Welcome to the Eater Cocktail Heatmap, focusing on the hottest new bar openings in New York every month.
Eater editors do thorough reporting on the most exciting restaurant openings to hit the city, as well as smaller openings worth having on the radar. In this monthly map, we narrow the field to cocktail bars that are drawing the most excitement, buzz, crowds, and early positive chatter, focusing on spots that have only been open for six months or less. When an Eater editor has already been to a place, we share insider tips on what to expect and what’s worth ordering as well.
New to the list in October: We’ve added Japanese cocktail bar Don’t Be Shy in Hudson Square; massive Chinese-leaning cocktail bar/restaurant/karaoke lounge Rewind in Long Island City; South Asian speakeasy Jam & Jaggery in the East Village; and retro bars FKA in the East Village and Velvet Cowboy on the Upper West Side. For now, we’ve removed Bar Chimera, Peek Inn, and Hidden Rivers Beer Garden.
For related drinking guides, check out Eater NY’s picks for the best cocktail bars, dive bars, and wine bars. And for more New York dining recommendations, check out the new hotspots in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. In need of an insider’s perspective on how to eat well, no matter where you are in NYC? Pick up our book: The Eater Guide to New York City.
Velvet Cowboy. | Lizzie Munro
509 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10024, United States
+13322890440
The Jacob’s Pickles team turned its space on the Upper West Side (which relocated to Columbus Avenue) into Velvet Cowboy, a new 1970s Southwestern cocktail bar, in September. Find $5 bar snacks, like a take on the McRib sandwich, chili-cheese fries, and a huge funnel cake hanging from a stand.
A cocktail at Rewind. | Erik Bernstein
4557 Davis St, Long Island City, NY, 11101, US
(917) 558-8000
A massive new restaurant-cocktail bar-karaoke lounge, Rewind, opened in Long Island City this September and is co-founded with AYS Hospitality, which runs Mr. Moto’s restaurant portfolio. The drinks menu, developed by beverage director Ken Chen, who had been at Taipei gastropub Indulge Experimental Bistro, took cues from tea, the Chinese zodiac, and the five elements. Tipsy Blossom represents fire signs and bitter elements, made with whisky, shochu, chrysanthemum, pear, hawthorn, licorice root, and goji berry. The food menu includes truffle-mushroom congee, Taiwanese fried chicken, and wagyu donburi. Per the name, people enter the space by pressing a “rewind” button on a retro boombox outside.
Negronis at Keepers. | Noah Fecks
34 8th Avenue, New York, New York 10014, United States
+12123331001
The team behind West Village cocktail lounge Dandelion expanded with Keepers, a new neighborhood-leaning bar and pizzeria, in July. Drinks, courtesy of Ricky Dolinsky (formerly of the View), include interesting Negronis such as the Black Forest, a drinkable homage to Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia; spritzes; and frozens. Food-wise, find crispy tavern pies.
A Negroni at Bernie and Herb’s. | Nadia Chaudhury
28 East 16th Street, New York, New York 10003, United States
Bernie and Herb’s comes from a trio of 169 Bar alums who wanted to do a neighborhood spot that’s affordable and stays open until late. The bar opened in July, housed in the space that had been part of Coffee Shop, the Brazilian late-night icon in the area for 30 years. Look for drinks around $10 and inexpensive bar food like hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, and more.
Food and drinks at FKA. | Sebastian Lange
221 2nd Ave, New York, NY, 10003, US
FKA, which stands for “Formerly Known As,” is all about retro vibes since it opened in September in the East Village. Look for dollar East Coast oysters; dishes like lamb tartare, pimento cheese, Frito pies, and cheeseburgers; activities like pinball and Big Buck Hunter; and drinks like strawberry daiquiris, natural wines, and $8 beer-and-shot combos.
The Gola Chaat drink at Jam & Jaggery. | Jam & Jaggery
211 1st Avenue, New York, New York 10003, United States
Chef Aarthi Sampath debuted a new speakeasy underneath her East Village restaurant Drāvida in September. Jam & Jaggery takes on the same South Asian foundation, with drinks like the Dirty Currytini with olive vermouth and curry leaves, and the Gola Chaat with shochu, yogurt, pomegranate, tamarind, herbs, and aloo bhujia, the latter of which is a spiced boiled potato snack. Sampath is offering some of her upstairs snacks, along with an Indian-ish burger.
The tomato. martini and French onion grilled cheese at Bar Etienne. | Constanza Damiani
44 Bedford Street, New York, New York 10014, United States
The team, whose bar history includes Bar Valentina and Employees Only, took over the former Bandits space with a French-leaning bar. Bar Etienne opened in the West Village in August, with a very banana-y rum cocktail along with tomato martinis, chocolate Negronis, and wines. The bistro food menu includes steak au poivre and French onion-grilled cheeses, plus desserts created in collaboration with nearby Claude Bakery, such as tarte tatin and that chocolate cake.
The Kanazawa cocktail at Don’t Be Shy. | Cheng Lin
68 Charlton Street, New York, New York 10014, United States
New Hudson Square cocktail bar Don’t Be Shy is meant to evoke Tokyo’s stylish Ginza district since it opened in September. Head bartender Shinya Yamao, who worked at now-closed Piora and Tribeca sake bar Shigure, developed a Japanese cocktail menu with a special Trip to Japan menu available only at the nine-seat bar counter, exploring Japanese history and regionality, like the Edo, made with a potato-miso-flavored vodka and a sweet potato-Campari ice cube. Other drinks are available at the table seats, such as the Miyajima, which has momo nigori sake, red shiso, and lemon. Food includes wagyu and egg salad sandos and umami burrata with taro chips, pecans, dashi, and tomato sorbet.
The burger and fries at Matches. | Matches
560 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11222, United States
Alas, Enid’s isn’t coming back, but the Greenpoint Fish & Lobster team turned its Greenpoint address into a new bar paying tribute to another shuttered neighborhood fixture. They opened Matches (a nod to Bar Matchless) in August, with $16 cocktails, along with burgers and steak frites.
Another cocktail at Tin’s. | Max Flatow
109 Ludlow St, New York, NY, 10002, US
(917) 310-5557
Co-owners and couple Mercury Tin and Philip Dizard opened Tin’s on the Lower East Side as their ode to their life experiences. It’s a two-floor, New York-meets-Shanghai bar and restaurant that opened in July (and thankfully, the kitchen is fully open, serving those Shanghai-style dumplings). Drinks pay homage to those blending influences; see: an ode to the Dead Rabbit’s Irish coffee with a Shanghai dirty coffee twist.
The Lost Lake cocktail at Echo Lake. | Lizzie Munro
357 Grand Street, Brooklyn, New York 11211, United States
A new cocktail bar devoted to all things rum opened in Williamsburg in April in the former original Gertie space. Echo Lake offers $12 daily daiquiris and a lager/rum shot combo cutely called Tiny and a Tot, plus seafood-centric plates like oysters with tepache mignonette and green coconut curry chowder. The new bar comes from beverage power couple Chloe Frechette (the former executive editor at Eater sibling site Punch) and Paul McGee, who cut his teeth at Chicago’s now-closed tropical bar Lost Lake. The duo is also featuring their own collection of liquid loot within the intimate basement rum bar, Undercurrent.
Inside Bar Chucho. | Bar Chucho
37 Market St, New York, NY, 10002, US
The team behind Mexican fine-dining restaurant Corima and burrito hot spot Vato opened a new bar in downtown Manhattan this April. Bar Chucho, a comparatively casual bar counterpart to Corima, offers fantastic drinks like the Desert Rain with sotol, along with lots of micheladas and familiar food like the carne asada-esque burger.
The Coastline Chronicles at Dokidoki. | Shannon Sturgis
160 Havemeyer St, Brooklyn, NY, 11211, US
(347) 457-6674
New Williamsburg bar Dokidoki, which opened in July, is just a fun meshing of Latin and Japanese cultures, courtesy of co-owners and cocktail vets A-K Hada, an alum of Please Don’t Tell and Existing Conditions; and Christian Suzuki-Orellana, a semifinalist on Netflix’s Drink Masters. With just a beer and wine license, they’re whipping up fun martinis and honeydew “margaritas” made with shochu, sakes, and local meads. The Japanese-Puerto Rican-Salvadoran bar snacks include a katsu sandwich made with cod on shokupan bread. It’s a small yet cozy space.
Drinks at Kinda Nice. | Shannon Sturgis
168 Borinquen Pl, Brooklyn, NY, 11211, US
(917) 966-6222
Brooklyn cocktail bar Grand Army alums Patty Dennison and Ally Marrone opened their own bar in Williamsburg in May, taking over what was the Ensenada space. The press release describes Kinda Nice as a mix of “late-night diner culture” and “dive bar spontaneity,” which translates to savory and sweet cocktails like the guava Negroni with malted milk and pisco; the Greek Salad martini with Tomato Crop vodka and a piparra brine; and a tequila drink with lime sherbet and a choice of blueberry or strawberry amaro and tequila. The duo also debuted their downstairs dive bar at the address, Shenanigans, with beers, highballs, boilermakers, and DJs (dancing is encouraged)
The Museum Bar + Gift Shop. | Kyle Berg
1329 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11237, US
New Bushwick bar the Museum Bar + Gift Shop is meant to feel like a hella fun natural history museum, which opened in June. The space is covered in illuminated fossils, crystals, and dinosaur heads. The drinks list continues that thread, with the Insectarium, a Negroni-ish drink with insects; and the Ocean Life made with rum, coconut, limes, Curaçao, and cuttlefish ink. The on-site Gift Shop bar focuses on lower-ABV drinks with cafe touches, such as spritzes and milk punches.
A cocktail at Tavern Next Door. | Justin Sisson
327 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, NY, 11231, US
Billy Durney was inspired by “one crazy night in Paris many years ago” to open this Brooklyn cocktail bar next door to his Red Hook Tavern, with “reinvented disco-era cocktails,” in May. That translates to vibrant Blue Hawaiians, Adam’s Appletinis, and creamy White Russians and Brandy Alexanders. And yes, there’s an iteration of that famous cheeseburger, too.
A cocktail at Shania’s Max Bet. | Alex Mendoza
317 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11215, United States
This new Gowanus spot, which opened in July, aims to fill the bar gap left by the address’s previous tenant, Dirty Precious, now with a 1980s look. Co-owners Robin Daily and Mike Brown met at Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club, where one worked and the other frequented, respectively. At Shania’s Max Bet, they’re serving up martinis, Midori sours, and beer-shot combos.
A drink and a snack at Pony’s. | Sophie Fabbri
424 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, New York 11231, United States
It’s a horse girl’s world: Co-founders and couple Elana Shvalbe and Michael Furac opened this new daytime cafe and evening bar in Red Hook in August, with a pony-loving aesthetic. Find gin martinis; a rye-and-rum Old Fashioned with peanut butter and bananas; and a High Life pony-shot combo for $10, along with an Eastern European-ish food menu including pelmeni and cured and smoked fish.