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Top Five Bars for Spontaneous Dancing

Great dance-party spots, cabaret license or not.


China 1  

Beauty Bar Brooklyn
921 Broadway, nr. Melrose, Bushwick, Brooklyn; 347-529-0370
According to owner Paul Devitt, the seventh location of his national bar chain has a “more seventies soul, Super Fly" feel; Expect commensurate jams. Also: Manicures start at 6 p.m.

Black Betty
366 Metropolitan Ave., at Havemeyer St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-599-0243
D.J.'s spin a knowing mix of funk, soul, and rock, while a sultry Moroccan theme and stiff drinks bring the would-be wallflowers out onto the floor.

China 1
50 Ave. B, nr. 4th St.; 212-375-0665
Downstairs from the restaurant, a mix of buttoned-up East Village weekend transplants, some seriously sloshed birthday-party revelers, and make-out-prone couples dance to the tunes of house D.J.'s LaRush and TravisTy, who spin eighties new-wave chestnuts and party rap in equal measure.

Le Royale
21 Seventh Ave. S., nr. Leroy St.; 212-463-0700
D.J. co-owners David Baxley (of the late CentroFly) and Terry Casey have taken over this cozy boîte, formerly home to Luke & Leroy—birthplace of MisShapes and Rated X. Live music is scheduled several nights a week, and Robot Rock, once at nearby Movida, rules on Fridays.

Royal Oak
594 Union Ave., at Richardson St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-388-3884
The large back room hosts a scruffy Williamsburg set unabashedly getting down to mid-nineties nostalgia jams from Mariah Carey and Ginuwine (and, okay, the occasional white-label French house remix).


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