“Why are so many people hanging out at this pawn shop?” you might think to yourself while walking along Essex Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. But it’s not the goods in this (working!) pawn shop that the hangers-about are interested in; it’s what’s behind the pawn shop’s storefront: Beauty & Essex, a not-so-secret bar with a cavernous space for drinking and over-the-top brunching. In addition to the list of cocktails, wines, and beers, there’s the menu of food to help hold it all down. It includes such fever dream-esque items as tuna poke wonton tacos and shrimp cocktail with a jalapeño remoulade.
