Beetle House

Director Tim Burton’s beautifully, and often comically, dark films are the inspiration behind this themed East Village bar and eatery. If you weren’t aware of that fact going in, and somehow missed the grimly charming decor, the menu—which reads like a punny tour through the filmmaker's oeuvre—would likely give it away. “Potions, poisons and elixirs” (aka cocktails) include a Tall Skeleton (The Nightmare Before Christmas), Alice’s Cup of Tea (Alice in Wonderland) and It’s Showtime (Beetlejuice’s favorite quote). The food menu, which purports to be “sourced locally from 100% innocent humans captured wild on the streets of NYC (actually, organic chemical free meats),” keeps it up with Edward Burger Hands, Sweeney Beef and Cheshire Mac.