Needle and Thread

Reservation-only and accessed through a vault door reached by picking up an antique telephone in the back of Tavern Law, Needle and Thread at 1406 12th Avenue operates on a fundamentally different premise to every other bar on this list — there is no printed menu. Instead, your bartender begins each round with questions about your preferences, then composes something completely original, finished to order, and designed specifically for you. The room seats just a handful of guests, the atmosphere is hushed and conspiratorial, and the drinks are uniformly exceptional. Book via OpenTable up to six days in advance for parties of up to six. A bar that transforms the transactional into the personal.