The details:

271 11TH AVE
NEW YORK NY 10001-1105

Porchlight – The Lowdown

If Whisky and cola on tap and a game of darts seem like the perfect combination for a solid Sunday night out, head across to Porchlight on 11th Avenue, the maiden stand-alone bar from feted New York restaurateur and Shake Shack-founder Danny Meyer. Made with mellow corn whiskey, fernet valet, Amaro CioCaro and homemade cola, the cocktail is one of a number Meyer’s managed to work out how to offer on demand, while Blue Smoke co-founder Mark Maynard-Parisi is behind the nibbles on offer. The mostly-hipster crowd can be found playing Scrabble or Jenga at the bar or in the back room, which has been decked out with leather chairs, trophies and old books to create a lived-in apartment feel. With exposed brick and vintage books and board games, the space has a converted-barn vibe, while Porchlight’s claim that it’s a “bar with a Southern accent,” speaks to the laid-back atmosphere and eagerness of those in charge of the hard liquor to whip-up a customized cocktail of your choosing.

During the week, happy hour – which runs from 4PM to 7PM – specials include $5 pitchers of punch and a daily cocktail special for $10. There’s even an indoor porch and rocking chairs on which to perch while you nurse a Porterhouse Manhattan as you eavesdrop on a couple bickering over the outcome of a Guess Who result. The bar marks a welcomed edition to the developing neighborhood of northern Chelsea on 11th Ave. But with Mark Zuckerberg said to have snapped-up one of the apartments at the nearby 520 West 28th Street eleven-story condo – designed by world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid – the old-school games on rotation might be forced to undergo a 2017-friendly tech upgrade.