Cocktail Bars in New York
New York's cocktail bars cover every style, and 18 of these are on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026, five on the 51-100 list. Three come from Greg Boehm's Cocktail Kingdom group: Katana Kitten, a Japanese-American bar whose menu opens with highballs; Mace, where the drinks are built around spices; and Superbueno, a Mexican-American bar. Double Chicken Please splits its Lower East Side space into Free Range in front and The Coop in back, where most seats are first come, first served. Clemente Bar sits upstairs from Eleven Madison Park under a ceiling fresco by Francesco Clemente, and Overstory looks out from the 64th floor of 70 Pine Street. These are the forty we would start with.
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarSchmuck
Moe Aljaff and Juliette Larrouy exported Two Schmucks from Barcelona's El Raval to Manhattan's First Avenue, and the queue that forms nightly down the block confirms the translation worked. Time Out ranked it among the five best cocktail bars in New York for 2025, the year it placed No. 59 on The World's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list; it is No. 11 and won the Best New Opening Award at The 50 Best Bars 2026. The program balances playfulness, highballs spiked with tomato sweetness, peanut-forward drinks laced with chili oil, with a service philosophy that refuses to take itself seriously. Schmuck earns its nightly line through warmth as much as technique. It won Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2026 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.
97 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003Tue-Sun 4pm-1am, Mon closedFull profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTSpeakeasySip & Guzzle
Steve Schneider and Shingo Gokan, two bartenders who spent a decade rewriting the rules in Asia, reunited on Cornelia Street to build a two-story concept that won Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2025 Spirited Awards. Upstairs, Schneider runs Guzzle, an 1860s saloon revival. Downstairs, Gokan operates Sip, a subterranean speakeasy honoring the seventy-seven samurai of the Kanrin Maru. Chef Mike Bagale, an Alinea veteran, handles the izakaya-inspired food program. This is the most ambitious new opening the city has produced in years. It was No. 5 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2025 and holds No. 1 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
29 Cornelia Street, New York, NY 10014Mon-Tue 4pm-1am, Wed-Sat 4pm-2am, Sun 4pm-1amFull profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarSuperbueno
Head Bartender Ignacio "Nacho" Jimenez built this neon-lit Mexican-American bar on First Avenue into the No. 2 spot on North America's 50 Best and No. 12 globally in 2025, just two years in; it stands at No. 61 on The 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026. The cocktail program bridges Mexico City street flavors with high-specification technique, try the Green Mango Martini, inspired by NYC subway fruit carts, or the Roasted Corn Sour dusted with charred corn powder. The 2025 Spirited Awards handed Superbueno Best U.S. Bar Team (East), and a James Beard nod for Outstanding Cocktail Service sealed the year. Superbueno won Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2024 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. Lucha Libre murals, relentless energy, and drinks that hit harder than they have any right to. It sits at No. 9 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
13 1st Ave., New York, NY 10003Mon-Thu 4pm-2am, Fri-Sun 12pm-2amFull profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarMartiny's
Takuma Watanabe spent eight years at Angel's Share before opening this three-floor carriage house on East 17th Street, where Japanese technique meets old New York architecture. Hand-carved ice, hot towels, and a Grand Martini built with gin, sherry, port, and cognac earned Watanabe the Bartender of the Year title at the 2024 Spirits Business Awards and the Best Bartender in North America nod at the Shaker Awards. Martiny's, which was No. 15 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2025, treats every drink as a ceremony. The formality is the point. The latest lists place it at No. 23 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 and No. 46 on The 50 Best Bars 2026, up from No. 75 on the 51-100 list in 2025.
121 East 17th Street, New York, NY 10003Daily 6pm-1amFull profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTRooftop BarOverstory
Bar Director Harrison Ginsberg runs a cocktail program on the 64th floor of 70 Pine Street that treats the Manhattan skyline as a design element rather than a crutch. Staff in pastel pink suits pour Garibaldis and Sazeracs built around New York terroir, local honey, Hudson Valley fruit, rooftop herbs, while a wraparound terrace and a glittering disco ball set a tone that is celebratory without tipping into nightclub territory. Ranked No. 6 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2025, Overstory proves that a bar with a view can also be a bar with a point. It was a Top 4 finalist for Best U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2025 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. The bar holds No. 33 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
70 Pine Street, 64th Floor, New York, NYMon-Wed 5pm-12am, Thu-Sat 4pm-1am, Sun 4pm-12amFull profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarBar Snack
Time Out named it the No. 1 bar in New York City for January 2026, and the program explains why: matcha frozens, salad Negronis built with nectarine and basil, a Phish Food Old Fashioned, and every cocktail priced under eighteen dollars. The menu organizes drinks into One & Somes, Crushers, and Big Licks, categories that move from sessionable to spirit-forward without losing the irreverent tone. At No. 3 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026, up from No. 85 on the 2025 extended list, Bar Snack delivers serious drinking disguised as a neighborhood hangout. It won Best U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2026 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.
92 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003Sun-Thu 2pm-1am, Fri-Sat 2pm-2amFull profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTSpeakeasyAttaboy
No menu, no signage, and a front-door instruction that reads "Please Wait To Be Greeted." Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy opened this Eldridge Street bar in 2012 as a spiritual successor to Milk & Honey, and it climbed twelve places to No. 72 on The World's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2025. Bartenders build every drink in conversation with the guest, ask for something citrus-forward and spirit-driven, and you might receive the Penicillin that Ross invented here. Attaboy operates seven nights a week until 3 a.m. The consistency across a decade-plus run borders on unreasonable. It currently stands at No. 37 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
134 Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002Daily 5pm-3amFull profile
★ TOP 10NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail BarClemente Bar
Chef Daniel Humm and artist Francesco Clemente collaborated on this bar above Eleven Madison Park, and the result feels less like a hotel annex and more like a private gallery that happens to serve exceptional drinks. Deep burgundy tones, walnut panels, and Clemente's murals nod to Zurich's Kronenhalle Bar. The cocktail program matches the restraint of the room, seasonal, plant-based, and precisely composed. Clemente Bar entered North America's 50 Best Bars 2025 at No. 11 with the Best New Opening Award, and it is No. 15 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026. It was a Top 4 finalist for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2025 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.
11 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010Daily 5pm-1amFull profile
★ TOP 10NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail BarSeed Library
Ryan Chetiyawardana, known globally as Mr Lyan, opened this second Seed Library location inside Hotel Park Ave in November 2025, bringing his London formula of ingredient-forward cocktails and radical inclusivity to a NoMad basement with its own street entrance. Seventeen cocktails adapt Seed Library signatures with New York flavors, while the snack program pairs whipped feta with crispy naan. Chetiyawardana's reputation precedes him, but the bar earns its place independently, a subterranean retreat that rewards curiosity over familiarity. The bar holds No. 66 on the North America's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026.
51 East 30th Street, New York, NY 10016Tue-Thu 5pm-12am, Fri-Sat 5pm-1am, Sun 5pm-12am, Mon closedFull profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarDeath & Co East Village
Opened on New Year's Eve 2006/07 and swiftly a cocktail institution, the East Village original of what is now a four-city empire (New York, Denver, LA, Washington DC). Exposed brick, low-slung tables, a marble bar, and a menu rebuilt twice a year across six sections running light-and-refreshing to spiritous and zero-proof. Limited reservations, mostly first come first served; two-hour visits, parties of eight max.
Order thisGhost MachineEmpirical Cilantro, Wray & Nephew, watermelon, Aperol, habanero, lager433 E 6th St, New York, NY 10009, United StatesSun-Wed 6pm-1am, Thu-Sat 6pm-2amFull profile
50 BESTCocktail BarDouble Chicken Please
GN Chan and Faye Chen's bar began in 2017 as a mobile cocktail unit in a yellow VW camper van and landed on Allen Street in 2020. Two rooms: FREE RANGE up front, where guests explore an interactive plinko-style menu centered on flavor discovery and experimentation alongside shareable dishes, and The Coop behind, where iconic dishes are rebuilt as drinks, Cold Pizza, Waldorf Salad, French Toast, via the founders' 'design hacking' method. It was No. 2 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2023 and North America's No. 1 that year; the hot honey chicken sandwich is mandatory. It was a Top 4 finalist for Best U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2024 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. It sits at No. 53 on The 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026, after No. 41 in 2025, and No. 35 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
Order thisCold PizzaDon Fulano Blanco, Parmigiano Reggiano, burnt toast, tomato, basil, honey, egg white115 Allen St, New York, NY 10002The Coop: Tue-Thu 5pm-1am, Fri-Sat 5pm-1:30am, Sun 5pm-12am (closed Mon)Full profile
50 BESTCocktail BarKatana Kitten
Masahiro Urushido's Japanese-American cocktail bar in Greenwich Village, from the Cocktail Kingdom Hospitality Group, a subterranean room built on highballs, boilermakers and immaculately balanced signatures like the hinoki martini. It was No. 27 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2023, No. 80 on The World's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2024 and No. 12 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2024. The bar holds No. 52 on the North America's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026.
Order thisHinoki MartiniGrey Goose, Spring 44 mountain gin, fino sherry, junmai daiginjo531 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014Mon-Fri 4pm-2am, Sat 2pm-2am, Sun 2pm-12amFull profile
50 BESTSpeakeasyEmployees Only
Twenty years after Dushan Zaric and his four co-founders opened this Hudson Street speakeasy as an after-hours spot for hospitality workers, Employees Only still closes at 4 a.m. and still draws a crowd that skews industry. White-jacketed bartenders, many with eleven-year tenures, pour classics alongside restaurant-quality food in a room that refuses to update its aesthetic because the aesthetic never needed updating. Ranked No. 78 on The 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026, after No. 95 on the 51-100 list in 2025, EO endures not through reinvention but through stubborn, uncompromising consistency. New York's cocktail trajectory bends toward ambition without apology, bigger concepts, bolder imports, bartenders who treat their careers as creative practices. The competition across its five boroughs has never been fiercer, and the beneficiary, as always, is anyone holding a glass. Book the trip. It sits at No. 45 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
510 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014Daily 6pm-4amFull profile- Dante50 BESTCocktail Bar
Dante
The circa-1915 Caffe Dante on Macdougal Street, reborn as the aperitivo bar that topped the World's 50 Best Bars in 2019. A full page of negronis, on tap, chocolate, sour, an extensive aperitivi list, and $10 Negroni Sessions daily from 3-5pm keep the Greenwich Village original humming; the group now stretches to the West Village, Beverly Hills and Mayfair. It was No. 46 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2025 and is No. 58 on the North America's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026.
Order thisDante's GaribaldiCampari & fluffy orange juice79-81 Macdougal Street, New York, NY 10012From 12pm weekdays, 10am weekends; food to 11pm Sun-Wed, 12am Thu-SatFull profile 
NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail BarAngel's Share
Tony Yoshida's 1993 pioneer of Japanese bartending in New York, reopened in its West Village home on Grove Street in 2024 by his daughter Erina after the original East Village lounge was forced out in 2022, the cherub-studded cloudscape mural made the move too. Just 17 seats, Japanese-influenced cocktails, and famously strict house rules: walk-in only, seated only, parties of four max. The bar holds No. 31 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
45 Grove Street, New York, NY 10014From 5pm (closed Sun-Mon); walk-in only, parties of 4 maxFull profile
NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail BarBar Madonna
An Italian-American inspired cocktail bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, opened in 2024. The bar pairs an avant-garde cocktail menu with Italian-American snacks, with reservations via Resy. The bar holds No. 36 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
367 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211Full profile
NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail BarMaison Premiere
Joshua Boissy and Krystof Zizka's Williamsburg institution, est. 2011, rooted in the traditions and ceremony of oyster bars and absinthe cafés of New York, Paris and New Orleans. Thirty-plus oyster varieties, the largest absinthe selection in the United States (with a replica of the Olde Absinthe House fountain), and a 2016 James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program. Garden out back; bar is walk-in. The bar holds No. 40 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
Order thisOld King Cole MartiniOld Raj gin, orange bitters, Gordal olives, stirred tableside298 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249Mon-Thu 12pm-1am, Fri 12pm-2am, Sat 10am-2am, Sun 10am-1amFull profile
50 BESTCocktail BarDead Rabbit
Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry's 2013 mission to bring the Irish pub into the 21st century, in an 1828 building on Water Street: the ground-floor Taproom pours a quarter-million pints of Guinness a year beside a world-renowned Irish Coffee, while the first-floor Parlor is a cocktail cathedral. Named after the 1850s Dead Rabbit gang and its leader John Morrissey; twice the World's Best Bar (2014, 2015), with live music every Sunday.
Order thisIrish Coffeethe house calling card, Irish whiskey, coffee, demerara, fresh cream30 Water Street, New York, NY 10004Taproom: Sun-Thu 11am-2am, Fri-Sat 11am-3am; Parlor: Tue-Sat 5pm-1am, Sun 4pm-12amFull profile
NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail BarMace
Nico de Soto and Greg Boehm's spice bar in Greenwich Village, where every cocktail is named after the spice or ingredient it features, Mace, Tonka, Pandan, Habanero, on a seasonal, rotating menu that put the bar on The World's 50 Best Bars in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Non-alcoholic versions of the signatures, plus food, happy hour and brunch.
Order thisMaceAperol, aquavit, beet juice, orange acid, young Thai coconut cordial, mace mist35 West 8th Street, New York, NY 10011Mon-Wed 4pm-12am, Thu 4pm-1am, Fri 2pm-2am, Sat 1pm-2am, Sun 1pm-11pmFull profile- Bar Goto50 BESTCocktail Bar
Bar Goto
Kenta Goto's 'New York bar with a Japanese soul' on Eldridge Street, cocktails, shochu, sake and elevated bar snacks like okonomiyaki and miso wings. The Sakura Martini, created here, was called by the former New York Times restaurant critic one of the few drinks invented in New York this century likely to last into the next. Walk-ins only; closed Mondays; sibling Bar Goto Niban in Park Slope.
Order thisSakura Martinisake, gin, maraschino, cherry blossom245 Eldridge Street, New York, NY 10002Tue-Wed 5pm-12am, Thu 5pm-1am, Fri-Sat 5pm-2am, Sun 5pm-12am (closed Mon)Full profile - Milady'sNORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail Bar
Milady's
Milady's held the corner of Prince and Thompson in SoHo for more than 50 years as a neighborhood haunt before it went dark in January 2014. Julie Reiner, of Clover Club, Leyenda and Pegu Club, revived it in 2022 with partners Susan Fedroff, Christine Williams and chef Sam Sherman. The drinks keep the old bar's lack of pretension: Jell-O shots, mini martinis and machine highballs sit beside the cocktail list. Reservations are on Resy, and happy hour runs Sunday to Thursday from 4 to 6pm. Milady's was No. 50 on North America's 50 Best Bars in 2023 and No. 44 in 2024, and a 2024 Spirited Awards Top 10 nominee for Best U.S. Bar Team.
160 Prince St, New York, NY 10012Mon 4pm-1am, Tue-Thu 12pm-1am, Fri-Sat 12pm-2am, Sun 12pm-12amFull profile - Amor y AmargoNORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail Bar
Amor y Amargo
America's first cocktail bar dedicated exclusively to bitters and Italian amari, opened in 2011 by Ravi DeRossi and bartender Sother Teague. The tiny East Village tasting room has returned to its original 443 E 6th St address, and several of its signature drinks have become modern industry classics.
443 E 6th St, New York, NY 10009Sun–Thu 5pm–12am, Fri–Sat 5pm–1amFull profile - Dear IrvingNORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail Bar
Dear Irving
A Victorian-inspired cocktail parlor in Gramercy with pink velvet, gold accents and intimate era-themed seating areas, serving an inventive menu of classics and seasonal cocktails. Its sister rooftop, Dear Irving on Hudson at the Aliz Hotel Times Square, remains open.
55 Irving Pl, New York, NY 10003Mon–Wed 5pm–1am, Thu–Fri 5pm–2am, Sat 4pm–2am, Sun 4pm–1amFull profile 
NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTHotel BarThe Portrait Bar
An intimate cocktail bar and lounge inside The Fifth Avenue Hotel in NoMad, with wood panelling, a carved stone fireplace and an extensive collection of portraits. Bar Director Darryl Chan oversees a program of refined cocktails and elevated bar fare. It currently stands at No. 71 on the North America's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026.
The Fifth Avenue Hotel, 1 West 28th St, New York, NY 10001Mon–Thu 5pm–1am, Fri–Sat 5pm–2am, Sun 5pm–12amFull profile
NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail BarClover Club
Julie Reiner's Cobble Hill institution, open since 2008, part neighborhood bar, part destination cocktail bar, with vintage furnishings, a reclaimed mahogany bar and a working fireplace. Expertly prepared cocktails come alongside a full food menu; ranked on North America's 50 Best Bars.
210 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY 11201Mon–Thu 4pm–12am, Fri 4pm–1am, Sat 12pm–1am, Sun 12pm–12amFull profile- Shinji'sNORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail Bar
Shinji's
An 18-seat Flatiron jewel box named after Tokyo's legendary fictional fixer, where state-of-the-art technique underpins everything, liquid nitrogen-chilled gin fizzes, the iconic Tropicana served in a frozen orange, paired with sumptuous handrolls made tableside. No. 77 on the North America's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026.
37 W 20th St, New York, NY 10011Full profile - Dante West VillageNORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail Bar
Dante West Village
Dante West Village is the West Village sister of Dante, on Hudson Street at the corner of Perry Street, and shares its roots with the original Caffe Dante on Macdougal Street, now a registered New York City landmark. It runs as an all-day room from 10am to midnight, with brunch on weekends and dinner from 5pm, and the bar seats guests for cocktails on a first come, first served basis. 50 Best singled out its $10 martini happy hour, daily from 3pm to 5pm, and ranked it No. 60 on the North America's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2025.
551 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014Daily 10am-12amFull profile 
Cocktail BarDolores
Dolores is a Mexican restaurant and bar in Bed-Stuy that describes itself as serving cocktails and comida chilanga, the food of Mexico City. The drinks lean on Mexican spirits and house ferments, with a Paloma finished with sumac, a Tepache Negroni Blanco built on mezcal and sotol, and a Mexican Espresso Martini on Pa'lante café rum, alongside guacamole, sopes and aguachile. There are no reservations, and weekend brunch runs from 11am.
397 Tompkins Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216Mon-Fri 4pm-12am; Sat-Sun 11am-12amFull profile- Raines Law Room at the WilliamHotel Bar
Raines Law Room at the William
Raines Law Room at the William opened in 2014 inside a Beaux-Arts townhouse hotel on East 39th Street, the second location of the cocktail parlor Meaghan Dorman and Alberto Benenati first opened in Chelsea in 2009. It is a seated lounge spread across four rooms, the Hawthorne Room, the Peacock Room, the Library and the Terrace, with a menu of twenties-inspired cocktails and a zero-proof section.
24 E 39th St, New York, NY 10016Mon-Thu 5pm-12am; Fri 5pm-2am; Sat 4pm-2am; Sun closedFull profile - Hello Hello Bar & CafePINNACLECocktail Bar
Hello Hello Bar & Cafe
Hello Hello opened on 9 July 2025 on West 26th Street in Chelsea, a café by day that turns into a cocktail bar at night. Its founders, Luis Hernandez, Brendan Bartley and Robert Nieves, are veterans of Seamstress and Bathtub Gin, and the room, designed by West Chin Architects, leans into the 1970s with wood paneling and tan leather couches. Behind the bar is Silent Alibi, the in-house distillery, which makes the vodka and the 11th Hour coffee liqueur that run through the menu, from the Espresso Martini to a house Red Bull Vodka. After dark a full DJ setup turns it into a listening bar. It was a 2026 Spirited Awards regional honoree for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar.
151 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001Mon-Wed 11am-1am, Thu-Sat 11am-2am, Sun closedFull profile 
Cocktail BarLighthouse BK
Lighthouse BK is a farm-to-table Mediterranean restaurant and bar in Williamsburg, opened in 2011 by siblings Assaf and Naama Tamir, whose team went on to open Birds in the West Village. The bar pours hand-crafted cocktails and natural wines with a daily happy hour, and the restaurant's sustainability work, from composting to sourcing, is part of how it presents itself.
145 Borinquen Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11211Mon-Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri 5pm-1am; Sat 12pm-1am; Sun 12pm-11pmFull profile- Bar KabawaCocktail Bar
Bar Kabawa
Bar Kabawa is Momofuku's daiquiri and wine bar on Extra Place in the East Village, next door to the Kabawa restaurant and built around the Caribbean flavors of chef Paul Carmichael's cooking. The list runs to daiquiris and wines by the glass, with a compact menu of patties and raw bar bites, and the room holds space for walk-ins alongside a small reservation book.
12 Extra Pl, New York, NY 10003Tue-Sat 5:30pm-12amFull profile - BirdsCocktail Bar
Birds
Birds is a live music and listening bar on Downing Street in the West Village, created by the team behind Lighthouse in Brooklyn and Messy in Manhattan. Weekends bring live sets that move between jazz, funk, bossa and breaks, and weeknights run on vinyl, with cocktails served through the set.
64 Downing St, New York, NY 10014Sun, Wed, Thu 6pm-12am; Fri-Sat 6pm-2am; Mon-Tue closedFull profile - Crown ShyCocktail Bar
Crown Shy
Crown Shy occupies the ground floor of the Art Deco landmark at 70 Pine Street in the Financial District, a Michelin-starred restaurant since its first year in 2019. The bar program runs a list of house cocktails that borrow from the kitchen, a Charred Onion Gibson with sherry and burnt onion and a Melona Milk Punch of honeydew, sticky rice and coconut among them, with a short non-alcoholic section alongside.
70 Pine St, New York, NY 10005Mon-Wed 11:30am-2pm, 5pm-9:30pm; Thu-Fri 11:30am-2pm, 5pm-10pm; Sat 5pm-10pm; Sun 5pm-9:30pmFull profile - Gage & TollnerCocktail Bar
Gage & Tollner
Gage & Tollner first opened on Fulton Street in 1879 and closed in 2004, then reopened in 2021 under Sohui Kim, Ben Schneider and St. John Frizell in a dining room that holds both exterior and interior landmark status, the only standalone restaurant in New York to carry both. The cocktail list opens with classics that appeared on the house menus of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, martinis, sours, smashes and cobblers, and adds a rotating bartender's suggestion.
372 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11201Mon-Fri 5pm-10pm; Sat-Sun 11am-10pmFull profile - Milly'sCocktail Bar
Milly's
Milly's is a neighborhood cocktail bar with live music on Greene Avenue in Bed-Stuy, named a Regional Top 10 Honoree for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2026 Spirited Awards.
397 Greene Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216Full profile - NubeluzHotel Bar
Nubeluz
Nubeluz is José Andrés' cocktail bar on the top floor of The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad, five hundred feet up with views across the skyline. The name joins the Spanish words for cloud and light, and the signature Foggy Hill pairs Del Maguey Vida mezcal with Yzaguirre vermouth, Cynar and Aperol under an orange and thyme aromatic cloud. Reservations are required, guests must be 21 and over, and a cocktail dress code is enforced.
25 W 28th St, New York, NY 10001Mon-Wed 3pm-12am; Thu 1pm-1am; Fri 1pm-11pm; Sat 11am-3pm, 4pm-1am; Sun 11am-3pm, 4pm-12amFull profile - The Long Island BarNORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail Bar
The Long Island Bar
A restored mid-century corner bar and restaurant on Atlantic Avenue at the edge of Cobble Hill, a Brooklyn landmark serving food and drinks for almost 55 years. It operates as a cocktail bar and restaurant with regular events.
110 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201Tue–Fri 5pm–12am, Sat–Sun 2pm–12amFull profile - PDT50 BESTSpeakeasy
PDT
Jim Meehan's East Village speakeasy, entered through the phone booth inside hot-dog joint Crif Dogs, pick up the payphone and a secret door opens onto a taxidermy-strewn den. PDT topped the World's 50 Best Bars in 2011 and still treats the mystery of entry as part of the appeal, with innovative yet unpretentious drinks. Reservations via Resy; phone lines open at 3pm.
113 Saint Marks Place, New York, NY 10009Full profile - Bateman'sPINNACLECocktail Bar
Bateman's
Bateman's is the first cocktail bar from husband-and-wife Carlo Olcese and Natasha Van Duser, on East 6th Street in the East Village, and they pitch it as an approachable Dorsia, the restaurant from American Psycho. A 10-seat bar sits under original 1920s Tiffany chandeliers over a marble top, with a 20-seat dining area beside it. The ice is clarified in house and stamped with brass stamps, local artist Deanne Proske illustrates the cocktails, and the dirty martini runs on a secret brine. The Hotel Nacional gets a brown butter apricot fat wash. Resy opens 14 days ahead, with plenty of room for walk-ins. The Pinnacle Guide gives it 2 Pins.
308 E 6th St, New York, NY 10003Mon-Thu 5pm-12am, Fri-Sat 5pm-2am, Sun 6pm-11pmFull profile
More of New York
These are the cocktail bars specifically. The full New York guide ranks the best bars of every style, and the directory lists all 88 with a map and filters.
