Tapas? Wine bar? A Voce?

[GJWhite]

I'm meeting a friend for a date-ish sort of thing tomorrow night--she works way downtown, but we're not necessarily limited to the area.

I was wondering if anyone had any good recs for downtownish tapas bars and/or wine bars. Barring either of those, we were just going to head to A Voce. Quite a reversal in a way, but either one works.

[Renguin]

For Tapas you could go to Sala on the bowery as well. I think the menu is a little bit more traditional than Mercat and cheaper as well. Mercat's good too though.

[trueqwest]

Down on Bond Street near Bowery, Restaurant Mercat. I have never had a bad meal there, from the patatas bravas to the noodles in sepia, serrano ham, sardines, grilled shrimp, duck breast- wow, I'm getting hungry just writing this. Good wine selection too, just look up when you arrive to see the display.

Sit at the little bar in front of the kitchen if possible, the cooks make a great presentation and show of preparing your food. They usually pass around a porron, both for themselves and for anyone sitting in the area. Enjoy!

[fishermb]

If you want to head up a little bit, try Alta on 10th st between 5th and 6th. Make a reservation for a table upstairs, great tapas, nice atmosphere, I've taken a few dates there and they were always impressed.

[RGR]

A Voce would not be my idea of an ideal date venue unless you plan on using sign language to communicate and don't mind leaving with a giant headache since the noise level is hideously high. Delicious food, though.