme, and would be bringing in live music and djs for an event or specific purpose. Not rock bands, but amplified music is in their agenda. But it's not a nightclub. When asked if they would consider not having live music, they said absolutely not.

• They have never owned a restaurant with a liquor license. They ran a themed sandwich shop called Project Sandwich in Soho which closed after 9 months. They run 40+ sushi bars in supermarkets around the city and Long Island.

• They plan to invest $1 million in this venture

• They served delicious sushi and cookies, which I enjoyed to their fullest

I asked the Superdive owners about the future here... and via e-mail, Team Superdive said: "The liquor license has been put in safekeeping and we all look forward to Nov. 15 when a prospective purchaser, (a fine intelligent respectful gentleman i might add), appears before the beloved community board.

Hopefully, the trial by kafka is not the experience he undergoes. a bright light perhaps but please comm bd 3 — no waterboarding!!!"

Speaking of night's meeting, we hear that CB3/SLA chair Alexandra Militano won't be able to attend. We heard that she fell last week and had to have emergency surgery on her elbow.

'Alas the saga of SUPERDIVE continues'

In recent days, we noted that the toilets from Superdive were now in the middle of the bar... that the for lease sign had been moved to the front widow... and, over the weekend, the lights of the Superdive sign were finally extinguished.

So just what is going on? Have we seen the last of Superdive, officially? The Head of Superdive checked in via e-mail:

After a long hot summer, much beachtime and the birth of our newborn "Dive Alexander" on Aug. 27, here is an update:

• We have put our liquor liscense in safekeeping in anticipation of settling all SLA charges, paying a fine, filing an alteration application to reflect what the premises should would and will look like

• Simultaneously we have entered into an option agreement with our landlord michael taub to agree to sell at a very generous price provided he can find the proper alternative for the space (read: full-service restaurant)

While this agreement provides the basis for a win-win, in the event a viable local operator does not show up by the time we reach and pay the SLA settlement, we will be moving forward with our renovation alteration and upgrade plans.

As you can see, to facilitate such we have allowed the landlord to post a sign in the window to increase exposure. It remains to be seen what will transpire next.

Alas the saga of SUPERDIVE continues.



signed

Baby Dive

[Updated] Superdive a CB3/SLA no-show tonight

Superdive was on tonight's CB3/SLA docket for the following:

Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades
• Superdive (Rapture Cafe & Books LLC), 200 Ave A (alt/op/legalize work done, move bar)

And Team Superdive was not there. So! A few residents spoke out anyway, figuring they'll need to come back next month when Superdive is likely back on the agenda for the 77th seventh time...

[Updated] Via e-mail, I asked Team Superdive why they didn't appear at the meeting:

"Kangaroo kafka kourts don't lend themselves dynamic discourse."

Also a no-show!

• Cien Fuegos (Cien Fuegos LLC), 95 Ave A ... the Cuban eatery/bar/what not was looking for a sidewalk cafe...

Breaking: "Fear not — the SUPERDIVE sign burns brightly!"

Well, since I noted the gates were down last weekend at Superdive, Superdive watchers have been busy speculating about the bar's future... with some rumors even suggesting that the keg-tapping gang's space at 200 Avenue A had been seized by the marshal's office.

Not so!



After asking the landlord of 200 Avenue A what was what... we heard from the Superdive Team firsthand:

We are currently closed through the summer for completion of our PA work and AC upgrade. In addition, we are scheduled to appear before CB 3 for an alteration application. This gives us more time to enjoy the sun and surf during this torrid summer.

As one of our favorite bands says " Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world!"

Fear not — the SUPERDIVE sign burns brightly!

Keep cool and try to minimize water and electric usage. (yes those are low wattage energy efficient bulbs in our sign!)

Enjoy the rest of your summer and we will keep you updated on any new and exciting developments at the super bar SUPERDIVE!

Superdive still threatening to return

Superdive was on last night's CB3/SLA agenda... Team Dive was a no show at the January CB3/SLA meeting, though they claim they never filed the paperwork to be on the docket...

So, prior to last night's meeting, I asked the Divers via e-mail if they'd attend the meeting. Short answer: No. (And, true to that, they were not there.)

Long answer:

"Susan Stetzer took it upon herself ... to put superdive on the agenda for the renewal. which does happen until the end of april and we are not required to notify until march but alas

let the facts be clear:

since 1/24/10 there have been no incidents, complaints about or violations issued at 200 avenue A.

superdive — superclean for over a year!

we would love to attend this hatchet trial but alas in no way would poppadive not be with mommadive on valentine's day.

and one day a real rain will come, an people's uprising, and swept away in the tidal wave of history will be the despotic demonic tyrannical "community" board.

WHO NEEDS DEMOCRACY WHEN YOU HAVE SUPERDIVE?

LONG LIVE SUPERDIVE

RETURNING SPRING 2011

Because a $450 keg of Stella rolled over to your table is low-key and NOT over-the-top

The Times dips its toe into the Superdive pool today with a hefty piece on NYC's new, low-key nightlife mantra. The article begins at a new bar called Superdive. Shall we?

Superdive is pretty much nothing. And nothing is as hot as anything these days.

Superdive, which opened in late June, is a much blogged-about bar on Avenue A in the East Village that has deconstructed nearly every imaginable pillar of the over-the-top New York night life scene.

The bathrooms have plywood stalls, a scrawny doorman checks IDs but little else, and instead of bottle service, Superdive offers keg service — tableside.

“Since everything else is so chi-chi,” the manager, Keith Okada, said while pushing a plastic cup of beer toward a young woman at the bar last Monday night, “we thought, ‘Why not offer keg service?’ ”

At a table, a group of men in their 20s and 30s shared a 5-liter keg of EKU Pils beer to celebrate what they call “Manday,” a semiregular male-bonding night out.

Superdive suited them more than a noisy club with menacing velvet ropes and $400 bottles of vodka, said David Sitt, 32, a Manday regular and psychology professor at Baruch College.

“When you watch the Flintstones and they are at the Water Buffalo Lodge,” he said, referring to the homey clubhouse where Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble and pals partied, “they don’t have bottle service there.”

“We’re in a period where a snotty attitude is not helping people feel better about themselves,” he added.

Super fancy is out. Revenues are down 20 to 40 percent in the last year at those throbbing Manhattan nightclubs that flourished by catering to Wall Street guys who casually swiped their credit cards for four figures, club owners said. Many once-hopping clubs, like Lotus, Mansion and Room Service, have closed or are being remodeled.

At Marquee, the West Chelsea club and gossip-page fixture, revenues are down 22 percent so far this year compared with last, said Noah Tepperberg, one of the owners.

“Three or four years ago it seemed like every bar in New York had a rope and some imposing looking guy,” said David Rabin, an owner of Lotus and the president of the New York Nightlife Association.

Now, he said, haughtiness is as stylish as a balloon payment.

Club owners are searching for a new night-life formula, something that jibes with the culture’s low-key mood and yet shakes free whatever is left of the city’s disposable income.

Ideas differ, but the owners agree on one thing: the word “club” has about as much cultural relevance as the Macarena. And they go to lengths to avoid the word. Mr. Tepperberg, for instance, is calling Avenue, his newest endeavor that opened last month, a “gastro-lounge.”

It wouldn't be a CB3/SLA meeting without a Superdive scratch!

In the last six months, Superdive has been on the CB3/SLA agenda five times for a transfer, alteration, etc. ... and each time, the Superdivers have been a scratch... the keg-tappin' gang is now off tonight's agenda too...

They need to go for nine!

Sick nine times? sound bite  Ferris Bueller's Day Off sound bites

Seriously, though, I asked Superdive officials what is happening... when I last checked in with them, they were at the beach... Via e-mail:

... at the beach right now in fact!
Still undecided in regards to landlord's generous buyout proposal (he really wants a neighborhood restaurant for space)... adjourned till September. Got to roll, surf is calling!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another month, another Superdive scratch; Plus, Avenue A bars give it another go tonight

Superdive not going 5 for 5 this CB3/SLA meeting

Breaking: "Fear not — the SUPERDIVE sign burns brightly!"

An epic story on the life and death of Superdive

Sarah Laskow files a detailed piece at Capital titled "Fast times on Avenue A: The life and death of Superdive."

A few excerpts!

LONGTIME VILLAGERS OFTEN TALK ABOUT the change in their neighborhood as synonymous with the rise of bars and restaurants that create street traffic and noise unlike that in any other neighborhood. Words and phrases like rowdy, circus atmosphere, zoo are used to describe the street scene at night. When bar owners and nightlife operators argue that the East Village has always been a nightlife destination, they respond: Yes, but. Something’s different now.

Academics have a word for what the neighborhood has become: a nightscape. Bars and restaurants were once peripheral to the main drag's primary economic drivers: supermarkets, coffeehouses, boutique shops, record stores. But in post-industrial cities, nightlife has grown into an industry in its own right. As in any industry, shop owners tend to cluster. A century ago, that meant the creation of a Garment District. Now it means the creation of a Party District.

And!

Superdive was self-conscious, though. It promised not just beer or a dance floor, but an experience directly targeted at a crowd the East Village had perhaps hoped it hadn't overtly been catering to: Not some group of characters out of an old Lou Reed song, so much as the group of characters you'd find on Bourbon Street, or worse, North Avenue in White Plains. There was some irony in the marketing of Superdive, but not much.

“Superdive made a lot of us into activists,” Dale Goodson, 58, said recently.

Read the whole shebang here.

Liquor license transfer in the works for Superdive

The Lo-Down has the early word on the CB3 March Liquor License Applications... and as they note:

Superdive on Avenue A (transfer of full liquor license – this will get the EV’ers going)

Indeed!

More on this later, of course!

Meanwhile, as Eater reported yesterday, Superdive's kegmaster has moved on...

Previously on EV Grieve:
CB3 didn't approve a liquor license for Superdive; "a nice neighborhood Internet café-bookstore" becomes a bar with keg service at tables

The last days of Superdive?

A reader passed by Superdive last night... and it was open. Unusual, seeing as the signs out front say the bar is only open Friday and Saturday nights. Per the reader: "They had kind of a raucous crowd in there. Reminded me of a frat house enjoying its last days before shutdown."

And the best part? There was an ambulance out front. The reader said it had nothing to do with Superdive. But! "It made for a funny shot."



Hmm... Or maybe Superdive management hired the ambulance to park out front... to make it look extra chaotic! Kind of like the Chiefs did in "Slap Shot."

Rumors of Superdive's death have been greatly exaggerated, perhaps

The rumor working the, uh, rumor mill is that Superdive is coming back from the alleged dead in 2011. So I asked Team Superdive for any official word. So are you really reopening next year? "Quite possibly since the comm bd turned down the latest buyer."

And!
"Go by and see the sign, we are lighting the way for Santa."

Indeed, the sign had red-and-green bulbs in it this past weekend...

Perhaps this is all a little saber rattling on the part of Team Superdive, spook the locals into thinking they'll return if the Community Board doesn't approve the next taker...

The Superdive Diaries: In which a reader endeavors to see a midget pirate serving champagne

An EV Grieve reader decided to check out Superdive's new Champagne Tuesdays last night. This is the report.

I arrive at Superdive shortly after 10, eager to experience the
"cultural elitism and intellectual camaraderie" of its inaugural Champagne Tuesday. The cover strikes me as outrageous, until I realize the suggested donation at the Met is also $20, and Superdive boasts guys in white track suits humping the air with one leg off the ground while making a motorboat sound, which the Met most assuredly does not. I am eager to part with my $20.

The bar is filled with black and white balloons with ribbons. I can't see much but I'm sure everyone is dressed nicely and discussing philosophy. Then my world comes crashing down. I am denied entry due to the bar being "at capacity." I'm told to try back in 30 minutes, maybe an hour, but it does not sound promising. It seems less crowded than the grand opening, but there's nothing doing. I'm also told the bar will be closing early tonight, 12:30 at the latest. I am Jack's inflamed sense of rejection.

I stand by, hoping for a break, or at least a chance to observe the makeup of the Champagne Tuesday crowd. A group of nine girls and two guys exit, mostly in work attire. One fellow kicks over something metallic sounding and states "I didn't do that." The crowd is happy-drunk, and well behaved. A woman in leather pants exits and gains admittance for one of her friends who had been waiting outside. It's clear I will not get in, and I retire up the block.

Superdive continues to be, well, Superdive

Superdive isn't going quietly into the nightlife... looks like they're here for longer...or they're just taunting you...

Here are their summer plans, as Eater reported:

Thursdays: 7:30 beerpong tournament. Cost of entry is the beer you drink during the tourney. Winning team drinks for free all night. After the tourney we celebrate with live music and karaoke.

Fridays: Wet T-shirt contest, with a male AND female winner of $100 cash each and free drinks.

Saturdays: Endless Champagne Disco Ball. 11-1 $25 all you can drink champagne. Music by world-class Disco DJ, Christian.

Haha. Funny, guys. You can do better than this, though.

Previously on EV Grieve:
NOW what's going on with Superdive...?

At Superdive tonight: Unlimited champagne served by a midget in a pirate costume

The buzzy, pre-opening, OMG-are-they-really-serving-kegs? days of the summer are over for Superdive. Now it's time to do something really stupid to get people talking again! (Guilty!) UrbanDaddy has the Superdive scoop, of course.

Tuesday nights. Unlimited champagne. Sabered open for you. In a bathtub on wheels. By a midget dressed as a pirate.

Let's just let that marinate for a minute.

Welcome to Champagne Tuesdays at Superdive, a new bastion of cultural elitism and intellectual camaraderie, debuting tomorrow in your favorite beer-scented pit of depravity in the East Village.

If ordering a keg to your table, doing a keg-stand on said keg, or generally gallivanting about in the Wild Wild West of dive bars just was too tame for you, here's your chance to let your hair down a little more. Twenty bucks and an appetite for champagne and destruction gets you all the bubbly you can drink, and, yes, that champagne will be sabered and served to you by a little person named Nick wearing a pirate outfit.

At this point, you might be asking yourself why a tiny pirate wielding a tiny saber meant to chop the top off of a champagne bottle is manning a mobile bathtub full of bubbly bottles. And you also might be asking yourself why you would be purchasing champagne from this tiny Jack Sparrow.

Well, because it's Tuesday.

On this date in EV Grieve history in 2009: At Superdive

We originally posted this on June 26, 2009. One of the first of, say, 14,871 posts about Superdive.



Superdive opened last night at 200 Avenue A. (So it was Thursday the 25th after all!)

A reader sent me a fairly lengthy e-mail early this morning after a night out at Superdive. The reader started off by saying: "Maybe you can excerpt something useful from this, but I don't know. It just wasn't that interesting." We'll be the judge of that!

To the reader's e-mail:

Upon entering, confronted with a wall of noise. It's *incredibly* loud. You can't make anything out — total wall of noise.

Near the door are some mini kegs stuck in ice. By the window are guys filling mugs from a mini kegerator. Very fratty, all around. Fratty smell, especially.

We try to figure out the bar situation. Confusing. It looks like there is no bar and patrons are just doing whatever, but really there is a bar. It's just surrounded by patrons. We eventually get drinks. My mixed drink is quite strong. This is good, as it took an eternity to get it. It was served by a bartender wearing legwarmers on her arms. As we're trying to secure drinks, we're hit by a blast of flatulence. Did I mention this place is fratty? We get our drinks and head toward the front. The girls here are CUTE.

There is a live band in the back, playing under an enormous lit sign that reads APPLAUSE. The sign is always lit. I do not clap. There is a guy on piano, trying to sing over the noise, and he's accompanied by a drummer. They're playing "When a Man Loves a Woman."

There are plastic cups everywhere.

We go for another round of drinks. We ask how much, and the bartender says "Ummm.... 30?" as if we're bartering. We pay. It seems fair for the amount of drink we're walking away with.

A cringing girlfriend leading her man away from his friends.

A group of girls enter, high-fiving each other. They are cute.

A guy in a yellow shirt starts to lose composure, head in hands. He's had enough beer.

"Thriller" is played (the pianist/drummer are done now). There is cheering, dancing.

And that's about it. We get bored and go for pizza.