Eat, drink and be Mary at Hamburger Mary's in midtown

Hamburger Mary's, which opened last month in midtown, has plenty of conversation starters, should the need arise:

The décor. The interior is reminiscent of the Fox Theatre — but with more pink. Faux-marble columns, velvet curtains, a shiny chandelier and a grand piano accent the main bar and dining area; an upper-level sports bar has a more macho feel, including pool and foosball tables. We sat at a table decoupaged with French posters; other tabletops feature Madonna, comic books and Disney princesses.

The music. An eclectic playlist — Shania Twain, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Eiffel 65 (Google 'em; I'll wait) — prompted memories and fun stories from high school and college.

The menu. Before finally ordering, we spent a considerable amount of time giggling at the menu's double entendres and items named for gay icons.

While the lengthy drink list isn't groundbreaking — it leans heavily toward flavored vodkas — it has some interesting combinations, and our selections were delicious and well made: a Hurricane Mary ($7 for 16 ounces, $9 for 22 ounces; Bacardi O Rum, Meyer's Dark Rum, grenadine, cranberry, pineapple); a Scarlett O'Hara martini ($8; Southern Comfort, triple sec, cranberry, lime); a Karen Walker dirty martini ($8; Skyy vodka, olive juice); and a Sweet Buns martini ($8; Rum Chata, Smirnoff Fluffed Marshmallow). The beer selection is mostly domestic, with a few imports and craft brews.

For dinner, we tried a Barbra-Q Bacon Cheeseburger with fries ($9.75) and a St. Louis Blues Burger ($9.75) with onion rings (add $1) — filling with enough for leftovers.

The entertainment. Nothing was scheduled when we visited, but Hamburger Mary's has a lineup of bingo, karaoke, charity events and dinnertime drag shows. And a daily happy hour runs from 5 to 7 p.m.

The shoes. When it came time to settle up and depart, our bill arrived inside a glittery, ruby-red stiletto — something to talk about on the ride home.