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The best cocktail bars in New York City, by neighborhood

A hundred cocktail bars across the city. Here are 25 to start with, grouped by neighborhood.

Updated · 8 min read

Where to drink

The East Village and the Lower East Side have the most bars on our list, Williamsburg leads Brooklyn, and Midtown keeps the grand hotel bars.

25 of the 100

West Village 4

  1. Employees Only

    West VillageCocktail bar$$$

    The psychic in the front window has been there since 2004. Push past her for a bar that still sets the West Village standard, and chicken soup at closing time.

  2. Katana Kitten

    West VillageJapanese cocktail bar$$$

    Masahiro Urushido's Japanese-American dive; the Toki highball and the hinoki martini are the order.

  3. Sip & Guzzle

    West VillageCocktail bar$$$

    Two bars in one — precise Japanese-style cocktails downstairs at Sip, loose highballs and snacks upstairs at Guzzle.

  4. Angel's Share

    West VillageSpeakeasy cocktail bar$$$

    The hidden Japanese bar that started it all, reborn on Grove Street — quiet rules, no standing, four to a party.

East Village 3

  1. Death & Co

    East VillageCocktail bar$$$

    The 2006 room that reset modern cocktails — a phone-book menu and a bar worth sitting at.

  2. Please Don't Tell (PDT)

    East VillageSpeakeasy cocktail bar$$$

    Enter through the phone booth inside Crif Dogs.

  3. Amor y Amargo

    East VillageAperitivo cocktail bar$$

    A tiny bitters-and-amaro bar back at its original Avenue A corner. Everything is stirred, nothing is shaken, and they'll let you taste before you commit.

Lower East Side 3

  1. Attaboy

    Lower East SideSpeakeasy cocktail bar$$$

    No menu, no sign — knock at the old M&H Alterations door and name a flavor and a mood. Six to a party.

  2. Double Chicken Please

    Lower East SideCocktail bar$$$

    The Coop out back turns dishes into drinks — Cold Pizza, Mango Sticky Rice.

  3. Bar Goto

    Lower East SideJapanese cocktail bar$$$

    Kenta Goto's serene 30-seat bar; the Sakura martini and the miso wings.

Cobble Hill 2

  1. Clover Club

    Cobble Hill$$$

    Julie Reiner's Victorian cocktail parlor; punches, juleps, and one of Brooklyn's best weekend brunches.

  2. The Long Island Bar

    Cobble Hill$$

    A restored 1951 diner-bar with neon out front and impeccable gimlets and daiquiris inside.

Financial District 2

  1. The Dead Rabbit

    Financial DistrictIrish cocktail bar$$$

    A Taproom downstairs and the Parlor upstairs — order the Irish coffee everyone else is measured against.

  2. Overstory

    Financial DistrictRooftop cocktail bar$$$$

    Sixty-four floors up with wraparound terraces — go at sunset.

Williamsburg 2

  1. Maison Premiere

    WilliamsburgOyster & cocktail bar$$$

    Absinthe, oysters and a garden patio — one of the prettiest rooms in Brooklyn.

  2. Westlight

    WilliamsburgRooftop cocktail bar$$$

    Andrew Carmellini's 22nd-floor bar atop the William Vale: original and classic cocktails, rare spirits and street-food small plates, with the city spread out below.

Downtown Brooklyn 1

  1. Sunken Harbor Club

    Downtown Brooklyn$$$

    A seven-table tiki hideaway upstairs at Gage & Tollner; get there at open, order the Mai Tai.

Gramercy 1

  1. Martiny's

    Gramercy$$$$

    Meticulous Japanese bartending across three floors of a Gramercy townhouse.

Greenwich Village 1

  1. Dante

    Greenwich Village$$$

    A 1915 café reborn as the city's Negroni institution; open all day, and the Garibaldi is the move.

Long Island City 1

  1. Dutch Kills

    Long Island City$$

    The Long Island City bar that made clear ice a New York obsession. Dark booths, no scene, and drinks that have been dialed in for over a decade.

Midtown 1

  1. King Cole Bar

    Midtown$$$$

    The St. Regis bar under the Maxfield Parrish mural, where the Bloody Mary was reportedly poured into being. Formal, expensive, and unlike anywhere else in Midtown.

Midtown East 1

  1. The Campbell

    Midtown East$$$

    A 1920s financier's private office tucked into Grand Central — leaded glass, a painted ceiling, and a stiff Manhattan before your train.

Murray Hill 1

  1. Raines Law Room at The William

    Murray Hill$$$

    Ring the bell and wait for someone to draw the curtain. Velvet banquettes, no standing, and drinks made slowly on purpose.

Times Square 1

  1. The Rum House

    Times Square$$

    A piano, a deep rum list, and live music from the afternoon on. The one Times Square bar New Yorkers will admit to going to.

Upper East Side 1

  1. Bemelmans Bar

    Upper East Side$$$$

    The Carlyle's timeless piano bar under Ludwig Bemelmans' Madeline murals, with live jazz nightly and a cover to match.

The other 75

The 100 are spread across 39 neighborhoods. East Village (14), Williamsburg (11), Lower East Side (9), West Village (6), Cobble Hill (4) and Chelsea (3) have the most; the other 33 have 1 to 3 each.

NYC Cocktail Bars · 100 places

+75 more in the app

A bar inside a subway station, an 18th-century French bedroom rebuilt under Atlantic Avenue, a Lenox Avenue jewel box with live jazz on Tuesdays, a back room behind an herbal-medicine shop on Chrystie Street, and more.

Add all 100 to your Whosly map

Every one lands on your own map in a tap — save them, rate them, plan around them. City Packs are included with Planner Pro.

Or search “Whosly: Plans, Places & RSVPs” on the App Store

Add all 100 to your iPhonePoint your iPhone camera here — the NYC Cocktail Bars pack opens in Whosly, ready for your map.

For deals, see the best happy hours in NYC.

Common questions

What is the best cocktail bar in NYC?
Attaboy on the Lower East Side, with no menu and no sign: name a flavor and a mood. Death & Co in the East Village, the 2006 room that reset modern cocktails. And The Dead Rabbit in the Financial District, for the Irish coffee everyone else is measured against.
What are the best speakeasies in NYC?
Please Don't Tell (PDT), entered through a phone booth inside Crif Dogs; Attaboy, behind the old M&H Alterations door; Angel's Share, the hidden Japanese bar reborn on Grove Street; and the Raines Law Room at The William, where you ring a bell and wait for the curtain.
What are the best rooftop bars in NYC?
Overstory, 64 floors up in the Financial District with wraparound terraces (go at sunset), and Westlight on the 22nd floor of the William Vale in Williamsburg.
Where are the classic hotel bars in NYC?
King Cole Bar at the St. Regis, under the Maxfield Parrish mural, where the Bloody Mary was reportedly first poured, and Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle, with live jazz nightly under Ludwig Bemelmans' Madeline murals.
Which New York neighborhood is best for cocktail bars?
On our list, the East Village has the most, with 14 of the 100. The rest are spread across 38 other neighborhoods, so there is a good one in most parts of the city.
What are the best cocktail bars in Manhattan?
On our list: Death & Co and Please Don't Tell (PDT) in the East Village; King Cole Bar in Midtown; The Campbell in Midtown East; The Rum House in Times Square; Martiny's in Gramercy; Attaboy on the Lower East Side; The Dead Rabbit in the Financial District, and 11 more on this page. 72 of our 100 are in Manhattan, and all of them are in the Whosly app.
What are the best cocktail bars in Brooklyn?
On our list: Clover Club and The Long Island Bar in Cobble Hill; Maison Premiere and Westlight in Williamsburg; Sunken Harbor Club in Downtown Brooklyn. 26 of our 100 are in Brooklyn, and all of them are in the Whosly app.
Where can I see all 100?
Whosly's NYC Cocktail Bars pack has all 100, mapped, with our notes and booking links. Add it in the app and every one lands on your own map, ready to save, rate and plan around. The pack is included with Planner Pro.
City Packs in the Whosly app
City Packs in the app — add one and every place lands on your map.

All 100, on your own map

This page is 25 of them. The NYC Cocktail Bars pack in Whosly has all 100 — add it and every one drops onto your map, ready to save, rate and turn into a plan your friends RSVP to from a text, no app needed to answer. The pack is included with Planner Pro.

Get Whosly — free on iPhone

Or search “Whosly: Plans, Places & RSVPs” on the App Store

Get it on your iPhonePoint your iPhone camera here — or open the App Store and search “Whosly: Plans, Places & RSVPs”.
About Whosly. Whosly is an iPhone app for group plans, saved places and RSVPs. Anyone you invite can RSVP from a link on any phone, with no app and no account — that part is free for everyone, always. On the free tier you host three plans at a time and RSVP to as many as you like; multi-stop nights, Surprise mode and City Packs are Planner Pro. whosly.app

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