The Best Hidden Gem Bars in New York

The former home of Milk and Honey occupies a narrow room on Eldridge Street with no sign and no menu. Tell the bartender what you are drinking, what you are feeling, what you had for dinner — they will build you something. Attaboy operates on skill and attention, and the room is small enough that the bartenders are always present. No reservations, first-come-first-served, usually full by 9pm.

Order: Tell them your spirit preference and mood — trust the result

Up a flight of stairs on Avenue B, Pouring Ribbons is the kind of bar that makes you feel like you found something without trying too hard. The menu is organised by flavour profile rather than spirit, the room is comfortable and not loud, and the bartenders have been there long enough to know the regulars by name. Our recommendation for a serious cocktail without the Midtown price tag or attitude.

Order: A "refreshing and spiritous" pick from the matrix menu

A proper East Village dive on Avenue A that has been the same bar for the same neighbourhood for over two decades. The jukebox leans rock, the booths are cracked, and the shots are poured generously. Niagara is for after dinner when you want somewhere dark and cheap with no pretension. The crowd is a mix of old regulars and people who moved to the neighbourhood and immediately understood what the bar was for.

Order: Well whiskey and a Bud draft

On Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, Leyenda is a Latin-focused cocktail bar that never got the press it deserves because the neighbourhood does not attract the Williamsburg crowd. The agave and rum programs are both excellent, the kitchen does proper snacks until late, and the room has the quality of a bar that was designed to last rather than photograph well. Locals treat it as their living room extension.

Order: Something from the mezcal menu with a house-made shrub

The Williamsburg extension of Kazu Goto's Japanese-inflected cocktail program occupies a quieter room than the original and is better for it. The menu draws on Japanese ingredients and technique — shochu, umeshu, sake — combined with the kind of precision that requires real attention. Go on a Tuesday when the bar is half full and you can actually have a conversation with whoever is behind the stick.

Order: The house Sakura Martini or whatever the seasonal special is

A basement bar on West 13th that channels a 1970s private club with neither the irony nor the price gouging. The wallpaper is the real thing, the cocktails are built on a classics foundation with individual signatures, and the room is dark enough that you stop checking your phone. Our pick for the best date bar in the West Village that is not already on every date night listicle published in the last five years.

Order: The house Old Fashioned riff or the Clover Club variation

Inside the Edison Hotel on 46th Street, the Rum House is the kind of hotel bar that has transcended its location. The rum collection is one of the best in the city — organised by region, accessible to both the obsessive and the curious — and the live piano on weekend evenings turns the room into something genuinely atmospheric. Order rums you have not tried before and let the bartender guide the tasting.

Order: A neat pour from the aged rum section — ask what is worth trying

A restored 1951 diner on Atlantic Avenue that operates as one of the best neighbourhood bars in the city. The cocktail list is grounded in classics, the food is a proper American menu done with attention, and the interior — original stools, neon signs, formica counters — was restored rather than recreated. The Long Island Bar is what happens when serious people decide to run a neighbourhood bar without pretending it is a cocktail destination.

Order: The house Martini, very cold, with a twist

A New Orleans-style absinthe and oyster bar that has been the best reason to go to Williamsburg since it opened. The absinthe program is the most serious in New York, the oyster selection rotates daily and is priced fairly, and the back garden is one of those rooms you will return to for years. Go in the afternoon for oysters before dinner or late evening when the bar settles into its rhythm and the crowd thins.

Order: The house absinthe drip with a half dozen oysters

On Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, Weather Up is the best neighbourhood cocktail bar in Brooklyn that does not appear on any tourism map. The menu changes seasonally, the prices are fair, and the room is comfortable enough for a two-hour stay without feeling like you need to perform. Our recommendation for anyone staying in Brooklyn who wants a genuinely excellent drink without taking the subway to Manhattan for it.

Order: Whatever the rotating seasonal is — the kitchen collaborates on the menu