EThe editors · 2 New York at night lists — switch
Speakeasies
Seven bars behind unmarked doors, from a phone booth in a hot-dog shop to teacup cocktails.
7 placesHalf a dayRead the guide ↓
1. Please Don’t Tell (PDT)Through the phone booth in Crif Dogs.Village & DowntownFood & drink1 hourCocktails about $20+
2. AttaboyNo menu; the bartender makes what you like.Village & DowntownFood & drink1–1.5 hoursCocktails about $20+
3. ApothekeAn old opium den on Doyers Street.ChinatownFood & drink1 hourCocktails about $18+
4. The Back RoomProhibition-era, with drinks in teacups.Village & DowntownFood & drink1 hourCocktails about $18
5. Little BranchAn unmarked door and jazz some nights.Village & DowntownFood & drink1–1.5 hoursCocktails about $18+
6. Bathtub GinBehind a coffee shop in Chelsea.Chelsea & the HudsonFood & drink1 hourCocktails about $18+
7. Dear IrvingRooms from different decades; book ahead.MidtownFood & drink1 hourCocktails about $20
The guide
How to do it: Speakeasies
New York’s best cocktail bars hide behind unmarked doors, inside phone booths and up staircases with no sign. Most are small and walk-in only, so arrive early or expect to wait.
Pick two in the same neighbourhood rather than crossing town between them.
- The order to do it in
- East Village and Lower East Side (PDT, Attaboy, the Back Room), Chinatown (Apotheke), the West Village (Little Branch), then Chelsea or Gramercy (Bathtub Gin, Dear Irving).
- When to go
- Weeknights, before 9 p.m.
- Getting there
- Subway or walk; most are within a few blocks of each other downtown.
- What it costs
- Cocktails about $18–25 each.
Worth knowing
- Bring ID; everyone is carded.
- PDT takes same-day reservations from 3 p.m.
Started from the pins on Capture the Atlas’s speakeasies map (the map). Places, notes and the guide checked and written by us; prices and opening times change, so check before you go.