Les Halles (CLOSED)

The downtown location of Anthony Bourdain’s famed brasserie supplies virtually the only energy in a neighborhood where nightfall brings urban tumbleweeds. Weekday lunch and happy hour hum, but the long bar maintains its buoyancy on evenings and weekends. All the bistro standards—affordable French wines, tasty steak frites—are served in an airy, mirrored space that feels like Paris without the cigarette smoke.