Rick's occupies a second tier in...

Rick's occupies a second tier in the NYC list of clubs in that it's classy and in the heart of the city, but won't destroy your wallet before you walk in the front door. During the day they're frequently handing out free passes on the corner to anyone who will take them, or anyone who walks in the door (in order to encourage later visits), even though there is no cover during the day. At night, there's a very good chance you're going to see discarded passes on the ground on the way to the club, so if you've got no shame, feel free to pick them up and save yourself $10 or $20.

Once you're in the club, you've got a few specials: Rick's "8 before 8" special, which gets you $8 beers before 8pm (after 8pm, beers go up to $12), a 3-course $10 lunch special that I've been looking forward to take advantage of, and in the evenings, a 2-for-1 appetizer special that's well worth it. (It's actually double portions on a large plate). The food here is actually pretty good (I'd highly recommend the calamari at $12 for 2). Quick sidenote for business types who like to expense things or paranoid husbands: Rick's bills credit card charges as the innocent-sounding "RCI NYC," so no worries on that front.

Rick's has three stages: A main stage with mirrors and no pole to the left of the main entrance, surrounded by a small sea of tables and low-back strip club chairs with wheels. Dances happen in these chairs as well (there's no discrete dance room aside from maybe the rear left wall which is slightly darker than the rest of the club but is rarely used), so after about 30 minutes of grinding and sliding, the seats become a little hedge maze. Large bouncers regularly try to organizes these seats, but be aware it becomes a hassle to navigate for both customers and the dancers, so depending on how frequently you want to be propositioned, common sense goes a long way. Also worth noting is that they really like their strobe lighting at the main stage, so you may get a tiny bit blinded. Lighting is fairly decent otherwise in the club.