New York City’s Most Compact Cocktail-Bar Crawl
If you have just one night to spend drinking well in NYC, this two-block stretch is where to do it. These are the cocktail bars to know.
Several people have posed the same question to me recently (including three in a 48-hour span). It’s a good question, and yet a near-impossible one to answer:
If I have one night in NYC, where should I go? Which cocktail bars should I visit?
It’s obviously impossible to answer this question without having more information about the person who asked it, and even then there are an infinite number of potential answers. When were you last in town, so I don’t recommend places you already know about and have been to? What type of bars do you enjoy, and which have you liked before? Do you prefer Extremely Fancy cocktail joints? Only want to visit the ones employing the most modern scientific techniques? Want a lively vibe/scene? An industry bar where you can have your cool cocktail but not be sneered at for ending with a High Life and a shot?
Plus, if folks have only one night to devote to drinking, I don’t want to eat up their precious time in transportation by sending them careering across the city to far-flung spots.
Fortunately, at this precise moment in time, there’s a great answer that will satisfy just about any cocktail aficionado. A short two-block stretch in the East Village is home to six bars that, together, basically tell the story of the current cocktail scene in New York City, from the beginnings of the contemporary cocktail revival to the hottest bar of the year.
I’m talking, of course, about the stretch of East 6th St. between Second and A. (I’m also including bars that are technically located on the avenues, as well, but within a half-block or so of E. 6th.) It has the highest density of good cocktail bars of anywhere in the city, making for NYC’s most compact cocktail crawl, and contains several bars that would be on my must-visit list regardless of how much time you’re able to spend in the city.
No matter what type of cocktail bar you’re looking for, you’re sure to find something here to match your mood—and if a certain place isn’t quite your vibe, you can quickly move on to the next spot.
From west to east (and note, this is not necessarily the order in which I’d recommend you visit them), these are the places to check out and why they’re important to the NYC cocktail-bar scene right now.
Paradise Lost
On Second Ave, just south of 6th, is a newish bar (it opened about a year and a half ago) that’s perhaps the most over-the-top tiki extravaganza New York has ever seen. It’s less Polynesian paradise and more metal-meets-punk in the tropics: like someone took the concept of the Zombie cocktail and made a whole bar out of it.
The bar is dark, and every inch is filled with some piece of kitsch, as though a plane crashed on an island and its cargo scattered everywhere; the tropical-with-a-twist drinks are expensive, garnished to high hell, and often served aflame. Many pack a lethal punch—although the menu, kindly, denotes the strength of each.
As New York is again at the peak of another tiki phase (they seem to cycle through every few years), this bar serves as a fantastic example of what the genre can be now that we’ve collectively agreed to move past its cultural-appropriation roots.
Bar Snack
A few doors south of Paradise Lost is this new bar (it opened last November) with drinks from Iain Griffiths, an alum of the Mr. Lyan bars in London, which are widely considered to be among the world’s best and most groundbreaking. It offers primarily culinarily inspired cocktails (you’ll want to try the Salad Negroni and the Phish Food Old Fashioned) and, yes, good bar snacks (I recommend the happy-hour grilled cheese).
It’s a casual spot with a louche ‘70s vibe; it opens daily at 2pm, and I’ve found it great for afternoon hangs with the sun streaming through the windows. It’s a fantastic example of the classic “third place” type of bar that seems to unfortunately be getting rarer, a something-for-everyone neighborhood joint with extensive opening hours, where you can meet up with a friend or meet someone new. Use the loo while you’re there, and bring your phone: It’s the city’s best selfie op right now.
Mister Paradise
On First Ave a bit north of 6th is this perpetual-party spot that’s a favorite with bar-industry folks as well as with glamorously rowdy neighborhood residents. As fun and spirited as the vibe is, though, the drinks themselves are as serious as nearly any around; few techniques are too advanced to be employed here, and few flavor combinations too esoteric.
Massive round banquettes lining a long wall make it easy for groups to gather at this high-energy spot. Go late night and get a round of cheeseburgers. It’s a party, and everyone’s invited.
Schmuck
This bar at the southwest corner of First Ave and 6th St. opened in late January and is what everyone’s talking about in NYC right now, and for good reason: It’s easily the best new bar in the country. The Schmuck team is creating some of the most delicious and creative cocktails in town in its dual-concept spot; most of these are culinarily inspired as well. Don’t miss the Bread and Tomatoes cocktail or the Larb Gai one.
As high-concept as the cocktails are, though, the space itself is surprisingly casual and comfortable; if you’re lucky enough to nab a seat, it’s tempting to settle in for a much longer time than you’d originally planned. Note that it’s crazy-busy and its main space is seated-only: Go early and be prepared for a wait.
Death & Co
On 6th about halfway between First Ave. and Avenue A is this absolute OG of the modern cocktail age. This bar has begat more bar stars and more modern-classic cocktails (the Naked & Famous and Oaxaca Old Fashioned among them) than perhaps any other bar that has existed in New York City and likely the nation.
It’s an elegant spot, with the Prohibition-era vibe that was so de rigueur in the mid-to-late aughts when it opened. It’s dark, it’s sometimes a bit stuffy, it takes itself maybe just a touch too seriously. But if you’ve never been, it’s a must-visit simply to experience this granddaddy of the current cocktail revival.
Amor y Amargo
After a brief stint around the corner, this bar is, as of January, now back in the 240-square-foot spot on 6th just west of Avenue A (a few doors down from Death & Co.) it has occupied for most of its 14 years.
It’s a very niche bar with a dogmatic focus on stirred drinks only; you’ll find no citrus or mixers here. “The only non-alcoholic ingredient we use in our drinks is ice,” its proprietor, Sother Teague, has been known to say.
As its name implies, it focuses on amari and bitters. To hear Sother tell it, every drink on the menu is, at its heart, a bitters-based riff on either an old fashioned, a manhattan, or a negroni, but the range of flavors the bar’s staff can elicit from those basic formulae with the inclusion of their vast collection of amaro is unsurpassed.
It’s an unusual little spot, but it’s honestly one of my favorite bars in the city. Sometimes you don’t want a bar that can do all the things; you want one that will do one specific thing better than anywhere else can. That’s this bar.