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 through an alley toy-store front.
Tip: Walk through the iron gate alley off Norfolk between Delancey and Rivington. Reservations help on weekends; cash bar.
Address: 102 Norfolk Street, New York, NY 10002, New York City
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 Best for six years.
Tip: No reservations, walk in early. The spice-led menu rotates by ingredient, so ask the bartender for their pick of the season.
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 and vintage couches.
Tip: Walk-in, no cover. Weeknights before 22:00 are the easiest entry; weekends you wait downstairs in burger order territory.
The Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street is where the 1969 riots launched the modern Pride movement. Now a national monument and still a working bar with nightly drag and karaoke.
Tip: Drag bingo Tuesdays, karaoke Thursdays. Tourist-heavy on summer weekends; weeknights are easier and the regulars come out.
Cubbyhole, a tiny lesbian and queer corner bar on West 12th since 1994, packs a fishnet ceiling of stuffed-animal lanterns and a friendly bartender into one small room.
Tip: No cover, cash-friendly, $2 PBR pours. Get there before 22:00 on weekends or you wait in a line out the door.
Henrietta Hudson on Hudson Street, founded in 1991, is the oldest standing queer-women bar in the country. The 2021 rebuild added a kitchen and back lounge.
Tip: Closed Monday and Tuesday. The Friday Cody Cunningham resident DJ set runs until 04:00; Saturday is the dance floor night.
The Eagle NYC on West 28th is the leather and cruise bar with three floors, an outdoor patio and dress-coded events on the upstairs roof deck most weekends.
Tip: Opens late, 22:00 most nights. Underwear, jock and bear nights all enforce dress codes posted on the door.