Image via Complex Original
New Yorkers are fed up with pretense—at least judging by the slew of inviting, velvet rope-free bars that opened this year. We’re more than halfway through 2013, and we’re spending many an evening (and afternoon, let’s be honest) slaking our thirst at these laidback watering holes. They aren’t nondescript dives, but chill, easy-on-the-eyes joints where there are no worries of surly barkeeps. Our demand for well-made, intriguing cocktails remains sky-high, and we’re pleased we can enjoy them on the likes of an outdoor patio chair or at a Milk & Honey spin-off—without having to prowl for a secret reservations phone number. We’re also digging that we can try Danish brews we’ve never heard of, then fill up on cheap pierogies down the block. From neighborhood surprises to craft-beer nirvana, here are 9 drink dens the rest of the year’s newcomers will have a tough act following.
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9. The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog
Opened: January
Neighborhood: Financial District
Address: 30 Water St.
Website: deadrabbitnyc.com
It seems like a fantastical idea: open a bar that revolves around more than 70 painstakingly recreated 19th-century cocktails. Yet the Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog, the vision of Irish bartender Sean Muldoon, is a bona fide hit, set in an old Financial District townhouse redolent of New York's bloodthirsty gang era. The Taproom is where the Wall Street boys go for Pilsner Urquells and the best Rum & Cokes they've ever sipped (here it's a Cuba Libre with Saint James Royal Ambre Martinique Rhum, lime essence and the Mexican, real-sugar version of the cola). Upstairs is where the cocktail adventurers ooh and ahh flipping through too-pretty books of vintage drinks-cobblers, flips, and juleps among them-that embrace captivating ingredients like eucalyptus tincture and clementine juice. A must-have round of Scotch eggs is yet another blessing in this food-deprived 'hood.
8. Tørst
Opened: March
Neighborhood: Greenpoint
Address: 615 Manhattan Ave.
Website: torstnyc.com
Soon, Luksus, the intimate, tasting menu-only restaurant from Momofuku and Noma alum Daniel Burns, will open in Polish food nucleus Greenpoint. For now its bar up front, Tørst, is enough incentive for any beer geek to visit. A collaboration with Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø of Evil Twin Brewing, the space, awash in cool white marble, almost feels clinical, like you should be riffling through the New Yorker while waiting at an upscale doctor's office. There are no cocktails, no wine, only wooden beer taps and bottles that lead to obscure brews. Many are ever-changing Evil Twin selections, but there are also surprising goodies like the Double Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout from Hoppin' Frog brewery in Akron, Ohio.
7. Sweetleaf
Tttle: Sweetleaf
Opened: February
Neighborhood: Long Island City
Address: 46-15 Center Blvd.
Website: sweetleaflic.com
In the morning and afternoon it's a roomier outpost of the popular Long Island City coffee joint Sweetleaf. As evening falls, when the laptop-toters return to their neighboring condos and abandon thoughts of lattes, it becomes a dark, moody gathering place for drinks crafted by the fine barkeeps from Queens' nearby cocktail epicenter, Dutch Kills. Naturally, many feature java, such as the Castaway with rum, pineapple juice and housemade coffee liqueur, but it's also a friendly spot where locals will not look at you askance for ordering a vodka gimlet.
6. Blue Ribbon Beer Garden
Opened: May
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Address: 190 Allen St.
Website: blueribbonrestaurants.com
Those entrepreneurial Blue Ribbon brothers, Bruce and Eric Bromberg, are unstoppable. Until their fried chicken joint opens in the East Village later this summer, all eyes are on the Blue Ribbon Beer Garden, their chill hangout, complete with ping-pong table, on the second floor of the Thompson LES hotel. On this reclaimed barn wood-lined terrace, there a plethora of unconventional brews to sip, such as Echigo Japanese rice lager and South Carolina-made Westbrook White Thai Ale. Drunkenness is delightfully staved off with plates of BBQ Cornish hen accompanied by coleslaw, bean salad and cornbread.
5. Attaboy
Opened: March
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Address: 134 Eldridge St.
Website: N/A
The cocktail world went amok when Milk & Honey announced it was vacating its legendary clandestine LES digs for loftier space near Madison Square Park. Yet the old spot, now that it's morphed into Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy's more casual Attaboy, maintains its allure. The bar is longer, the lighting is brighter (sadly, it's much harder to get a booth make-out session started), and there is no mysterious phone number to finagle for a reservation, but the drinks are as good as ever. Like its predecessor, there is no menu. Simply tell the bartender what you're craving-say, a refreshing gin concoction- and a Gordon's Cup may magically appear moments later.
4. Battery Harris
Opened: May
Neighborhood: Williamsburg
Address: 64 Frost St.
Website: batteryharris.com
On the courtyard of Williamsburg's Battery Harris, sitting in a wooden folding chair under the translucent roof, it easily feels like a relaxed backyard BBQ. But instead of a ho-hum hot dog hiding in a grocery store bun, the treats you are reaching for include Caribbean-inspired jerk tofu and coconut cornbread. While beer can be savored here-and at only $7 for a Tecate and a shot of Tequila it should be -quality libations like the Black Eagle with rye, Averna, lime juice and fresh mint raise the bar for alfresco day drinking.
3. Dynaco
Opened: May
Neighborhood: Bed-Stuy
Address: 1112 Bedford Ave.
Website: N/A
All those restaurants slithering into Bed-Stuy are certainly proof positive that Jay-Z's old 'hood is now coveted hipster territory. After scarfing down beef heart pastrami and foie gras doughnuts at the zany Do or Dine, a nightcap awaits a few doors over at Dynaco. This low-key watering hole outfitted with vintage speakers is the brainchild of two rock-loving brothers originally from New Jersey. They designed the space themselves, and its appealingly heavy on reclaimed wood and charming stained glass. A cozy booth perch inspires endless conversation and whiskey sipping.
2. Wise Men
Opened: February
Neighborhood: East Village
Address: 355 Bowery
Website: wisemennyc.com
Big, loud, stylish restaurants dot the Bowery, yet Wise Men-actually a trio of savvy ladies from the fashion, art, and hospitality worlds-stands apart from the pack for its thoughtfully seductive interior bedecked with geometric marble and red-and-white wallpaper that cerebrally delineates Kobe beef. Yes, the crimson banquettes teem with folks on the social circuit, but it's also a surprisingly comfortable spot for a post-Bowery Ballroom date over caramelized onion-rye patty melts and retro tipples like the Bee's Knees.
1. Achilles Heel
Opened: May
Neighborhood: Greenpoint
Address: 180 West St.
Website: achillesheelnyc.com
With all the action on rapidly developing Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint's main drag, it's easy to forget the neighborhood's gritty nautical roots. But at Achilles Heel, the latest venture from Brooklyn restaurateur Andrew Tarlow (Diner, Marlow & Sons, Marlow & Daughters, Roman's, Reynard), the waterfront beyond plays center stage. Original mirrors and a stunning, well-worn hardwood bar evoke the space's past as a 20th-century tavern that once catered to the needy dockworkers across the way. In the evenings, settle in with a glass of crisp, natural wine, like the Mosse Chenin Blanc. Or, after an all-night romp, find morning salvation in a perfectly pulled espresso or a.m. appropriate highball.
