Best-of list · Insider Guide

Where Locals Actually Drink in New York

Where locals drink in New York: Sunny's Bar, Ear Inn, Clover Club, Beauty Bar, Attaboy, Long Island Bar. Hidden gems across NYC's neighborhoods.

The short answer

Our editors' №1 is Sunny's Bar.

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

Best overallSunny's Bar
Runner-upEar Inn
Third pickClover Club

The bars in every guidebook are fine. This is not that list. We've put together the places where New Yorkers — actual, rent-paying New Yorkers — go when they want a drink without performance. From Red Hook waterfront dives to Lower East Side wine bars that only opened two years ago and already have a regular crowd, these are the addresses that don't appear on tourist maps.

Waterfront & Deep Brooklyn

Beauty Bar

Iona Bar

Featherweight

Elsa

Weekly picks

The bars worth going to, weekly.