The Balcony Bar is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 4 p.m. and serves finger foods as well as beer, wine, liquor and a good assortment of mixed drinks. In addition to traditional cocktails the Balcony Bar offers a number of martini-style drinks. These include both a refreshing apple martini that avoids the cliched and not very good sour apple mix, a pomegranate martini that looks like a cosmopolitan but is considerably more bitter and a blueberry martini made with lillet. Their traditional mojitos are also quite good, although the sangria leaves a lot to be desired. Cocktails run about $10.

The Balcony Bar is a decidedly romantic spot with low lighting and live classical music. What makes it a great choice is that it's as casual or as fancy as you'd like, with patrons showing up in everything from jeans to elegant dresses before a night on the town. It definitely makes a great first stop of the night.

Other bar options at the Metropolitan Museum of Art are the Rooftop Bar and Cafe, which is only open weather permitting. In addition to fruity martinis and finger food, the Rooftop Bar also offers a selection of frozen drinks and is a more appropriate venue for a group of friends than the Balcony Bar, which isn't good for groups both due to space limitations and atmosphere.

Finally, the Petrie Court Cafe and Wine Bar offers a full menu in addition to elegant snack foods and desserts and boasts an extensive wine list both by the glass and the bottle. While mixed drinks are available here, they are not featured, so don't expect anything unique. The bar is open until 10:30 p.m., but the last seating for dinner is at 8:30.

For information on all the drinking and dining options at the museum, visit their Web site.

Written by Racheline Maltese