Home  ›  Where Were Most Speak Easies in Nyc

Where Were Most Speak Easies in Nyc

Written By Tuesday, October 4, 2022 Add Comment Edit
A wall with graffiti on side and brick on the other with a wooden phone booth in the middle.
Enter through a phone booth to get to Please Don't Tell.
Eric Medsker/Please Don't Tell

Where to Find NYC's Top Speakeasy-Style Bars

Where to find booze disguised by unmarked doors, hot dogs, and a laundromat

by Updated

View as Map

Enter through a phone booth to get to Please Don't Tell.
| Eric Medsker/Please Don't Tell

The last time speakeasy-style dens became coveted in New York City was around 2007, when PDT, aka Please Don't Tell, launched in the East Village and kicked off a spate of new bars with increasingly elaborate hidden entrances. Today, there's no sign this genre of bars emphasizing craft cocktails — and the Edison lightbulbs, live music, and discreet entrances — is going away. Perhaps the throwback to the Prohibition-era establishments never went out of vogue, but luckily, they're less ostentatious, more chill, and most importantly, serving outstanding cocktails. Here's where to hide while nursing a drink in the city.

Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

Read More

Note: Restaurants on this map are listed geographically.

Enter through a storefront that's been modeled after an old locksmith and shoe repair shop to find this cocktail lounge. Inside, owner Massimo Lusardi (who owns nearby wine bar Uva) created a space that feels like a cozy living room with little lamps set on bistro tables. Customers can order creative riffs on classics like the Manhattan High Tea, which incorporates Early Grey-flavored syrup, while nibbling on Italian bar snacks like mini paninis and olives.

  • Open in Google Maps

This radio-themed speakeasy in the Radio Wave Building's cellar executes on its concept with a menu sorting drinks into four categories: energy, frequency, vibration, and descent. Each drink is illustrated and described in painstaking detail, like the "Light Me Up," with bourbon, Jamaican rum, mango black tea, amaro, yellow chartreuse, Sichuan peppercorn, lime, and pineapple. It ends up being a complex drink with layered flavors. During the day, the space up front is a coffee shop with speciality grab-and-go coffee, nitro cold brew, pastries, cookies, and chia parfaits.

  • Open in Google Maps
A dimly lit bar with stools lining one side.
The bar at Patent Pending.
Simmer/Patent Pending

The team behind Raines Law Room, which set a new standard for speakeasy elegance, opened this similarly sexy bar in Gramercy in 2014. While the apartment-like entrance is anything but striking, the decor — including crystal curtains and a room inspired by Marie Antoinette — makes a dramatic statement. Drinks run the gamut from tiki to a wide selection of whiskeys.

  • Open in Google Maps
A room with a velvet couch surrounded by beaded curtains.
One of the rooms at Dear Irving.
Dear Irving

A nondescript door in the West Village leads to a stairway down to the basement-level Little Branch, the late and lauded bartender Sasha Petraske's ode to refined cocktail culture. Bartenders in obligatory vests can make drinks from the twee menu or work out something on the spot. While the wait can be long on the weekends, the occasional live music paired with first-rate cocktails are worth the wait.

  • Open in Google Maps
  • Foursquare

During Prohibition, speakeasies weren't slinging fancy Manhattans but rather whatever hooch the staff could obtain under the alcohol ban. Sunshine Laundromat harks back to those simpler days, slinging bottles of Miller High Life behind a faux-washer door. The real draw, however, are the numerous pinball machines played by arcade fans.

  • Open in Google Maps

Blame Please Don't Tell bartender Jim Meehan — who is no longer affiliated with PDT, as its known — for the mid-aughts fascination with speakeasies. But more mercifully, the bar behind a phone booth in Crif Dogs signaled a sea change in New York cocktail culture. Its meticulous approach to both classic and hyper-specific house cocktails remains among the most sophisticated around. Sample a concoction laced with port along with the fancy hot dogs.

  • Open in Google Maps
An empty bar lined stools on one side and surrounded by a brick wall.
The bar at PDT.
Eric Medsker/Please Don't Tell

The newly opened provisions shop Pine & Polk is a front of sorts for PS, a speakeasy hidden behind a shelf of pricey chocolates. Inside, the vibe is more dinner party than a sleek cocktail den. Patrons can order variations on popular cocktails, such as a Negroni served in a tea cup, to pair with charcuterie boards. If a drink or snack stands out, there's a good chance some of the ingredients can be bought in the shop.

  • Open in Google Maps
A bar with a marble top, high chairs, and a bar in the background.
PS is located behind a shelf at Pine & Polk.
Ashley Sears/Pine & Polk

While this tropical Japanese-themed speakeasy behind Wanpaku is small, the brightly lit, airy space doesn't usually feel overwhelmingly crowded. Owner Leif Huckman, who is also behind Donna in South Williamsburg (RIP), has called the bar a "Japanese clam shack," and as such, small plates like spicy tuna served atop crispy rice or fried baby octopus round out the menu. The drinks menu has an entire section devoted to highballs, all of which are worth a try.

  • Open in Google Maps
Corner seating with tables and banquettes by a bar with wooden stools at a bar.
The bar and banquette at the Hidden Pearl.
The Hidden Pearl

Fig. 19's secret pathway is more clever than most. Above the dance-centric hotspot Home Sweet Home, an art gallery has a door in the very back that leads to the hip watering hole. Chandeliers and accessible cocktails cater to a Lower East Side crowd, while the jazz soundtrack offers an escape from the rowdier scene below.

  • Open in Google Maps

The tiny Attaboy, with only bar seats and three booths, does justice to the old Milk & Honey space. Ring the bell on the unmarked door to get in, though a line on most nights will give away the gimmick. Reservations and menus were once shunned, but a bartender will always happily chat about the ideal beverage.

  • Open in Google Maps
  • Foursquare
A bar filled with patrons and a bartender behind the wooden bar.
The bar at Attaboy.
Attaboy

In true speakeasy fashion, Saint Tuesday is hidden in a cellar at the bottom of the Walker Hotel Tribeca with an entrance just off Cortland Alley. The intimate space is dimly lit with a few small wood tables and comes to life when live music fills the cave-like room. For cocktails, which an alum of Little Branch and Fresh Kills oversees, expect classics like Manhattans and martinis or go for a bartender's choice.

  • Open in Google Maps

The bi-level Chinese Tuxedo is also home to subterranean Peachy's, which announces its cheeky humor with a neon sign saying, "no photos, no fighting." A dragon made of light is the centerpiece of the artful space. The cocktails lean heavily on tequila, mezcal, and rum.

  • Open in Google Maps

La Milagrosa, a speakeasy and mezcaleria in one, lies behind an apparent freezer door in a Williamsburg deli. The narrow, woody space specializes in agave-based spirits used in drinks like a just-smoky-enough mezcal margarita. The hip-yet-friendly crowd is usually lost in conversation or bopping along to an eclectic music mix provided by rotating DJs.

  • Open in Google Maps

The revival of Gage & Tollner, a historic chophouse in downtown Brooklyn, garnered plenty of attention. But when the restaurant's upstairs bar Sunken Harbor Club opened in late 2021, anyone who enjoys geeking out about cocktails was equally excited for St. John Frizell's bar opening. After all, Frizell (who's also a partner at Gage & Tollner) ran a successful tiki-themed night at his Red Hook spot Fort Defiance for years. The nautical touches in the space translates to drinks like punch bowls adorned with flowers and other tropical libations.

  • Open in Google Maps

Karasu, in the back of the Fort Greene standby Walter's, is a sophisticated Japanese take on a neighborhood restaurant and bar. Alongside sake and Asian-inspired cocktails, the subtly glamorous room serves a full menu, including oysters doused in yuzu kosho mignonette and a whole red snapper.

  • Open in Google Maps
A view of a bar that's dimly lit with a handful of tables scattered about.
The bar at Karasu.
Karasu

Link copied to the clipboard.

Keys & Heels

Enter through a storefront that's been modeled after an old locksmith and shoe repair shop to find this cocktail lounge. Inside, owner Massimo Lusardi (who owns nearby wine bar Uva) created a space that feels like a cozy living room with little lamps set on bistro tables. Customers can order creative riffs on classics like the Manhattan High Tea, which incorporates Early Grey-flavored syrup, while nibbling on Italian bar snacks like mini paninis and olives.

  • Open in Google Maps

Patent Pending

A dimly lit bar with stools lining one side.
The bar at Patent Pending.
Simmer/Patent Pending

This radio-themed speakeasy in the Radio Wave Building's cellar executes on its concept with a menu sorting drinks into four categories: energy, frequency, vibration, and descent. Each drink is illustrated and described in painstaking detail, like the "Light Me Up," with bourbon, Jamaican rum, mango black tea, amaro, yellow chartreuse, Sichuan peppercorn, lime, and pineapple. It ends up being a complex drink with layered flavors. During the day, the space up front is a coffee shop with speciality grab-and-go coffee, nitro cold brew, pastries, cookies, and chia parfaits.

  • Open in Google Maps
A dimly lit bar with stools lining one side.
The bar at Patent Pending.
Simmer/Patent Pending

Dear Irving

A room with a velvet couch surrounded by beaded curtains.
One of the rooms at Dear Irving.
Dear Irving

The team behind Raines Law Room, which set a new standard for speakeasy elegance, opened this similarly sexy bar in Gramercy in 2014. While the apartment-like entrance is anything but striking, the decor — including crystal curtains and a room inspired by Marie Antoinette — makes a dramatic statement. Drinks run the gamut from tiki to a wide selection of whiskeys.

  • Open in Google Maps
A room with a velvet couch surrounded by beaded curtains.
One of the rooms at Dear Irving.
Dear Irving

Little Branch

A nondescript door in the West Village leads to a stairway down to the basement-level Little Branch, the late and lauded bartender Sasha Petraske's ode to refined cocktail culture. Bartenders in obligatory vests can make drinks from the twee menu or work out something on the spot. While the wait can be long on the weekends, the occasional live music paired with first-rate cocktails are worth the wait.

  • Open in Google Maps
  • Foursquare

Sunshine Laundromat

During Prohibition, speakeasies weren't slinging fancy Manhattans but rather whatever hooch the staff could obtain under the alcohol ban. Sunshine Laundromat harks back to those simpler days, slinging bottles of Miller High Life behind a faux-washer door. The real draw, however, are the numerous pinball machines played by arcade fans.

  • Open in Google Maps

Please Don't Tell

An empty bar lined stools on one side and surrounded by a brick wall.
The bar at PDT.
Eric Medsker/Please Don't Tell

Blame Please Don't Tell bartender Jim Meehan — who is no longer affiliated with PDT, as its known — for the mid-aughts fascination with speakeasies. But more mercifully, the bar behind a phone booth in Crif Dogs signaled a sea change in New York cocktail culture. Its meticulous approach to both classic and hyper-specific house cocktails remains among the most sophisticated around. Sample a concoction laced with port along with the fancy hot dogs.

  • Open in Google Maps
An empty bar lined stools on one side and surrounded by a brick wall.
The bar at PDT.
Eric Medsker/Please Don't Tell

PS at Pine & Polk

A bar with a marble top, high chairs, and a bar in the background.
PS is located behind a shelf at Pine & Polk.
Ashley Sears/Pine & Polk

The newly opened provisions shop Pine & Polk is a front of sorts for PS, a speakeasy hidden behind a shelf of pricey chocolates. Inside, the vibe is more dinner party than a sleek cocktail den. Patrons can order variations on popular cocktails, such as a Negroni served in a tea cup, to pair with charcuterie boards. If a drink or snack stands out, there's a good chance some of the ingredients can be bought in the shop.

  • Open in Google Maps
A bar with a marble top, high chairs, and a bar in the background.
PS is located behind a shelf at Pine & Polk.
Ashley Sears/Pine & Polk

The Hidden Pearl

Corner seating with tables and banquettes by a bar with wooden stools at a bar.
The bar and banquette at the Hidden Pearl.
The Hidden Pearl

While this tropical Japanese-themed speakeasy behind Wanpaku is small, the brightly lit, airy space doesn't usually feel overwhelmingly crowded. Owner Leif Huckman, who is also behind Donna in South Williamsburg (RIP), has called the bar a "Japanese clam shack," and as such, small plates like spicy tuna served atop crispy rice or fried baby octopus round out the menu. The drinks menu has an entire section devoted to highballs, all of which are worth a try.

  • Open in Google Maps
Corner seating with tables and banquettes by a bar with wooden stools at a bar.
The bar and banquette at the Hidden Pearl.
The Hidden Pearl

Fig. 19

Fig. 19's secret pathway is more clever than most. Above the dance-centric hotspot Home Sweet Home, an art gallery has a door in the very back that leads to the hip watering hole. Chandeliers and accessible cocktails cater to a Lower East Side crowd, while the jazz soundtrack offers an escape from the rowdier scene below.

  • Open in Google Maps

Attaboy

A bar filled with patrons and a bartender behind the wooden bar.
The bar at Attaboy.
Attaboy

The tiny Attaboy, with only bar seats and three booths, does justice to the old Milk & Honey space. Ring the bell on the unmarked door to get in, though a line on most nights will give away the gimmick. Reservations and menus were once shunned, but a bartender will always happily chat about the ideal beverage.

  • Open in Google Maps
  • Foursquare
A bar filled with patrons and a bartender behind the wooden bar.
The bar at Attaboy.
Attaboy

Saint Tuesday

In true speakeasy fashion, Saint Tuesday is hidden in a cellar at the bottom of the Walker Hotel Tribeca with an entrance just off Cortland Alley. The intimate space is dimly lit with a few small wood tables and comes to life when live music fills the cave-like room. For cocktails, which an alum of Little Branch and Fresh Kills oversees, expect classics like Manhattans and martinis or go for a bartender's choice.

  • Open in Google Maps

Peachy's

The bi-level Chinese Tuxedo is also home to subterranean Peachy's, which announces its cheeky humor with a neon sign saying, "no photos, no fighting." A dragon made of light is the centerpiece of the artful space. The cocktails lean heavily on tequila, mezcal, and rum.

  • Open in Google Maps

Mezcaleria La Milagrosa

La Milagrosa, a speakeasy and mezcaleria in one, lies behind an apparent freezer door in a Williamsburg deli. The narrow, woody space specializes in agave-based spirits used in drinks like a just-smoky-enough mezcal margarita. The hip-yet-friendly crowd is usually lost in conversation or bopping along to an eclectic music mix provided by rotating DJs.

  • Open in Google Maps

Sunken Harbor Club

The revival of Gage & Tollner, a historic chophouse in downtown Brooklyn, garnered plenty of attention. But when the restaurant's upstairs bar Sunken Harbor Club opened in late 2021, anyone who enjoys geeking out about cocktails was equally excited for St. John Frizell's bar opening. After all, Frizell (who's also a partner at Gage & Tollner) ran a successful tiki-themed night at his Red Hook spot Fort Defiance for years. The nautical touches in the space translates to drinks like punch bowls adorned with flowers and other tropical libations.

  • Open in Google Maps

Karasu

A view of a bar that's dimly lit with a handful of tables scattered about.
The bar at Karasu.
Karasu

Karasu, in the back of the Fort Greene standby Walter's, is a sophisticated Japanese take on a neighborhood restaurant and bar. Alongside sake and Asian-inspired cocktails, the subtly glamorous room serves a full menu, including oysters doused in yuzu kosho mignonette and a whole red snapper.

  • Open in Google Maps
A view of a bar that's dimly lit with a handful of tables scattered about.
The bar at Karasu.
Karasu

Related Maps

  • The 15 Hottest New Restaurants in Brooklyn, October 2022
  • 14 Hidden Gem Private Dining Rooms in NYC
  • The 15 Hottest New Restaurants in Manhattan, October 2022

duranprilese.blogspot.com

Source: https://ny.eater.com/maps/best-hidden-bars-speakeasies-nyc

0 Response to "Where Were Most Speak Easies in Nyc"

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Iklan Atas Artikel

Iklan Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel