In the listening bar–inspired space, expect music from the curated vinyl collection.
• Doors open at 6 p.m. They don’t take reservations, so arriving early is key to snagging a seat.
• Pair drinks with bar chef Nico Zades’ inventive bites like foie gras olives or whipped pimento-raclette.
NICE TO KNOW
Kid Sister is a chic wine bar with killer small plates a short drive away. Lux Central is even closer, just a couple minutes’ drive, tucked behind one of the city’s busiest cafés in a dim room made for inventive cocktails and lounging. A two-minute walk from Lux Central, Across the Pond pours Japanese-influenced whisky drinks you won’t find anywhere else in the city.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
Tucked behind the much-lauded restaurant Valentine, Bar 1912 might be Phoenix’s most immersive cocktail experience—not for any sort of theatrics, but for how deeply it roots itself in Arizona. The menu changes themes seasonally, and the current list is organized into three categories: Bebidas Prehispánicas, which leans into indigenous flavors and spirits; Kino’s Garden, built around Southwest agriculture and the legacy of Father Kino (a Jesuit missionary who shaped the foodways of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico); and a Highballers section for playful pours. Many of the ingredients are foraged nearby or whole-prepared in the bar, connecting each drink back to the place and history it’s grounded in. The result is a study in flavor that never veers into academic; it’s sensory without being overwrought. The space itself, meanwhile, is serene and candlelit, with low music and a near-monastic attention to detail. It’s never fussy, though. You could order a glass of wine and still feel like you’re participating in the ritual. But the cocktails—layered, regional, occasionally odd—are where it really sings.
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Around the corner on Grand Street, Fresh Kills (from Richie Boccato) has been quietly serving some of the best cocktails in Brooklyn for nearly a decade.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
• When outdoor seating is available, the wisteria-draped garden (book ahead on Resy) might fool you into thinking you’re somewhere between Louisiana and Provence.
• While Maison excels at the A-list classics, look closely and you’ll find lovingly executed takes on B-side hits, like the Yellow Parrot and the Obituary, that make the case for revival.
NICE TO KNOW
Staff Favorite Dive Bars
Pete's Candy Store
I moved around the corner from Pete’s in 2008, and have found myself wedged into the bar’s tiny back music venue on countless nights since. The crowds may have changed, but Pete’s still maintains a bygone Williamsburg combo of grit, disaffection and surprise and delight. —Talia Baiocchi, editor-in-chief
Happyfun Hideaway
If you’re looking to make out on a dance floor, this no-frills, tropical-themed queer bar is the spot for you. —Irina Groushevaia, senior social media manager
7B Horseshoe Bar
7B stands out from the hoards of East Village icons not only because it opens at noon (ideal for killing time before, well, anything) but because it has one of the friendliest staffs of any bar, let alone dive, in the city. —Chloe Frechette, deputy editor
Sunny’s
This outer fringe of Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood is not easily accessible, but it’s worth a trip to experience a bar that’s been resurrected from the brink of closure several times. Live music starts most nights at 8 p.m., and there’s plenty of outdoor space for loitering. Don’t forget to bring cash. —Allison Hamlin, director of network development
An essential guide to the bars and retailers that have turned Oakland into an epicenter of progressive wine culture.
New York’s Essential Martinis
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An essential guide to the bars and retailers that have turned Oakland into an epicenter of progressive wine culture.
The signature cocktail of the original Rogue Cocktails, the Gunshop Fizz uses a full 2 ounces of Peychaud’s bitters.
The Howitzer, the first original cocktail to be featured on a Cure menu, is a bourbon-based riff on the French 75.
Bar 1912’s Highballers (left) playfully incorporate everything from Mexican fernet to Mountain Dew.