I'll have some Nutmeg with my Beer

Sloop has an Area 51 feel from the moment one drives onto the premises of this immense former IBM semiconductor chip manufacturing facility, nicknamed "The Factory." The parking lot is full, but there aren't many people outside. The vague sense of unease is not allayed by the completely nondescript entrance - a small set of steps that lead into one-knows-not-what. The "what" turns out to be a 50-yard+ hallway straight out of central casting for a missile installation somewhere in North Dakota. Signs for Sloop are still sparse, but then again, one can only forge straight ahead. At the end of the corridor, a single door leads into a sizable cement-floored rumpus room that finally makes one breathe easier. The bartenders are very accomodating, there are flashing lights, a huge beer menu, lots of good pub food (leek dip; a falafel bowl), It's a party, everyone's having a good time, and now you're part of the in-crowd that dared penetrate the inner ring of the missile silo area! When it is time to leave, the Mark-X scanner will wipe all memory of the place from your mind, and the Secretary will disavow any knowledge that you were there. Given Sloop's omni-presence in the New York market, I expected better beers, but guests at "Area 51" weren't complaining.