Where We Drink
Six rooms across Manhattan and Brooklyn. East Village, Greenwich, Financial District, West Village, Bed-Stuy. The list is in the order that makes sense for a long week of drinking.
Superbueno
BAR13 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003 · East VillageA highly acclaimed, high-energy East Village Mexican-American cocktail bar that pairs sophisticated, innovative cocktails with vibrant street-market vibes. World's #5 in 2025, North America's #2, and Best Bar in Northeast US for the second year running. A casual neighborhood feel with an incredibly modern cocktail program.
Sip & Guzzle
BAR29 Cornelia Street, New York, NY 10014 · Greenwich VillageJapanese-influenced cocktail bar in Greenwich Village from Shingo Gokan and his SG Group team. Two floors: an upstairs all-day bar and a tasting-counter program downstairs. World's #39 in 2025.
Overstory
BAR70 Pine Street, 64th Floor, New York, NY 10005 · Financial DistrictOn the 64th floor of 70 Pines downtown, with a 360-degree wraparound terrace looking down on lower Manhattan. The bar program is highly technical, focused on terroir-driven ingredients like salt harvested from Fort Tilden in Queens. World's #46 in 2025.
The Dead Rabbit
BAR30 Water Street, New York, NY 10004 · Financial DistrictThree floors of Irish pub-meets-cocktail-room in the Financial District, World's #1 in 2016 and a permanent fixture on the global lists since opening in 2013. Tap room downstairs, parlor cocktail bar upstairs. The program from Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry remains one of the most decorated in America.
Bar Pisellino
BAR52 Grove Street, New York, NY 10014 · West VillageThe all-day Italian bar from Jody Williams and Rita Sodi (Via Carota, I Sodi) on a corner of the West Village. Espresso in the morning, Negronis at noon, the right Italian aperitivo culture imported wholesale. No reservations.
Milly's
BAR397 Greene Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216 · Bedford-Stuyvesant, BrooklynBedford-Stuyvesant cocktail bar opened June 2025 by Anthony Ramos (Hamilton, In the Heights) with longtime friend Ron Leakey, named for his mother Mildred. The beverage program is run by Lynette Marrero, Speed Rack co-founder and one of the most decorated bartenders in America. Walk-in only, salon cocktails and New American small plates in a Lindsay Cowles-wallpapered room.
Where We Eat
The tables New York reserves for itself.
Dante
RESTAURANT79-81 MacDougal Street, New York, NY 10012 · Greenwich VillageThe Greenwich Village all-day Italian café-bar from Linden Pride and Naren Young, World's Best Bar 2019 and a continuing perennial on the global lists. Functions as a restaurant, a bar, and a Negroni temple at once. The food is Italian-American done seriously; the drinks are why the room is in every cocktail-history book.
Via Carota
RESTAURANT51 Grove Street, New York, NY 10014 · West VillageHighly acclaimed, perpetually packed West Village rustic Italian tavern known for exceptional vegetable dishes, simple yet elevated cooking, and a celebrity clientele. Frequently cited as "New York's most perfect restaurant," with a warm tavern-like atmosphere that pairs structurally with Bar Pisellino across the corner. Limited reservations through Resy and lines down Grove Street most nights for walk-ins. Weekday lunch is the easier table.
Where We Stay
Where the trip starts and ends.
Hotel Chelsea
HOTEL222 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011 · ChelseaThe 1884 redbrick on West 23rd Street, the address that wrote half of American counterculture. Mark Twain, Dylan Thomas, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, Leonard Cohen and Janis Joplin, Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Every chapter of New York's literary and musical 20th century happened in one of its rooms. Reopened 2022 after a fifteen-year renovation; El Quijote (the Spanish dining room and bar in residence since 1930) is back, and Lobby Bar pours late.
The Carlyle
HOTEL35 East 76th Street, New York, NY 10021 · Upper East SideThe Madison Avenue institution. Bemelmans Bar in the lobby, with Ludwig Bemelmans' painted murals from 1947, still pours the canonical New York hotel cocktail. The rooms above are dressed by Dorothy Draper and Mark Hampton and read like the Manhattan of a Whit Stillman film.
Where the Chapter Begins
Click through for what to drink between flights.