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The 50 Best Bars in New York City for 2026

The 50 best bars in New York City for 2026, ranked by our editors, from Death and Co and Attaboy to the Dead Rabbit, with why each one earns its spot.

James Harlow

Updated 2026-05-18 10 ranked bars

The short answer

Our editors' №1 is Death & Co.

10 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.

Best overallDeath & Co

Runner-upAttaboy

Third pickThe Dead Rabbit

New York has been the global benchmark for bars for two decades, and the depth of the field is the point. You can find a phone-booth speakeasy, a hotel piano room with murals worth a museum, a natural wine bar, and a beer-and-a-shot counter within a few subway stops of each other. The 50 below are the rooms our New York editor sends people to first, ranked from the city's defining cocktail temple down to the neighborhood favorites worth a detour. Each entry leads with the one-line verdict, then says why it earns its place and when to go.

How we ranked them

The order weighs four things. First, what is in the glass: quality, originality, and how well a drink is built. Second, the room and the service, because a great cocktail in a cold room is still a cold night. Third, consistency across repeat visits as reported by our sources. Fourth, the bar's influence on how New York, and often the rest of the world, drinks. We cross-read Google Maps reviews, local press from Time Out, Eater, and the Infatuation, and the bars' own channels. Sponsorship never affects the order, and every bar here is open and verified, with a full profile you can open from its name.

The 50 best bars in New York right now

Editor's №1

Death & Co

East VillageCocktail barCocktails from $20

The room that defined the modern American cocktail.

Why we rank itDeath & Co opened on East 6th Street in 2007 and set the template the rest of the country copied: a dark room, a deep list, and bartenders trained like cooks. The two books written here became required reading for the craft movement, and the Oaxaca Old Fashioned it invented entered the standard vocabulary. It ranks first because everything below it is, in some measure, drinking in its wake.

When to goReservations recommended, best midweek when the room is calmer. Order the Oaxaca Old Fashioned first. Best for a serious cocktail date or a visiting drinker who wants the city's benchmark.

Full listing & hours →

Attaboy

Lower East SideNo-menu cocktail barCocktails from $19

The most reliable bespoke drinking in America.

Why we rank itThe old Milk & Honey room on Eldridge Street, where Sasha Petraske rewrote modern bartending, now run by Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy since 2013. No menu, no sign: you ring the bell, name a spirit or a direction, and a drink comes back built on classical specs. Ross created the Penicillin and the Paper Plane from exactly this kind of improvisation.

When to goWalk-in only, and the thirty-odd seats fill after eight, so go at opening or very late. Best for a one-on-one rather than a group, and a night with no fixed plan.

Full listing & hours →

The Dead Rabbit

Financial DistrictIrish bar & cocktail parlorCocktails from $18

A two-floor Irish bar that has been ranked the best on earth.

Why we rank itJack McGarry and Sean Muldoon opened it on Water Street in 2013 with a stated ambition to build the best bar in the world, and the trophy case agrees: number one on the World's 50 Best. The ground-floor Taproom pours an Irish Coffee most of the industry calls the world's benchmark; the upstairs Parlor runs a heavily designed cocktail menu.

When to goA weekday afternoon is the Taproom at its best; weekend Parlor tables want a booking. Best for a casual after-work pint or a planned cocktail evening, with the sausage rolls either way.

Full listing & hours →

Dante

Greenwich VillageAperitivo & cocktail barCocktails from $18

The bar that made aperitivo a New York habit.

Why we rank itCaffe Dante poured espresso on MacDougal Street from 1915; relaunched in 2015, it was named the world's best bar in 2019. It turned the negroni into a session format, and the Garibaldi, fresh orange whipped fluffy and cut with Campari, became the most imitated simple drink of its decade.

When to goAll day, but aperitivo hour is the point, and brunch makes it the rare world-ranked bar that works at noon. Best for a date or a bright catch-up. Order the negroni sessione or the Garibaldi.

Full listing & hours →

Bemelmans Bar

Upper East SideHotel piano barCocktails from $24

The most beautiful room in New York, murals and all.

Why we rank itThe walls carry original 1947 murals by Ludwig Bemelmans, the author of the Madeline books, painted in exchange for eighteen months of room and board at the Carlyle. The drinks are classical and immaculate, built with the precision a $24 minimum demands, and live piano runs through the night.

When to goAn occasion bar, best early evening before the cover charge after 9:30. Best for an anniversary or a dressed-up nightcap after the theater or the Met. Jackets required for men.

Full listing & hours →

Katana Kitten

West VillageJapanese-American cocktail barCocktails from $17

Proof that technical drinks and a loud room are not enemies.

Why we rank itMasahiro Urushido opened it in 2018 and immediately won the Spirited Award for the world's best new cocktail bar. The signature is the highball treated as craft: the Toki highball arrives colder and sharper than physics suggests, and the cedar-scented Hinoki Martini is the quiet masterpiece on a loud menu.

When to goA group night, and weekends bring the full happy roar. Order a boilermaker pairing with the katsu sando. Best for friends out for a high-energy evening; whisperers should book elsewhere.

Full listing & hours →

Clover Club

Carroll Gardens, BrooklynClassic cocktail barCocktails from $16

Julie Reiner's case that Brooklyn drinks as well as Manhattan.

Why we rank itJulie Reiner, one of the most respected American bartenders alive, opened it in 2008 to revive the 1909 Philadelphia cocktail of the same name. The room is bright and committed to classical discipline. The Clover Club, gin, lemon, raspberry, and egg white, is the right first order, and the Bramble is a benchmark.

When to goBrunch is a signature, with one of the best daytime cocktail lists in the borough; early evening suits a date. Best for a civilized catch-up or an unhurried weekend afternoon.

Full listing & hours →

Existing Conditions

Greenwich VillageTechnique-led cocktail barCocktails from $18

Cocktail technology pushed further than anywhere else in the city.

Why we rank itFrom Don Lee and Dave Arnold, the author of Liquid Intelligence, the back bar runs centrifuges, rotary evaporators, and controlled-temperature dilution. The Carbonated Negroni and the Polynesian show what that buys you: texture and temperature you cannot get by hand, on a drink that still tastes like a drink.

When to goA reservation evening for the curious drinker, best midweek when you can talk technique with the bartender. Best for cocktail enthusiasts and a date who likes a talking point.

Full listing & hours →

Please Don't Tell

East VillageSpeakeasyCocktails $18 to $24

A phone-booth speakeasy whose drinks outlast the trick.

Why we rank itEnter through a phone booth inside Crif Dogs on St. Marks. Jim Meehan's PDT has run New York's most famous entrance since 2007, and the bar never coasted: the Benton's Old Fashioned, bacon-fat-washed bourbon invented here, is now a modern classic taught on five continents.

When to goSame-day reservations open in the afternoon and vanish in minutes, so plan ahead. Best for first-timers who want the reveal and returners who trust the drinks. Pair a cocktail with a chili-cheese dog.

Full listing & hours →

Employees Only

West VillageCocktail bar & supper roomCocktails from $18

The industry's late-night clubhouse, twenty years on.

Why we rank itThe green neon PSYCHIC sign has marked the Hudson Street door since 2004, when five bartenders built a speakeasy in front and a serious supper room in back. It ranks on longevity nothing this loud should sustain. Order the Amelia or the Mata Hari and stay for steak tartare.

When to goA late night, after midnight when the energy builds and the kitchen is still on. Best for night people and a lively group. The free chicken soup at closing is real.

Full listing & hours →

Beyond the 10

The 50 Best Bars in New York City for 2026

Our editors' №1 is Death & Co.

How we ranked them

The 50 best bars in New York right now

Also worth knowing

The bars worth going to, weekly.