A drinkery disguised as a diner

If you're going to have a secret identity, it's best to bring it out at night, like when Bruce Wayne dons tight clothing and becomes a crime fighter, or when your mom dons tight clothing and becomes a bread winner. For a mild-mannered diner by day that's a club by night, get to Teri's.

Tucked away in the Italian Market, Teri's is a sunlit, linoleum-floored/upholstered-booth'd diner through breakfast and lunch that, come five o'clock, dims the lights, cranks the music, and swaps out a menu of deli standards for custom-spun bar food, beers, and booze under the light of illuminated beer bottles and prayer candles -- light one, and say 10 Hail Bloody Marys. Nighttime bites include cowboy fries (heaped with bacon, ranch, and melted cheddar), cheesesteaks, and sammies filled with eggplant, chicken, or certified Angus beef, plus an off-menu slider that's equal parts Angus and Italian pork sausage, but don't let George Orwell know they're mingling or dude'll flip out. Said drinks include specialty cocktails like the Muppets Take Manhattan (Beam, Amaretto, ginger ale, grenadine) and Purple Pimp Shoes (Crown, Razzmatazz, ginger ale), "adult" milkshakes like the Caucasian (vanilla shake/Kahlua/vodka), plus some fancy taps of Allagash White, Spaten Lager, and a Weyerbacher Verboten that, despite the foreboding moniker, they'll just give you if you ask for it.

After a weekend of testing, Teri's bar is set to open for good Thursday, and future plans include an ever-growing list of bottles, specialty seasonal plates from market vendors, and vegan versions of most of the dishes -- order one, and you'd better be wearing a mask yourself.