In a metropolis the place you may stroll into nearly any institution (a dive bar, Complete Meals, and so forth.), and ask for a Negroni, what units the easiest cocktail bars aside? The drinks are clearly an element, together with the talent of the bartenders and the elements concerned. But when all you need is an immaculate Outdated Original, we promise, there are YouTube tutorials for that. Town’s high cocktail bars don’t simply serve nice drinks, they’re additionally enjoyable locations to hang around. Some are loud, others are excellent for dates, and some are nonetheless doing the speakeasy factor, despite the fact that it’s not 2009. And it really works.
THE SPOTS
PDT is brief for “Please Don’t Inform,” though most individuals confer with this place as “that bar hidden behind a telephone sales space in Crif Canines.” It’s been round since 2007, again when cocktails began to get severe, and there weren’t but speakeasy-esque bars on each nook—and it’s nonetheless a enjoyable place to seize an fascinating drink made with carrot juice or pecan bitters. Ridiculous hidden entrance apart, this place doesn’t take itself too significantly. It’s only a tiny, informal room with brick partitions, huge cubicles, and a touch of taxidermy. Make a reservation, and take a look at one of many signature sizzling canine for those who get hungry.
photograph credit score: Abigail Faelnar
Consuming a beet salad-inspired cocktail doesn’t essentially sound very attractive. However within the again room at Double Hen Please, the thick, darkish pink cocktail, served up with a dollop of yogurt and a singular frond of dill, could be the start of a really attractive night. This Decrease East Aspect Bar has a entrance space that’s walk-in solely, nevertheless it’s value it to make a reservation within the low-lit again room, known as The Coop, the place you may sit on a banquette and watch a really skilled bartender make you a Chilly Pizza cocktail whereas consuming a sizzling honey fried hen sandwich.
photograph credit score: Eric Medsker
Tigre is from the individuals behind Maison Premiere, an absinthe home and oyster bar that appears as if it was constructed a number of hundred years in the past. Except for impeccable cocktails, the 2 bars have little or no in frequent. Consider this place as a ’70s disco with out the dance ground. Tigre has mirrored ceilings and a gold shade scheme, and, ideally, it’s the place you must kick off each large night time out on the Decrease East Aspect. If you need, you may drink a screwdriver (made fancy, after all), or you may design your individual martini utilizing a scale that ranges from significantly moist to dry as burnt toast. The one draw back: There’s an hour-and-a-half time restrict.
photograph credit score: Noah Devereaux
Attaboy is positioned behind an unmarked door on Eldridge Avenue, nevertheless it isn’t particularly onerous to seek out, as a result of there’s normally a line of individuals ready to get into the walk-in-only spot. When you make it inside, you’ll end up in a tiny, slender room that appears like a rundown, Nineteenth-century tavern. There’s no official cocktail checklist, so so as to get a drink, you must speak to a bartender and inform them what you’re into. After they’re performed twiddling with bitters and chipping away at ice, they’ll shock you with an immaculately stirred or shaken beverage. The cubicles within the again are probably the most coveted seats, however for those who seize one of many stools, you may observe a seminar within the artwork of bartending.
Typically, you have a look at the menu at Angel’s Share and assume, “No manner they will pull this off.” Elements they’ve been identified to make use of embody cream cheese, pistachio milk, and soy sauce powder. And you understand what? That soy sauce powder works actually properly with rye and umami bitters. The unique East Village Angel’s Share closed in 2022, however now you will discover them in a slender basement on Grove Avenue within the West Village. Standing isn’t allowed, and so they don’t enable teams bigger than 4, so this positively isn’t a partytime bar, however if you wish to drink one thing totally distinctive, seize a bit sales space within the candlelit room.
photograph credit score: Alex Staniloff
In case you’ve ever seemed down at your drink and realized you may see your coaster proper via the ice, you may probably thank this Lengthy Island Metropolis bar: It’s been on the forefront of the clear-ice motion since opening in 2009. However whereas Dutch Kills now provides the see-through stuff to different locations by way of its personal ice firm, it’s so darkish inside this lengthy, memorabilia-filled bar that you’re going to barely be capable of make out the colour of your drink, not to mention what’s in it. That hardly issues when the home cocktails are stiff, completely balanced, and discounted throughout Completely satisfied Hour. The seasonal drinks are nice too, and we’d suggest beginning with something whiskey-based. Sit in a sales space with buddies, or on the again bar for those who’re solo, and order a sandwich while you want a chew.
The Lengthy Island Bar, the Artwork Deco staple lighting up a nook of Atlantic Ave with neon indicators, appears to be like like a restaurant. As a result of, for over 50 years, that’s what it was. Then, in 2013, the place acquired new house owners, one in all whom is broadly credited with inventing the cosmopolitan. And now it’s an actual bartender’s bar, the place you may droop in a vinyl sales space and drink an impeccable martini made by somebody who can quote from The Savoy Cocktail E book. The temper is diner-casual, and the quick meals menu options a necessary cheese-smothered double-patty burger.
photograph credit score: Annie Schlechter
After a prolonged renovation, Resort Chelsea reopened in 2022, and it acquired a brand new bar. They didn’t actually put a lot thought into the identify of that bar, however don’t let that dissuade you from coming right here. At Foyer Bar, you’re feeling such as you’re consuming within the nation property of a well-funded aristocrat. Over the bar close to the doorway, there’s a golden chandelier, and in an adjoining room you’ll discover some armchairs, rugs, and a settee nestled right into a bay window. Come by for a drink while you want one thing quiet and upscale, and watch out with the martinis. Foyer Bar makes the coldest, strongest one we’ve had, served with an array of garnishes on the facet.
photograph credit score: Eric Medsker
Lately, there’s an abundance of nerdy cocktail bars in New York Metropolis. It looks like each different spot makes use of fat-washed spirits and crystal-clear, hand-carved ice. Most of those nerdy locations are form of uptight, however Amor Y Amargo seems like a good friend’s rec room the place you may stand about and pattern hard-to-find booze. This place simply has probably the most spectacular choice of bitters and amari within the metropolis, with numerous bottles lining the wood cabinets within the small, saloon-like area. Cease by for an off-the-cuff drink, and take a look at the sazerac made with eight totally different amari.
Bar Goto is a tiny Japanese cocktail bar on a comparatively quiet block of the Decrease East Aspect. It’s glossy and loungy, with a handful of tables and a hardwood bar surrounded by leather-based stools. Carry a date, drink a martini with a cherry blossom in it, and take a look at the signature crispy wings smothered in a crispy miso sauce. You can too pattern some Japanese whiskey, so long as you’re keen to spend round $40 on a single serving. (The whiskey market is tough nowadays.)
In case you completely should drink at a spot the place the bartenders are sporting suspenders, make it Maison Premiere. Open since 2011, this Williamsburg bar and seafood restaurant has an old-timey look, full with weathered partitions, nautical artwork, and absinthe fountain. The schtick is as charming as ever, and the oyster choice is at all times spectacular, with plenty of hard-to-find East and West Coast varieties. Hang around at a bit desk within the candlelit room, or sit on the bar and watch as a bartender makes you a flawless martini with the main target of a neurosurgeon.
photograph credit score: Emily Schindler
Katana Kitten is a celebration that doesn’t cease. This always-packed Japanese-American bar within the West Village is actually a enjoyable neighborhood izakaya, with signed greenback payments plastered to the rafters and a loud soundtrack that bounces between Blues Traveller and early 2000s dorm room bangers. However this isn’t a spot for a vodka Purple Bull. The signature cocktails are all ingenious and scrumptious, from the martini made with sake to the straightforward, ice chilly gin and tonic with a shiso leaf caught within the facet. Don’t depart with out consuming the mortadella katsu sando.
In case you make it via your entire cocktail menu at this jewel field of a bar in Harlem, congratulations. It’s 5 pages lengthy (not together with the credit), contains sections like “Cocktails of Ascension” and “Cocktails of Contemplation,” and deconstructs every drink right into a compounder’s recipe of elements. However for those who hand over and simply order the primary cocktail that sounds good, we congratulate you on that too. Faintly medicinal, spicy, herby, and floral, the drinks right here add as much as greater than the sum of their components, and a night at Sugar Monk at all times feels particular. Get some truffle popcorn, make a reservation on weekends, and pop in on a Monday for reside jazz from 8pm.
photograph credit score: John Shyloski
Superbueno is from among the individuals behind Katana Kitten, and it is simply as high-energy. However whereas Katana is sort of a dim, crowded tavern, this East Village nook spot is extra like a celebration in Mexico Metropolis’s most glamorous colonia. It’s lit up like a neon sundown, with a big mosaic bar, a wall of miniature luchador masks, and many tiny tables. There are about 10 “Mexican American” cocktails on the menu, together with one slushy, one “soup,” one shareable tepache, and a few drinks which might be as neon because the lighting. Strive the inexperienced mango martini with drops of chili oil, a mushroom margarita, or a salted plum and tamarind milk punch.