Cocktail bars in New York that get the mix right

As expected from a city that reportedly never sleeps, New York’s drinking scene is restless and diverse. Sophisticated hotel bars and intimate Japanese-style counters sit alongside retro dives pouring top shelf liquor. Manhattan still owns the martini, while Brookyln’s backyards and old school diners are among the coolest in the world.

These New York bars capture the most compelling drinking experiences in the city right now, ordered by neighbourhood.

Lower Manhattan

Dante

West Village

Best for: Aperitivo culture on a New York sidewalk
Address: 551 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
Price: $$$$

The original Dante location on MacDougal Street was crowned the World’s Best Bar in 2019 for its take on Italian aperitivo culture. A second location has since opened in the West Village, with some of the city’s best outdoor seating. Order the tequila-based Fluffy Margherita Royale, made with freshly blended clementine juice, or opt for one of six negronis, including a vintage version stirred with spirits from the 1970s.

Sip and Guzzle

Greenwich Village

Best for: Two bars, two distinct moods
Address: 29 Cornelia Street, New York, NY 10014
Price: $$$

Sip & Guzzle has two contrasting personalities. Upstairs, lively Guzzle offers drinks such as a Miami Vice Negroni and a frothy coffee martini in a laidback brick-walled space. Descend to Sip for a more intimate experience crafted by co-founder and Tokyo cocktail maestro Shingo Gokan. Crowned the best bar in North America in 2026, both deliver superb cocktails with plenty of character. Reservations are released ten days ahead.

schmuck.

East Village

Best for: House party energy and playful pours
Address: 97 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003
Price: $$$$

Schmuck. is the latest venture from acclaimed bartenders Moe Aljaff and Juliette Larrouy, who previously worked together at Barcelona’s celebrated Two Schmucks. The space feels like your coolest friend’s living room, with low slung mid-century sofas and framed photography. Cocktails draw culinary inspiration: the Larb Gai uses peanuts, rice and chilli oil, while the Margarita & Cream channels the flavours of summer and is served with a spoon. The Piña Colada Pickleback takes the format a step further, arriving as two separate serves – coconut fat-washed whisky and homemade pickled pineapple brine – rather than a single composed drink.

Swing by when the bar opens at 4pm to get your name on the list or scour Resy to secure one of the limited number of reservations released for each night.

Bar Snack

East Village

Best for: Sharp drinks in a laidback retro space
Address: 92 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003
Price: $$$

Bar Snack brings a 1970s sensibility to this East Village neighbourhood bar, with wood-panelled walls, retro furnishings and a bathroom with a disco ball. Pints of Guinness flow, alongside cocktails such as High Tide Gimlet infused with fresh kiwi, while bartenders will also shake the classics to your taste. Order the Spice Girls-branded bag of chicken tenders and fries, which has amassed cult status. The bar has built a reputation as one of the city’s leading cocktail spots, but hasn’t lost its local, easygoing charm.

Double Chicken Please

Lower East Side

Best for: Best for: Inventive libations and fried chicken
Address: 115 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002
Price: Cocktails from 17 USD

This sleek Taiwanese-American drinking den is world-renowned for its creative concoctions. Arrive close to opening time at 5pm to secure a seat in the busy ‘Free Range’ front room, where cocktails are served on tap, or reserve one of the limited seats released six days ahead. Its more intimate back room, The Coop, can be booked in advance for cocktails playfully inspired by familiar dishes such as Cold Pizza, Mango Sticky Rice and French Toast, alongside a menu of fried chicken.

Superbueno

East Village

Best for: Energetic Mexican cocktail den
Address: 13 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003
Price: $$$

At Superbueno, Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez blends New York energy with the flavours of his Mexican heritage. The tangy, clarified Vodka y Soda, cut with guava and chile, is a bestseller, while the Mole Negroni and tequila-based Green Mango Martini also shine. Globe lights hang over the terrazzo bar and bartenders will often swing the light fixtures when a particularly good Bad Bunny track comes on. It feels like a proper night out, no club required.

Overstory

Financial District

Best for: Retro hues and epic views
Address: 70 Pine Street 64th Floor, New York, NY 10005
Price: $$$$

The drinks-focussed counterpart to popular Financial District restaurants Crown Shy and Saga, Overstory occupies the 64th floor of 70 Pine Street, directly above Saga. An Art Deco-inspired interior opens onto epic views across the city. Bartenders in double-breasted pink blazers shake cocktails that use unexpected ingredients such as bee’s wax, palo santo wood, husk cherry or gochujang. Expect a mix of finance bros and date night couples, alongside live DJs on weekends.

Cocktail bars in Midtown

Martiny’s

Gramercy

Best for: Japanese precision in a former carriage house
Address: 121 E 17th Street, New York, NY 10003
Price: $$$$

Martiny’s is the first solo venture from Takuma Watanabe, a veteran of New York’s cocktail scene. Set in a redbrick Gramercy carriage house, the bar draws on Japanese cocktail-making precision. The main action takes place on ground level, where Watanabe mixes and muddles drinks like the green-tinged Tea Ceremony (matcha, Japanese whisky, white cacao liqueur, coconut water). The pro tip is to grab a bar stool here. For a more relaxed vibe, head to the second level, with exposed wooden beams, vintage furniture and neighbourhood views.

Clemente Bar

Flatiron

Best for: Intimate, art-lined space with plant-based bites
Address: 11 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Price: $$$$

Set above Eleven Madison Park, Clemente Bar is a collaboration between chef-owner Daniel Humm and artist Francesco Clemente, whose colourful works fill the intimate space. Seasonality drives the drinks programme, with ingredients ranging from spring cherry blossom to autumnal squash. Plant-based bar snacks are equally inventive, such as mushroom mini burgers and the playfully named Thrice Fried Potatoes. A saffron-infused martini is a year-round favourite, while the nine-seat Studio next door currently hosts a seafood-focused omakase from chef Eiji Ichimura.

Lobby Bar at Hotel Chelsea

Chelsea

Best for: Decadence in a louche New York landmark
Address: 226 W 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
Price: $$$$

Hotel Chelsea famously housed artists, writers and musicians during the 1970s, including Patti Smith, Dylan Thomas and Jack Kerouac. Hotelier Sean MacPherson, co-founder of the Bowery Hotel, renovated and relaunched the property in 2022, with partners Richard Born and Ira Drukier. The marble Lobby Bar is more polished than its previous iteration, but retains a louche charm. Try the mezcal-based Edie ’67, named after Edie Sedgwick and made with raspberry, ginger lapsang tea and gochujang honey, or the Duke’s Martini, inspired by the iconic London bar.

Cocktail bars in Uptown

Bemelmans at The Carlyle Hotel

Upper East Side

Best for: Iconic piano bar for old world glamour
Address: 35 E 76th Street, New York, NY 10075
Price: $$$$

This legendary Upper East Side piano bar reportedly sells up to 1,000 martinis each night, stirred by veteran head bartender Luis Serrano. The signature drink is fortified with gin and dry vermouth and garnished with a lemon twist. Hidden inside The Carlyle Hotel, original murals by Ludwig Bemelmans (creator of the Madeline children’s books), still line the walls, while bartenders wear Ferrari-red blazers. With nightly live jazz and an air of old New York glamour, it has long been a favourite of film stars and moguls. Note: It’s walk-in only.

Cocktail bars in Brooklyn

Maison Premiere

Williamsburg

Best for: New Orleans-style absinthe and oysters
Address: 298 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Price: $$$

There is no better place in all of New York to sip absinthe-based tipples while slurping the freshest of shellfish than longstanding cocktail bar and oyster den, Maison Premiere. Imbued with retro charm of the late 19th century, bar staff wear vintage three-piece suits behind a marble horseshoe-shaped counter. Grab a coveted bar stool or a table in the lush rear garden for sips such as the bar’s signature Old King Cole Martini made with 12-hour frozen gin, dry vermouth, and a lemon twist, or the scarlet-hued Maison Sherry Cobbler – a smattering of four sherries, flavoured with blackberry and pineapple.

Bar Madonna

Williamsburg

Best for: Italian warmth in a lofty Williamsburg setting
Address: 367 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Price: $$$

Bar Madonna brings warm Italian hospitality to a Williamsburg loft-like space. Plates feature a line-drawn portrait of owner Eric Madonna’s mother, while the drinks take an inventive approach to Italian classics, including a Limoncello Milk Punch. Order a smashed meatball parm sandwich, and look out for the oversized painting by streetwear designer KidSuper – a playful meeting of Italian tradition and Brooklyn creativity. Music is also considered, with custom speakers by House Under Magic.

The Long Island Bar

Cobble Hill

Best for: Drinks in a longstanding Brooklyn diner
Address: 110 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Price: $$

This Cobble Hill institution dates back to the 1950s when it was known for its reliable burgers. The diner’s original art deco aesthetic has been preserved, while the drinks have evolved into a more considered cocktail offering, making it a popular hipster hangout. Expect reworked classics such as a martini lightened with sake and a house gimlet sharpened with ginger-lime cordial, alongside straightforward bar food.