The best part of venturing out into jam-packed Times Square in the busy spring?
Venturing inside into a somewhat less jam-packed bar or restaurant for a meal and a martini.
With the Tony Awards cut-off fast approaching, 12 new shows open on Broadway this month alone.
I’m at the theater most nights during the peak season, and so these eateries become my second office — albeit an office that serves booze and charges me to be there.
After the curtain falls, they’re where I go to nosh, drink, gossip, find famous faces and get angry glares from producers.
Here are some of my regular stops — and the stars who love ‘em.
“It’s been very busy,” Sardi’s bartender Jeremy Wagner, a 24-year vet, told me on Friday night.
“Springtime is here, flowers are blooming, shows are opening and Sardi’s is bustling.”
It’s true. The West 44th Street Grand Poobah of theater district spots — it turns 100 in 2027! — has been more mobbed than I’ve seen it in years. And with an unusually fresh-faced crowd.
Especially the bar upstairs, where you get excellent views of the marquees of “Boop” and “Hell’s Kitchen.”
The cast of “Purpose,” including star Jon Michael Hill, has been hanging out up there after their astounding play next door.
Recently, so was Alicia Keys, who threw a party at Sardi’s on Friday for “Hell’s Kitchen.”
If you want to do some discreet and classy star spotting, you can’t do better than Bar Centrale, the sexy speakeasy steps above sister restaurants Joe Allen and Orso.
George Clooney has been relaxing there after his Edward R. Murrow play “Good Night and Good Luck” at the Winter Garden.
Recently I’ve also seen Julianna Margulies, Patti LuPone, Darren Criss and “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz tucked away in booths, but there’s someone famous in every single night.
Downstairs at Italian restaurant Orso, order the liver. That was Elaine Stritch’s favorite, and mine.
Joe Allen (get the burger), Centrale and Orso have been thronged before and after shows all month long.
“It’s ‘Just In Time’ to have ‘Good Luck’ with so many ‘Smash’ hits,” general manager Mary Hattman joked to me, angling for my job.
“In all seriousness, we are so grateful for the wonderful season ahead.”
So, those are the classics. But the bar du jour for young Broadway is Hold Fast on 46th Street.
Tom Francis, Nicole Scherzinger’s co-star in the brilliant “Sunset Boulevard,” is a fan. So is Heidi Gardner from “Saturday Night Live.”
A bonus: Because it’s on the west side of Restaurant Row, a barstool is easier to come by than at the guidebook-friendly places. There’s something about tourists and Ninth Ave.
I’ve seen engaged Broadway stars Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney having cocktails at the sleek Civilian hotel on 48th, which has a dreamy balcony that’s open during the summer.
And you can often find belty “Shucked” Tony winner Alex Newell at the Glass House Tavern a block way.
Where in the area do your favorite Post writers like to go? That’d be Langans on 47th Street.
Des O’Brien’s watering hole (with very good corned beef) just reopened in spacious new digs after seven years away, and it’s the best place to head to if you’re seeing nearby “Real Women Have Curves” or “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
On opening night of that Kieran Culkin play, Liev Schreiber, Tony Goldwyn and David Krumholtz all swung by. So has Bobby Flay.
Gallagher’s on 52nd is perfect for a steak and old-world ambiance. I sat across from “Late Show” neighbor Stephen Colbert last week.
And Osteria Al Doge on 44th is your best bet for pre-show pasta.
Right across the street, nestled between the Belasco (“Maybe Happy Ending”) and the Hudson (“The Last Five Years”) is Cafe Un Deux Trois, the 48-year-old French bistro that counts Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and Jonathan Groff as patrons.
During the run of her comedy “Plaza Suite,” Parker would come in almost every night and generously chat with “Sex and the City” obsessives.
You can also often find yours truly and Daily Snooze theater critic Chris Jones there bickering in the corner about the hit or flop we’ve just seen.
Speaking of which, should you eye me at any of these terrific establishments, pop by and say “Hello!”.
Or “Screw you!”, such as the case may be.
