18 of the Best Bars in New York City

The story of this city is told through its best boozers. Here’s where to find some of the best bars in New York City.

New York City is one of the hospitality industry’s great proving grounds. While glitzy Las Vegas is the country’s most reliable producer of that classic American service standard, the Big Apple is where barkeeps and restaurateurs come to refine concepts and perfect their craft.

The city’s peerless bar scene has birthed some of the world’s greatest watering holes for just about any preference. And it continues to dominate authoritative lists like the annual James Beard Foundation Awards and World’s 50 Best Bars. Want to know why? Scribble these bars onto your New York itinerary and you’ll never stop falling in love with the city that never sleeps.

The Best Cocktail Bars in New York City

Attaboy

Attaboy is an apt sequel to New York’s legendary Milk & Honey, carrying over much of the pioneering speakeasy’s DNA with a space that’s even harder to find. Buried in the heart of the Lower East Side, the charmingly simple, menu-less cocktail bar is completely dependent on conversation. The bartender asks you some questions and makes you a cocktail based on your answers. While that’s no longer a unique concept (Fresh Kills in Williamsburg is similar), Attaboy has perfected the art of improvisation.

Best bit: After chatting with the well-connected bartenders, you’ll feel like a whole new layer of New York City has opened up.

Drink of choice: The bartenders like a challenge. Think about your answers carefully and they’ll reward your imagination.

The Portrait Bar

The Portrait Bar feels like something a Rockefeller would dream up, postured beautifully with its nostalgic charm. But this isn’t a Victorian mansion in Hudson Valley, it’s the signature cocktail bar at the swanky NoMad Hotel, tastefully designed with the kind of Gilded Age glory you’d find Upstate. The bar hosts stately cocktails perfectly aligned with its leisurely ambience, framed by well-placed portraits overlooking all sorts of antique armchairs and couches. You’ll want to spend hours bathing in the bar’s transportive magic; it’s not a pop-in-pop-out kind of place.

The best bit: The look and feel perfectly captures the “Old Money vs New Money” charms of New York State.

Drink of choice: A classic old fashioned pairs well with the Gilded Age ambience.

Dante West Village

One of the most famous bars in New York City can still squash its competition with the outsized swagger of a much larger operation. Dante West Village is quaint, buzzy and unapologetically Parisian with its floral wallpaper and cute coasters. Show up during Martini Happy Hour (3pm – 5pm daily) and enjoy the most excellent forms of New York’s most excellent cocktail for an easy $10 each. Take your savings and re-invest them in the kitchen’s exceptional charcuterie board or a stunning bowl of fresh burrata with candied cherry tomatoes and toasted sourdough.

The best bit: The martinis are the best in Manhattan. No exception.

Drink of choice: You guessed it: a martini. Work through a list of different versions including the Upside-Down Dirty Gibson and classic dirty martini.

Superbueno

Ranking high on the World’s 50 Best Bars list, Superbueno is a neo-Mexican shaker that sticks out amongst East Village’s greatest hits with its fiery orange glow. The entire bar is blanketed in luminescent neon lighting, making it look like you’ve just stepped into an oven. Yet the only heat comes from that delicious, towering pile of mole-spiked nachos. Drinks here skew tropical with complex recipes. Signatures are so deceptively strong that even at 5pm this 55-seater feels like the Cinco de Mayo.

The Best Bit: The swinging orange globes above the bar let everyone know this place is fast, furious and fun.

Drink of choice: The signature Green Mango Martini

Angel’s Share

After 30 years as a sure-shot staple of the East Village, Angel’s Share shifted to the basement of a heritage building in the West Village and is still as popular as ever. The pioneering, Japanese-accented bar continues to push standards with its dynamic, short and inventive list of signature cocktails. And you’ll spy jazzed-up bartenders employing all sorts of new-age techniques to control their tipples tightly. Wait times can stretch up to an hour and the maximum party size is four, but the ideal situation is going solo and sitting at the bar.

The best bit: Immaculate, whispered service makes these meticulous cocktails taste even better.

Drink of choice: Tell the bartender what flavours you like and go for their first suggestion. Trust us: trust them.

Naro

While most tourists scramble for a spot at the unforgettable Atmoix, the group’s other fine Korean diner, Naro, is often the smarter choice. Even if you’re not here for one of the restaurant’s perfectly paced sets, post yourself at the bar and taste the result of extensive research and development. Flavours here are creative, boundary-pushing and fun, like the full-bodied Sanlim Martini: a delectable build of mushroom and butter-infused gin with mushroom jangajji and Burdock-infused vermouth.

The best bit: Cocktails are best followed by one of the best Korean menus in New York City.

Drink of choice: The mushroom martini is perfect, but there always seems to be something new and exciting on the menu each week.

The Bar at Baccarat Hotel

As the headline act of the palatial Baccarat Hotel, The Bar takes after the high-glam ballrooms of French hotels with barrel vaulting, natural wood walls plastered in art, a stylish 60-foot bar and swathes of Baccarat crystal. But all its showiness isn’t for nothing. The drinks are just as luxurious, from high-concept cocktails like the smokey Shadowbox or a $5,000 Crystal Elite using Remy Martin Louis XIII and Benedictine Circa 1920, to one of New York’s most exclusive wine lists. And yes, caviar is on the menu.

The Best Bit: You can be as unapologetically indulgent as you want with a great range of price points.

Drink of choice: The $54 Baccarat Rouge bends Cincoro Blanco Tequila with passionfruit, St Elizabeth’s Allspice dram, cardamaro, lime, Baccarat bend tea and a hibiscus ice cube.

Maison Premier

Williamsburg’s award-winning oyster and absinthe bar is still as vital as ever. Try and nab a seat at the four-seat back bar for a special show from the bartenders, who employ all kinds of techniques to milk the most out of the oft-misunderstood green spirit. A fresh Maine lobster roll would pair surprisingly well with any of the signatures but the tableside sazerac service is a smart choice if you want something different. New Orleans by way of Brooklyn? No one does it better than Maison Premiere.

The Best Bit: There are many different areas and moods to choose from. The real party is in the backyard.

Drink of choice: The famous Absinthe colada uses Lucid Superieure with rhum JM, creme de menthe, pineapple and coconut.

The Best Jazz & Piano Bars in New York City

Bemelans Bar

Williamsburg’s award-winning oyster and absinthe bar is still as vital as ever. Try and nab a seat at the four-seat back bar for a special show from the bartenders, who employ all kinds of techniques to milk the most out of the oft-misunderstood green spirit. A fresh Maine lobster roll would pair surprisingly well with any of the signatures but the tableside sazerac service is a smart choice if you want something different. New Orleans by way of Brooklyn? No one does it better than Maison Premiere.

The Best Bit: There are many different areas and moods to choose from. The real party is in the backyard.

Drink of choice: The famous Absinthe colada uses Lucid Superieure with rhum JM, creme de menthe, pineapple and coconut.

Baretto

Resting above Fasano’s glamorous grand dining room, Baretto is a hidden Manhattan jazz bar and a closely guarded secret amongst the Big Apple’s high-flying socialites. Its bejewelled mid-century furniture plays straight from a film set, paying homage to the bright colours of São Paulo where the original Hotel Fasano was born. With excellent live jazz singing and bossa nova every Friday and Saturday, the bar’s sexy, upscale allure gently ferries guests back to New York’s formative years.

The Best Bit: There’s not a bad seat in the house, with smart design putting live music front and centre.

Drink of choice: Put the spirits down and browse Fasano’s bookish wine list.

Tomi Jazz

You’ll need patience to push through the queue forming out front of Tomi Jazz each night. This tiny Japanese jazz bar has become one of Manhattan’s most popular haunts, straddling the fine line between glam and dive. Inside Tomi’s feels like a transplant from Tokyo’s trendy Shimokitazawa with flickering candlelight kissing sake bottles while guests twirl through Japanese-accented pasta and sea urchin cream croquettes. The chatter is loud but hushes as soon as the hypnotic notes of Japanese jazz curve through the room.

The best bit: The space is so uncomfortably intimate that it feels like you’re part of the band.

Drink of choice: Premium sake, and a lot of it.

The Best Rooftop Bars in New York City

JIMMY

JIMMY is an open-air pool party every night amidst the high-end boutiques of SoHo. A fashion industry favourite, the rooftop bar sits at the top of the uber-stylish Modernhaus and is one of Lower Manhattan’s only rooftop bars with a pool, albeit largely decorative. A smart mix of indoor-outdoor seating can be tied together by a retractable roof, making JIMMY a bonafide superstar during the hotter months.

The best bit: A wine list that gets straight to the point and doesn’t leave you with choice anxiety.

Drink of choice: That wine list is a well-written stunner that deserves attention.

Westlight

Looking back over Manhattan with a grand scope, Westlight crowns The William Vale hotel in the eternally trendy area of Williamsburg. The wide vista is unforgettable, best taken on the terrace while you share space with fashionistas and in-the-know tourists. Bar snacks favour worldly flavours like charred eggplant dumplings while classic cocktails are the way to go. Head upstairs for open-air, unobstructed views with beanbags in summer and a pop-up ice skating rink in winter.

The best bit: You’re here for the view first and foremost, but don’t miss the bang-on bar snacks.

Drink of choice: Classic Manhattan cocktails like the old fashioned pair well with such a striking view.

Overstory

Perched above the financial district, Overstory is a bookish boozer with a constant presence on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. You’ll climb to the 64th floor and immediately want to walk the length of the wraparound terrace, where 360-degree views of Manhattan and Brooklyn give the Empire State Building a run for its money. But park yourself inside at the retro-glam bar where only a handful of guests get to watch closely as the city’s top bartenders shake up stellar, produce-forward cocktails.

The best bit: This just might be the best view in Manhattan, and it feels super exclusive on that terrace.

Drink of choice: Fan-favourite In The Clouds layers top-shelf whisky with Earl Grey, vanilla, Champagne and clarified milk.

The Best Wine Bars in New York City

The Four Horsemen

The Four Horsemen, Williamsburg’s most high-profile wine bar, is still the neighbourhood’s signature, despite strong competition from menu-less Sauced and the criminally underrated Pinkerton Wine Bar. Nick Curtola’s Michelin-starred New American menu changes as often as the wine list, maintaining a sense of dynamism while the deathlessly energetic atmosphere centres Brooklyn’s definitive sense of community.

The best bit: Food pairings are serious business at The Four Horsemen. Show up hungry and let your sommelier do the rest.

Drink of choice: The wine list changes regularly and is so intimidatingly large that you can find just about anything you want.

Anais

Hidden amongst the historic brownstones of Boerum Hill, Anais is a cosy French wine bar that doubles as an upscale bookstore, paying homage to the writings of feminist powerhouse Anais Nin. A regional focus means you can sip your way from Picardy to the French Riviera while picking at high-quality cheese boards. There’s plenty of provocative reading material if you’re solo but this is also a perfect spot for romance.

The best bit: No one does a cheese board like the French.

Drink of choice: Spark your sense of adventure by trying something from one of the lesser-known French regions.

Black Mountain Wine House

Hidden in the neighbourly Carroll Gardens area between Park Slope and Cobble Hill, Black Mountain Wine House is the type of secluded wine bar that’s perfectly subversive. From the outside, it looks like the kind of decrepit cottage you’d expect to find in Sleepy Hollow. Inside is a different story: a stylish, top-billing hub of biodynamic and natural drops lifted with show-stealing cheese boards and infectiously relaxed service.

The best bit: The interior drips with character but the tables outside are perfect on a warm, sunny day.

Drink of choice: The reasonable prices mean you can taste more for less. Leave the recommendations up to those highly skilled sommeliers.

Cherry on Top

Bushwick may be better known for its rowdy warehouse parties, late-night raves and the fabulously theatrical House of Yes, but dig deeper into the trendy neighbourhood and you’ll find some excellent no-fuss wine bars. Cherry On Top rules them all, tucked away on a homely rooftop with a pitch-perfect wine list favouring natural drops and the type of casual cool that’s no longer possible over the pond in Manhattan.

The best bit: The affordable prices. You can enjoy top-quality wine even if the budget is running thin.

Drink of choice: A glass of rose in the sun is always a good idea.

Feature image: Westlight. Supplied.