I’m hooked on Velvet Cowboy. The new bar from the team behind Jacob’s Pickles, Maison Pickle, and Tiki Chick takes the former home of Jacob’s Pickles on Amsterdam Avenue and turns it into a psychedelic, maximalist Western fever dream. None of it reads as shtick. Jacob Hadjigeorgis is obviously a seasoned restaurant guy, and here, the native New Yorker has done his research. Easter eggs pay homage to a type of Lone Star State watering hole, and the cocktail program alone, with its obscure ingredients and something-for- everybody menu, is worth a double take. Most notably, every bite on the menu costs just five bucks, without the corners you’d expect to be cut at that price.
Special care has been taken to updating the space. There’s fringe encircling each turquoise and orange barstool, and a wall of Western vistas in mismatched frames above the decommissioned cigarette machine. In the back, the lounge transitions from the front bar’s sunset orange and gold to a more intimate velvet and lace-adorned vibe. I have a sneaky suspicion this will be prime real estate for birthday buy-outs in the very near future.