Empanada mamas is currently not there. Not sure if its coming back. A friend said its seasonal. They have the vietnamese hotdog place now on the 2nd floor. Cant think of the name of it.
T5 one of the best venues here? I think (whoever said it) you had only been to like Irving Plaza and Bowery. Theres a lot of other venues out there, Id much rather go to. Granted at that size our choices are going down.
With that said - LCD SS was awesome Tuesday night. Upstairs we had plenty of room - and could drink a lot and get back to our spots with no problem. If T5 always had $4 drinks for a happy hour, thatd be a great change. And being able to see the entire stage with an awesome view was great. Tues night had drummer of TV on the Radio dancing and looked to be hooking up with some redhead, and Aziz Ansari (Parks & Rec). I forgot who else we spotted around us.
And Webster Hall has recently done quite a bit of renovation. Their sound is usually quite great around the soundbooth (at least since the renovations have been done). I do miss the floor feeling like it was going to collapse when everyone was jumping in unison. The feeling was unreal; and the first time I saw LCD SS there, that place felt like a tidal wave.