What's the Best Bar in New York?
My answer to the impossible question.
Let’s kick things off by addressing a huge question, and the one I’m asked most frequently:
WHAT’S THE BEST BAR IN NEW YORK?
When I’m asked this, most often by a well-meaning stranger at a party who’s just found out what I do for a living, I usually reply, “Well, what do you look for in a bar? What do you like to drink? What sort of vibe do you want it to have?”
And with surprising frequency, they say, “Well, what I want to know is, what’s the bar that will please anybody, no matter what they’re looking for?”
This is, of course, an impossible question to answer. The “best bar” varies by person and by situation. The best bar for a boozy bachelorette brunch, for example, is very different from the best bar for someone looking to kick back with a beer and a burger, which again is different from what I’d recommend to satisfy serious cocktail nerds who want to experience inventive flavors and the latest techniques.
But you have to meet people where they’re at. So let’s establish some parameters. My personal definition of a good all-around bar means that it:
isn’t overly divey, nor intimidatingly fancy
has good options for every category of drinks: decent wine and beer, cocktails that are interesting but not so far out there that they’d alienate a drinks novice, and at least two or three N/A options
has food options that aren’t obviously afterthoughts; ideally they would include dishes sizable enough to count as a main course, but if you can assemble a reasonable meal with appetizer/snack-sized options, that’s fine, too
is open during daylight hours, and ideally offers a happy hour at some point
plays good music (which itself is subjective) at a volume that allows for conversation
doesn’t lean overly hard into a niche identity (ruling out tropical-themed bars, bars that focus on a single spirit, etc.)
For years, I named Boilermaker, in the East Village, and Extra Fancy, in Williamsburg, as my top choices. Both leaned very slightly divier than was perhaps truly optimal, but both were perfect crowd-pleaser bars.
But, alas, both have closed.
In recent times, though, I’ve found myself going to one bar far more frequently than any others. Perhaps not coincidentally, it meets the “great all-around bar” criteria—even better than the others ever did.
That bar is Grand Army, in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.
This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to any of you. It’s deeply beloved by bar-industry folks, who adore head bartender Patty Dennison and her thoughtfully crafted cocktails, and love it just as much as a late-evening beer-and-a-shot joint.
Grand Army excels at every criteria laid out above. More than that, it would actually suit the drinkers I mentioned in the examples a paragraph before that—the bachelorettes, the laid-back beer-and-burger type (who may have to settle for a pulled-pork sandwich here; whatever), and the cocktail nerds. It’s perhaps not the ideal option for all of them, or the first that would come to mind if I were asked to give my recommendations, but each of those types of drinkers would be happy here.
It’s the best possible version of a great neighborhood bar—not at all grungy or divey, but nothing about it could be called fancy. Its cocktails are terrific but are also, for the most part, recognizable spins on classics that novice drinkers already know; they won’t be scaring anyone away. The non-alc cocktails are every bit as good as the alcoholic ones. The wine and beer lists are both deeper than you might expect. The food is great (don’t sleep on the bread!), and I’m always surprised by how good the happy-hour oysters are. Bonus: If you sit outside in the warm-weather months, a constant parade of the cutest dogs in Brooklyn passes by. In winter, a fireplace adds extra cosiness.
I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like Grand Army. It’s usually the first place that comes to mind when I’m asked to recommend a first-date spot and people are stressing about where to take someone whose tastes they don’t yet know, largely because it’s a place where just about everyone will feel comfortable.
Truly, I love this bar. And I’m sure you do too! (And if you haven’t been yet, I promise you’ll love it, too.)
I challenge you, though, to check it out at a different time, and in a different context, than you usually do. If it’s your usual Friday-evening cocktail spot, stop by for alfresco oysters some weekend afternoon. If you typically sit at the bar for a quick drink on your way home, bring a few friends for dinner some evening and discover how good the food really is. If you visit occasionally to drink your way through each themed cocktail menu, crack open the wine list on your next visit and splurge on a seafood tower.
You probably already love this spot. Now change things up and find a new reason to love this versatile bar even more.
I’m curious to hear your go-to recommendation for best “general” bar. Do you have different criteria for yours? Let me know!
The Sidecar:
Other great places for al fresco oysters and a cocktail: The back garden at Maison Premiere is straight out of a candlelit fairytale. And slurping oysters on an actual boat somehow feels right, as at Pilot and its sibling ship Grand Banks.
This week’s must-read: It’s been a while since we’ve seen Pete Wells at his disgruntled finest. I was starting to worry whether we’d lost that side of him forever, whether the pandemic and revised editorial standards meant that every review had to be glowing. The Wells we love is back this week, however, once again hurling zingers in his lukewarm review of Noksu. It’s not so much a takedown of the restaurant itself as it is (a well-deserved) one of the overly precious current state of tasting-menu-style dining. “Each course was served with precise instructions on how to transport it from plate to mouth,” he writes. “Seeing a restaurant full of grown adults waiting for permission to eat with a spoon really makes you wonder how it is that humans haven’t died out yet.”