Bespoke ice, locally made spirits, foraged garnishes, and artisanal infusions have become a given in cocktail culture–as common as tuna melts are to hockey (wink wink). But this year is already proving to be an outstanding one for haute drinking. The latest crop of bars are doing all of the above and then some, putting an emphasis on zero waste, house-made distillates, offbeat wines, and immersive vibes. What’s also clear is the geography of drinking culture: its clear epicenter is Lower Manhattan, with a few exciting entries in Brooklyn and one in Long Island City, Queens. Here’s how to plan your best night out. —Andrea Strong, contributing writer and editor
The Persimmon cocktail, available in spirited and nonalcoholic versions, from Golden Ratio in New York City.
Golden Ratio
216½ Greene Ave., Brooklyn
@Golden Ratio
Steve Wong and Piper Kristensen already run some of Brooklyn’s most beloved restaurants: Cafe Mado, Place des Fêtes, and Laurel Bakery. And now, they’re moving into bar territory with Golden Ratio, the “one part sour, one part sweet, two parts spirit” shorthand for perfectly balanced cocktails. Expect two versions of every drink, 16 NA and 16 spirited cocktails crafted from greenmarket scraps, leftover foraged ingredients, and other by-products from the group’s restaurants, meaning the bar is almost zero waste. A collaboration with Acid Spirits, a nearby distillery, allows the bar to turn around seasonal batches in about a week.
Don’t miss: The Fir is an aromatic martini-style cocktail made from distilled fragrant fir needles, mixed with clarified grapefruit. For the booze-less version, Kristensen uses a distillate made from leftover grapefruit peels, served as a fresh and fizzy soda.
Vodka, lychee, and elderflower at Dandelion.
Photo by Alejandra Ramos
Dandelion
115 Christopher St.
@dandelionnewyork
Dandelion, from the folks behind Zero Bond and White Horse Tavern, feels like cozying up in a windswept castle on a rugged coast. Lit with taper candles and crystal lamps, it’s the kind of dark and moody that’s made for lingering. The program is led by bartender royalty in Keith Larry (Little Rascal, Employees Only, Beatrice Inn) alongside head bartender Nikola Stankovic (Employees Only, Patent Pending). With a crew this tenured, expect well-made classics and creative signatures, like a martini of tomato-and-herb vodka, feta, and vermouth. Stop by during the Green Hour, a pairing experience of Chartreuse and Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe, served with small bites.
Don’t miss: The One Night Stand, made with brown-butter-washed bourbon, brandy, tonka, vermouth, and bitters.
Chin Up Bar’s Gibson riff features Neversink New York gin, leek vermouth, sherry vinegar, and pickles.
Photo by Photo Memory NYC
Chin Up Bar
171 Chrystie St.
@Chin Up
Founded by industry veterans Brian Grummert and Blake Walker (Nitecap, Subject, and Amor y Amargo) Chin Up Bar features over 80 gins (with plans to grow to 200). Many rare finds include Procera Gin from Nairobi, Kenya, distilled with East African botanicals, including freshly picked juniper berries (rather than dried, which is typical). Cocktails like the Gibson get a modern twist, made with Neversink New York gin, leek vermouth, sherry vinegar, and pickles. The design-forward space evokes the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City with a dash of whimsy courtesy of a blue-sky ceiling mural.
Don’t miss: The Bayab Palm and Pineapple Gin from South Africa is wild and wonderful, sweet and tropical with nice juniper notes on the palate. Try The Rendezvous in Chennai cocktail, a holiday-in-a-glass mix of Dorothy Parker New York gin shaken with Madras curry, coconut, apricot, and ginger.
A cocktail with a lemon twist at Room 207 in New York City.
Photo by David Manrique
Room 207
207 Second Ave.
@Room 207
This East Village speakeasy from Michelin-starred Junoon’s mixologist Hemant Pathak leans heavily into Prohibition-era aesthetics, and we’re here for it. The space is cocooned in walnut wood and velvet drapery, with antique mirrors and shelves crowded with found objects and first edition books. The effect is intimate, all glam and grace, complete with a live jazz singer crooning standards. Big Gatsby vibes. The cocktail program includes two options: “Forgotten Classics,” like The Adonis and Queens Park Swizzle, and “Reimagined Classics,” like high balls and old-fashioneds. If your Bee’s Knees is giving “borough terroir,” that’s because the team works with urban beekeeper Andrew Coté, who supplies honey from his rooftop apiaries in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
Don’t miss: The off-the-menu three-cocktail omakase, dubbed the Enigma, begins with a martini-style cocktail, a custom drink from a base spirit of your choice, and a dessert-style savory cocktail.
Grey Goose, lavender, grapefruit, lemon, Suze, and seltzer in a highball at Pinky Swear in New York City.
Photo by Noah Fecks
Pinky Swear
171A Chrystie St.
@Pinky Swear
Pinky Swear is the zany love child of a contemporary art gallery and a groovy cocktail lounge—think the multisensory cacophony of the immersive art experience Meow Wolf. Designed by a collective of builders, artists, and makers and helmed by East Village stalwart, chef Will Horowitz, Pinky Swear is a neon-powered joy ride, filled with interactive old-school games and dripping with contemporary and conceptual art, set to the sounds of a DJ spinning all night long. It’s no surprise that drinks like the s’mores-adjacent Cloud 9, (vodka, cold brew, crème de cacao, and marshmallow) are daring and whimsical.
Don’t miss: The Reverse Spacetime, served in a bong-styled glass, is a sweet-tart-savory ride of Condesa gin and Forthave red aperitivo, balanced with juicy strawberry, herbaceous basil, and citrusy layers of lemon.
Seed Library
51 East 30th St.
@Seed Library
Ryan Chetiyawardana, a.k.a. Mr. Lyan, is world-renowned for experimental techniques like microwaving Manhattans and fermenting wine at home. Late last year he brought his acclaimed London bar and offbeat cocktail lab, Seed Library, to the NoMad neighborhood. Tucked into the basement of the Hotel Park Ave, Seed Library gives mad scientist vibes, a sleek and sexy studio for cutting-edge cocktails. An original import from the London location, the Coriander Seed Gimlet, swaps out the typical lime in favor of crushed coriander seeds and acid powders that punch up juicy citrus levels without, well, citrus.
Don’t Miss: The complex, super-aromatic BC3 Negroni mixes house-made mead-based vermouth with Ceylon Arrack, Campari infused with propolis (the hive-sealing “glue” bees produce), and aged honey.
Stuffed peppers and pickles garnish martinis at The Tiger Den in New York City.
Tiger Den
472 Myrtle Ave.
@Tiger Den
Located in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood, beloved Cambodian restaurant Lula Mae transformed its backroom into Tiger Den, a ’70s style speakeasy. The new cocktail lounge feels like a set from a disco rave, with tiger-striped bar stools, gold velvet drapery, and silver disco ball lighting. The cocktail menu channels yacht rock radio with paper umbrella drinks like the Escape (Pina Colada Song), made from a vacation-vibe mix of rum, pineapple, coconut and lime, and the Key Largo, a rum-soaked Key lime daiquiri garnished with Key lime pie crumbles.
Don’t miss: Paradise by the Dashboard Lights, a margarita-adjacent beach drink made from clarified tequila, strawberry, banana, and lime juice that’s so beachy you’ll feel the sand in your toes.
Stars
139 E 12th St.
@stars_nyc
Wine is the point at Stars, the newest addition to the East Village from the team behind Claud and Penny. Wine director Julia Schwartz and co-owner Chase Sinzer have 88 bottles on offer, all priced at $88 or less, with selections that change daily and feature up-and-coming winemakers from around the world, including central Spain, California’s Central Coast and the Mosel, in addition to a library collection. By the glass, they’re happy to pour you a taste of any one of the dozens of classic and quirky reasonably priced options as well (starting at $11). Like its sibling restaurants, Stars is sleek, warm, and effortlessly cool, a snug 450-square-foot jewel box wrapped in brushed cedar, anchored by a 12-seat zinc horseshoe bar.
Don’t miss: Let the qualified somms take you somewhere new, like a glass of El Mas de l’A Tot’-Ú, which is a darker-hued rosé from Spain’s Priorat. If you’re going with a group, lean into their $88-and-under list, perhaps a bottle of generations-old estate Chevalerie’s Bourgueil ($48).
Photograph by Natalie Keyssar
Schmuck
97 First Ave.
@Schmuck
Early last year Schmuck, a European-styled drinking den, opened in the East Village, which we dubbed one of the Best New Bars of 2025. The space has two distinct rooms, the Living Room and the Kitchen Table, each outfitted with mod color-blocked furniture and accents, as well as separate menus. Cocktails take a serious culinary approach, like the Bread With Tomatoes, a savory tomato highball evoking the tart, juicy remnants of a panzanella salad, and The Muesli, head bartender-partner Juliette Larrouy’s ode to her favorite breakfast cereal.
Don’t miss: The Dirty Martini and Tonic, a 50/50 Fords Gin dirty martini poured into a glass over big rocks of ice, made fizzy with tonic, garnished with both lemon peel and three giant pitted green olives.
Radio, records, art, and drinks are served at Mad Radio in Williamsburg.
Mad Radio
395 Wythe Ave.
@madradionyc
The 85-seat bar and community hub Mad Radio comes to Williamsburg from Medellín, Colombia, where it was born in 2017 as a record store, a radio station, a YouTube channel, an art gallery, and a DJ salon, all under one roof. It’s landed here with much the same lineup—radio, records, art, and drinks. In addition to wine and beer, there’s a curated list of cocktails made from an impressive variety of spirits—including lesser-known offerings like sotol, a smoky spirit from Mexico made from the desert spoon plant. There’s dancing Wednesday through Saturday after 6 p.m., and happy hour deals run daily from 6 p.m.–9.p.m., with $12 cocktails, $5 off martinis, and $5 beer and wines.
Don’t miss: The Mad Rum Old-Fashioned, with bourbon swapped out for Zacapa 23 Rum, stirred with brown butter syrup and Angostura bitters.
25 Hours
21-38 44th Rd., Long Island City
@25 Hours
Ray Zhou, formerly of Double Chicken Please and the founder of Chinato, opened this Long Island City bar inspired by the passage of time. The cocktails are intended to capture the mood of specific hours of the day, such as The 4:00, a mascarpone-foam-topped milk-tea cocktail with bananas and hazelnuts inspired by afternoon tea.
Don’t miss: The 23:00 (11 p.m.), a potent late-night combination of Japanese whisky, Ron Zacapa 23, barley tea, and Angostura bitters.
