This fine, temperate Friday, allow us to introduce you to the Gray Mare. It’s an East Village tavern you’ll want to sit in for hours, making friends with strangers, drinking strong drinks and fortifying them with ribeye Philly cheesesteaks. It’s soft-open now, but it will be in full swing on Tuesday.

Draft beers you’ll approve of. Impeccable fall-appropriate cocktails. Short rib nachos. A friendly vibe. Soon there’ll be a rotating series of on-tap cocktails, which is, at the very least, a real time-saver. You’ll like the place.

There’s a back area that’ll be showing various sporting events if requested. As a bonus to that space, you can reserve it, and if you want to do, say, a New Orleans–themed party, they’ll make that happen, and create a cocktail that goes along with that theme (modified Hurricanes, anyone?).

Here’s another time-saver: us getting to the slideshow, where you’ll learn and see more.