🍷🍸 NYC: Underground Cocktails and Above Ground Natural Wine 🍷🍸

 

New York City is home to literally hundreds of great bars – dive bars, speakeasies, historic watering holes and world-class cocktail experiences. But there are some you just have to try for yourself.

For example - have you ever considered going dancing in the subway in New York City? If you’re willing to go underground near Times Square, you’ll find Nothing Really Matters. Even if you miss the discreet door on a landing, once you step inside, the disco ball is a dead giveaway that you’re in for a good time. The atmosphere was indeed fun and the drinks were better than we expected! This is a unique stop for any night out near the square.

Not far from the first stop, you’ll find the entrance to what looks like a sex shop. In the 1970’s and 80’s, that wouldn’t be an unusual sight in this neighborhood, as Times Square was full of adult bookstores and theaters. Now, the signage would appear out of place if you didn’t know that this one leads to The Woo Woo, a fun underground speakeasy behind the faux sex shop. Clutch your pearls and embrace the kitsch and you’ll be rewarded with great and creative cocktails and a fantastic experience. In fact, we had one of the best smoked old fashioneds of the entire trip here. Enjoy the visuals, it’s a #tipsypick!

While we’re at it, we should also recall our first visit to an underground subway speakeasy … La Noxe is worthy of another mention in this category from a previous visit. This former brothel turned cocktail spot is still going strong!

Now let’s go back above ground for a few #tipsypicks we recommend on the Lower East Side and the Village!

Bar Veloce (pronounced velo-chay in Italian) is a neighborhood cocktail bar that we think is hidden in plain sight. That’s maybe because we haven’t noticed it until now! But it will definitely be one we’ll return to. It’s the kind of place you can enjoy an afternoon cocktail or glass of wine (which we did) and escape the madness that is NYC. We hear it gets quite lively at night though! We’ll be sure to let you know. (We should note that there are several locations, all locally owned, but we visited the one in the Bowery.)

Another neighborhood spot nearby with a well-earned reputation is Mother’s Ruin. Yes, it’s named after the historic nickname for gin during prohibition, so there are gin drinks aplenty. During the day it’s a low-key spot for great drinks and food including brunch, but at night it can be a bustling hot spot, mostly for locals. We will visit this one again as well!

Since we’re on the Lower East side, it’s no secret that we are enjoying exploring the world of natural wines. Those are varieties made without preservatives and other additives. And there are three fantastic natural wine spots all within a few blocks of each other on the LES. All of these were recommended by the folks at our local natural wine bar in Knoxville.

Somm Time is maybe the most intimate of the wine bars but they make up for it with a giant reputation for having some of the best food to go with their selection of wines by the glass and bottle as well as pairings. They also have quite a selection of orange or amber wines, also known as “skin contact” wines.

Which brings us to another wine bar in the same LES neighborhood… Skin Contact. That’s right, they embrace the selections of wine that are left to soak with the grape skins. They opened in 2020 and weathered the pandemic by focusing on natural wines and small producers, mostly from Europe, that you don’t find elsewhere. This is a great stop for wine lovers!

And finally, yet another fantastic natural wine bar in the LES … The Ten Bells. They have a lovely space that includes garage doors which they open to enjoy the fresh air, and if you think oysters go well with wine, this is your spot!  They also have a great happy hour and tapas to pair with your wine. They were among the first in the city to embrace natural wine back in 2008 and they’re still going strong!

Can we ever get enough of NYC? What are your favorite spots?

Still in the City – NYC Take Two

 

Our adventures in the Big Apple continued after we made our last post, so let’s catch you up on the rest of the story! There are just too many great spots not to keep sharing with you.

We spent most of our week in lower Manhattan but ventured one evening to Chelsea (See previous post) and another evening up to Times Square. We’ll pick up there.

Bar Centrale – Located in an unmarked brownstone along “Restaurant Row” near the theater district, this was a true gem. We had tried to reserve tables the last two times we visited NYC without success. This time, we took a chance and walked over from Times Square and got in!  The Manhattan was one of the best presentations of the cocktail we’ve seen and the food was excellent. Very classy and worth the wait! Apparently, this is a popular spot after the theaters let out, especially for VIPs.

Dear Irving – We took another chance on this one after we went “uptown” and lucked into Bar Centrale. Dear Irving is tucked away in the Gramercy district. You go behind the curtain to find lots of dark wood, mirrors, candles … and fantastic cocktails! We enjoyed sitting at the bar and watching the experts work.

 Backroom – It’s hard to imagine talking about NYC speakeasies and not coming here. This is one of the original operating speakeasies from Prohibition, and it’s still going. True to the theme, it’s not marked, other than the “toy company” sign on the gate, and down a dark alley to a door where you ring the buzzer. Inside, the décor is classic 1920s and the cocktails are served in teacups, just like Prohibition. They have jazz dancing on Mondays, but we didn’t make that.  Maybe next time!

Little Branch – This speakeasy on a corner in the West Village has some of the best jazz in the city Sunday - Thursday with no cover. We visited last fall and returned for the drinks and jazz. We even managed to snag a table toward the end of the set.

As we mentioned in our last post, we also made time to try out some local establishments and classic pubs that we couldn’t resist.

White Horse Tavern – This is not a speakeasy, but a cool old tavern where writers used to hang out in the West Village. We visited during Happy Hour, and it seems every young professional in the village was at the bar. We scored a table and soaked it all in. 

McSorley’s – How can we not include this classic beer hall that hasn’t changed much in 100 years? We sat by the coal stove to warm up and had our beer and cheese … light and dark beer only, the way it has always been!

Whiskey Ward – A neighborhood bar below Houston with a huge selection of bourbon and whiskey. It was very crowded but we got a table by the window and enjoyed our drinks. Scott was surprised to get a pour of Elmer T. Lee for $16 … the best price we’ve seen anywhere for it!

Jadis - Gets the award for one of the only “twofers” on this trip … we liked it so much we went back twice in the same week! It’s a classic European wine bar with a great happy hour between the East and West Village.

Goodnight Sonny – Speaking of great Happy Hours, this one was another repeat from our last trip in September. Conveniently located in the East Village, they have great specials on drinks and a fantastic east coast oyster sampler platter for Happy Hour. The vibe is laid back and perfect after a work day.

Jackdaw – This one was on our list previously, and we are glad we made it this time! Great Old Fashioned cocktails and guacamole for a reasonable price at Happy Hour.  Another fantastic location in the East Village. 

Just so you don’t get the wrong idea about us (gasp 🙈), we did more than just drink for the entire week, to be sure! 

We highly recommend Free Tours by Foot. We took two of their tours on this trip and have used them before. The guide, Lori, was personable, organized and an excellent storyteller. Any of the tours with Lori are going to be worth the time and anything you pay.

We are also history nerds, so no surprise that we took a tour of the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, including the catacombs beneath. This was a wonderful experience and a great way to learn about the old Five Points neighborhood and the Irish ghetto. Also not far from our hotel, we visited the New Museum. While it’s four stories high, the museum is an easy walk-through of exhibits highlighting contemporary art. We went on Thursday night when it was “pay as you wish.”

Both times we went “uptown” we had a reason. First, we went to the Summit One Vanderbilt. We’ve done most of the other observation decks like the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock and One World Trade. But this one is another level, literally. The experience we booked included art installations, a glass bottom observation window, a cocktail at the top and a ride even higher on the glass elevator. The views of the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and upper Manhattan were incredible at night.  The second time out of our neighborhood we went to the Stranger Things experience just off Times Square. For fans of the show, this was absolutely worth it!

And finally, a shout out to some of the other small businesses we visited later in the weekend, including Taverna di Bacco, an authentic Italian restaurant near our hotel, and El Sombrero, where we got some of the best margaritas around late on a Saturday night. Can’t wait to try the food next time.

What’s even more exciting – there are new speakeasies popping up in the city every day, so we have plenty to visit the next time around!

🤫 Shhh Can you Keep a Secret? 🤫

 

New York City sure does love a good speakeasy. So we decided to see how many of them we could work into our schedule during a recent “working remotely” trip to the Big Apple. We tried one in a former massage parlor under a subway, one in the basement of the hotel where Nikola Tesla worked and invented things, lots of them behind secret doors, and some that are on the latest list of World’s Top Bars!  They all had one thing in common … fantastic cocktails! 🍸

We’ll start with some of the places we visited that are the real reason we do this. They are indeed #offthetipsypath … small businesses with stories and character. That Witch Ales You is a small brewery in Chinatown owned by a husband and wife with some great beer. Our favorite pour was a coconut porter! And two wine bars … the Immigrant and Jadis. Both of them are locally owned and feel like you are stepping into a European bistro. We highly recommend them.

Now let’s set the “Wayback Machine” for a second back to 2014, when we tried our first NYC speakeasy … Beauty & Essex. We were blown away by the concept of walking into a small pawn shop, only to find a two-story spectacle behind a backroom door, complete with winding staircase and chandeliers! Yes, this Lower East Side institution is still around and going strong through the Pandemic.

In September, we checked out one of the most popular NYC speakeasies … Please Don’t Tell. It’s behind a phone booth in a hot dog shop in the East Village. The drinks were fantastic and the vibe was dark and moody - as you might expect.

Now, for the latest marathon.

First, we’ll admit that we did some research online to gather a list of the greatest speakeasies and narrowed it down to the ones we had to hit in a 7-day period. Thanks to everyone who helped pave the way 😂

Here are the highlights.

Attaboy – This small discreet speakeasy is known for their long lines and creative cocktails. Our first attempt to get “on the list” took us three hours to get a callback, and by then we had moved on. So we arrived at opening time and were able to get some standing room at the bar, which offered us the opportunity to interact with the bartender. That’s the point here – you tell the bartender what you like and he creates something for you! Worth the wait. Another one on the top 50 World’s Best Bars.

Death & Co. – As the name implies, the theme of this East Village speakeasy is dark and brooding but the staff is friendly and drinks were excellent. Consistently on the list of World’s Best Bars for a decade.

La Noxe – Relative newcomers to the scene, but definitely one of the most creative spaces on the list. They are located in a small space basically inside a subway station. The bartender told us it used to be an illegal massage parlor. Entrance was a discreet door at street level, and the exit was on the stairway to the train.

Patent Pending – Out front, it’s a coffee shop. Behind the barista table … it’s a dark subterranean bar below the hotel where Nikola Tesla worked and created. So, it’s no surprise most of the menu has an “electricity” theme.  Excellent cocktails and vibe!

Basement – This one was just fun all around. The entrance is down some stairs and behind a vintage Coke machine along a very festive street in Chinatown. Inside, there’s more of a “carnival” atmosphere complete with beer pong tables. Only a hint of pretention and the drinks were solid!

Bathtub Gin – Take a step back to the roaring 20s here where the copper bathtub is the centerpiece of the room. We went for cabaret night and were seated next to the tub in the “splash zone.” Let’s just say we were warned ... and we got splashed. Excellent atmosphere, fabulous drinks, and phenomenal food!

Little Branch – Not entirely a “speakeasy,” but you have to know where to look for this door on the corner in the West Village that leads to an underground bar with great drinks and live jazz on most nights. We keep coming back here for good reason!

Dante – Not a speakeasy, but it was the World’s Best Bar in 2019, so it had to be on the list! The negronis are creative and legendary and the other cocktails did not disappoint!

Dead Rabbit – One of the World’s Best Bars in 2016 – it’s not a speakeasy – but it should be! It is an Irish bar institution in the financial district with some of our favorite cocktails and an extensive food menu. Worth a mention since we visit every time we’re in the city!

Granted, there are so many that we didn’t have time to visit, and we had to pick and choose a bit based on our personal taste, so you may not see some of the “best” on this list. Maybe next time!

Since we’ve been to the city enough to have done most of the tourist things like the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Broadway shows, etc. it was fun to dig deeper into some of the neighborhoods and do some “alcohol tourism.” Is that a thing? Maybe it should be! #alcoholtourism #offthetipsypath

We may have to give our livers a rest, but as always, your comments and thoughts are appreciated and welcomed! We love NYC!