Dante ★ 4.7
$$$$
West VillageMon-Thu 08:30-00:00, Fri 08:30-02:00, Sat 10:00-00:00, Sun 10:00-02:00.
Dante on MacDougal has poured Negronis since 1915, now under owners Linden Pride and Naren Young, who took the room from neighborhood cafe to World's Best.
TipWalk in for the bar, Resy for a table. The Garibaldi, made with hand-fluffed orange juice, is the order.
Employees Only ★ 4.4
$$$$
West VillageDaily 17:00-04:00.
Employees Only has run a tarot reader at the entrance of its Hudson Street room since 2004. Bartenders in white coats build pre-Prohibition cocktails.
TipThe kitchen serves until 03:30, the latest in the West Village. Free bowl of chicken soup arrives at the end of your tab.
Apothéke ★ 4.3
$$$$
ChinatownMon 18:30-00:00, Tue-Sat 18:30-02:00, Sun 18:30-00:00.
Apothéke hides behind an unmarked door on Doyers Street, the curved Chinatown alley once known as Bloody Angle. Bartenders in lab coats build.
TipFirst-come, first-served only, no reservations. Sundays through Thursdays brings live jazz, burlesque or brass starting around 21:00.
The Back Room ★ 4.2
$$$$
Lower East SideMon 18:00-01:00, Tue-Thu 18:00-02:00, Fri-Sat 18:00-03:00, Sun 18:00-01:00.
The Back Room on Norfolk Street is one of only two NYC speakeasies that actually ran during Prohibition. Drinks still arrive in teacups; the entrance goes.
TipWalk through the iron gate alley off Norfolk between Delancey and Rivington. Reservations help on weekends; cash bar.
Mace ★ 4.5
$$$$
Greenwich VillageMon-Wed 16:00-00:00, Thu 16:00-01:00, Fri 14:00-02:00, Sat 12:00-02:00, Sun 12:00-23:00.
Mace, by Nico de Soto and Cocktail Kingdom's Greg Boehm, builds cocktails around a single hand-picked global spice. The room has stayed on the World's 50.
TipNo reservations, walk in early. The spice-led menu rotates by ingredient, so ask the bartender for their pick of the season.
The Garret ★ 4.0
$$$$
West VillageMon-Wed 16:00-01:00, Thu-Fri 16:00-02:00, Sat 12:00-02:00, Sun 14:00-01:00.
The Garret hides above the Bleecker Street Five Guys. Walk to the back of the burger counter, take the discreet stairs up to a 1920s parlor of cocktails.
TipWalk-in, no cover. Weeknights before 22:00 are the easiest entry; weekends you wait downstairs in burger order territory.