Bars

How to Find It: Walk down a set of stairs into the Crif Dogs restaurant on St. Marks Place. Look for an old-fashioned phone booth. Step inside, pick up the phone and press the buzzer…once. Not twice. A voice answers and, after approval, the wall of the phone booth opens to let you into a small room with a bar at its center.

Why It’s Worth It: PDT is not just a great place for having a few delicious cocktails. While drinking at the bar, patrons can order food from Crif’s kitchen. Surprisingly the pairing is rather tasty and you’ll feel like a V.I.P. in a secret bar, getting food to your order passed through a secret wall.

F.Y.I.: If you want to get in, you should make a reservation. Call at 3 p.m. when the bar opens. Don’t wait till 4:00.
Address: 113 St Marks Pl (between 1st Ave and Avenue A), New York, NY 10009
The number for reservations is 212 614 0386.

For more information, visit the website.

Inspired by the history and rise of the apothecary in Europe as well as the artistic influence of absinthe dens in 19th century Paris, Apothéke is the first of its kind. The entire experience from wandering down a hidden street to find the entrance, to tasting the first sip of a specialty cocktail made with exotic herbs and fruits – is a privilege.

At Apothéke, the presentation of a cocktail is just as dramatic as the cocktail itself. The bar is no longer a bar. It’s a stage. A chemistry lab. A theatre. A unique-shaped Austrian crystal glass is carefully selected for each cocktail, and into it, is poured a beautiful, jewel-colored liquid. This is much more than a cocktail bar – this is a cocktail apothecary.

All of our cocktails are prepared with local and organic produce from local greenmarkets or picked straight from our rooftop herb garden.

Address: 9 Doyers St #1, New York, NY 10013
☎ (212) 406-0400

For more information, visit the website.

The mystery of The Blind Barber, a 1934 whodunnit by John Dickson Carr, concerns a collection of valuable straight razors gone missing. The mystery of The Blind Barber, a hair-cuttery/drinking hole that replaced Plan B (and is run by a consortium that includes Ella owner Josh Boyd), could prove to be something else entirely. The nightly crowds of partygoers in the back lounge, mixing so hard themselves they hardly notice the bar's specialty mixed drinks—a whiskey-and-egg-white "Sweeney Todd," for instance—don't seem above shenanigans. 

The DJ-boosted energy level contrasts with a staid design of scuffed-up mirrors, black-leather booths and cream wallpaper dotted with delicate filigree. In the far back is a tiny room stuffed with sofas for getting your old person on. During the day, the action happens in two chairs in the front shop. Local barbers maneuver around spindly medical trays, giving spindly East Villagers $40 cuts and $20 trims. The price includes a free drink, but it's advisable, obviously, not to request your barber to do a shot with you.

Address: 339 E. 10th St., New York, NY 10009
Closed on Sunday.

For more information, visit the website.

Straight out of a young girl’s wildest dreams, Beauty & Essex is a downtown hotspot that attracts an upscale clientele of edgy downtown types, clubbers, and glam party girls looking for a magical night out.
A tiny 50s-era pawnshop hawking antique radios and guitars out front gives way to a 10,000-square-foot bar, lounge, and restaurant whose pearl-draped chandelier, vintage lockets hanging on the walls and gold-beaded curtains make patrons feel they've landed in a giant jewelry box.

A towering bouncer ushers hip successful couples and in-the-know socialistas through the mod teal-painted shop and into the dreamy, hidden wonderland through the back door.
Conversational crowds of successful downtown artists and business types are clustered around tables in the main dining room, a vast chamber decked out in regal purples aglow in the light of bejeweled lamps and a cathedral-esque oval skylight.

A spiral staircase circling an intricate gold and crystal chandelier leads guests to the raw bar and smaller dining room on the second floor, where shadowboxes full of antique watches and gilded heirloom necklaces form the backdrop for the low-key groups of young professionals enjoying carpaccio.
Two lounges offer plenty of space for the chic clientele to mingle over Emerald gimlets or settle into black leather booths and baroque sofas for a bit of conversation.

Expansive and fantastical, Beauty & Essex may never erupt into full party mode, but its controlled sense of cool is undeniably alluring, giving anyone looking for a little bit of enchantment their diamond in the Lower East Side rough.

Address: 146 Essex St, New York, NY 10002
☎ (212) 614-0146

For more information, visit the website.

How to Find It: Find a storefront on East Sixth Street with wooden panels in place of windows. The name Death & Co. is printed in metal on the sidewalk in front of the bar’s main entrance. Give your number to the bouncer at the door and he’ll call you when you and you group can come inside.

Why It’s Worth It: Great time and attention is paid to drinks at Death & Co. Each specialty drink is stirred about 40 times and taste tested by the bartender before serving to ensure perfection.

F.Y.I.: There’s usually a good wait before you can get in. Leave your number with the doorman and he will text you when there’s a table open. Best bet, put your number in at the door, then hit up another bar nearby for a drink or two in the meantime.

Address: 433 E 6th St, Manhattan, NY 10009
☎ (212) 388-0882

For more information, visit the website.

A red light glowing inside the Stone Street Coffee Company (and the seemingly out-of-place gaggle waiting to get in) may provide a clue that there’s more than just coffee inside this tiny storefront. Behind an innocuous door, Bathtub Gin's name may conjure Prohibition-era moonshine (naturally they have a namesake copper bathtub prominently displayed in the center of the bar), but the owners wisely decided to focus their cocktail list on recipes predating the bathtub brewing decade. 

Try the Martinez (the precursor to the martini) made with junipero gin, dolin rouge, maraschino liqueur, bokers bitters and lemon oils or the Clover Club (gin, dry vermouth, lemon juice, egg white, raspberry liqueur, fresh raspberries), $14 each. Bar food is a modern fusion affair with menu items including truffle mushroom ricotta gnocchi, tuna tartare with taro root chips and mango salsa, and flatbread with fresh mozzarella and eggplant caponata. 

Weeknights offer an opportunity to sink back in one of the speakeasy’s plush, damask banquettes over a cocktail or two while weekends are more raucous, drawing twenty and thirtysomething crowds away from the nearby MePa scene with DJs spinning dance tracks. That said, late night bathtub lolling is encouraged—seven days a week.

Address: 132 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011
☎ (646) 559-1671

For more information, visit the website.