The best bars and cafés New York

This old saloon has a trucker's atmosphere, the opposite of the hipster bars that are springing up everywhere. This bistro is named after a famous dentist who became a gangster in the American West at the end of the 19th century. Here, we don't do anything fancy. Rustic decoration (wooden benches, old cowboy boots on the ceiling), neon lights in the dirty window, it's bellowing and there's a jukebox with country music and a pool table if you dare approach. And the beer is far from expensive. The bartenders are not tender, but they have the merit of being efficient.

In the Meatpacking district, this large building at the intersection of 14 ^th street seems empty. However, the Gaslight Lounge is inside, but curtains have been installed to preserve the privacy of this refuge. It is difficult to go unnoticed by entering, because the clientele is made up of used people, all installed at the counter. The Gaslight Lounge looks like old house haunted with its old and dépareillé furniture, its red light, the parquet covered with large carpets, a fireplace in the bottom of the room and old family portraits hanging on the walls. On the music side, the style depends on the DJ's mood. If you are looking for it, it is perched in a tiny mezzanine above the bar. From time to time, a group came to animate the evening. As a result, the atmosphere and the clientele can be completely different according to the evenings. In summer, they open the dishes and you can drink on the terrace, looking at the beautiful people.

From the street, the window of this bar is any, but inside you will soon realize that it is a rather special place. This small bar allows local artists to display their works. The décor is, therefore, fairly original and changes regularly. The atmosphere is much more intimate, it is the lounge with sifted light and fire fire (artificial, but one would think) and, to brighten up the walls of dark bricks, the works of the artist at the moment. If the paintings or photographs like you, it is for sale. You can also eat some dishes, fish and chips style, burgers served with fries or sandwiches. The kitchen opens until late and the prices of the card range from $ 6 to $ 10. Happy hours are from 16 am to 19 pm.

You see the water cisterns perched on the roofs of New York buildings, blending into the cityscape? Well, one of them's been turned into a bar! The Water Tower, on the top floor of the Williamsburg Hotel, is the latest hot spot in Brooklyn. Cocktail prices are affected, but the experience is unique. One can enjoy the view of Brooklyn and the Manhattan skyscrapers through the bay windows that have replaced the metal structure. Come as soon as possible, before the place gets too crowded.

Nestled in an area of New York City, Irving Place is a pleasant, long tea room where they serve a very good coffee, roasted on a farm in the Hudson Valley. A fair trade coffee, which can be accompanied by a pastry, to be enjoyed on the terrace or on one of the round tables of the establishment. Irving Farm also serves good sandwiches, soups and salads. For a fresh lunch break just a stone's throw from Gramercy Park, a quiet, upscale neighborhood. Other addresses in Manhattan.

A very select speakeasy , accessible at the back of a hot dog restaurant, Crif Dogs. To get there, you have to go to the restaurant's phone booth, then pick up the receiver. On the other end of the line, a sultry voice asks you for your reservation time. If you don't have a reservation, you can try to get in line before opening time to get a table. The interior with its brick walls and stuffed animals maintains the mysterious atmosphere. Nice list of cocktails and possibility to order the hot dogs prepared at Crif Dogs.

One of the craziest gay bars in Hell's Kitchen, Flaming Saddles is known for its waiters dressed as cowboys who dance on the bar, boots on, of course. If you're near the counter, open your mouth and the dancer-server might pour whiskey directly from the neck. The atmosphere is really wild, we dance without restraint on the country music which bursts from the speakers. Attention, the establishment accepts only cash payments. There is an ATM on the spot but you will have to pay a fee.

One of the many speakeasies in New York with a very neat prohibition atmosphere. A copper bathtub stands in the middle of the room, in reference to the method used to make alcohol during Prohibition. The place is luxurious and worth a visit for the cocktails, which come from the imagination of the famous Irish mixologist Sean Muldoon. Don't miss the free burlesque shows on Tuesdays and Sundays at 8.30pm (booking recommended). Every Wednesday, the place also organises jazz concerts from 9pm to 11pm.

This is not just a great place to relax for spectators waiting to see a performance or film at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Every Friday and Saturday evening from 9:30 pm, free concerts - most often of World Music or jazz - take place there. It is an opportunity to discover exceptional artists who are often unknown, whether you listen by drinking a coffee or a beer, or by tasting a delicious steak and chips. The room, with its purple neon-lit arches, is amazing.

Here, we drink cheap beers, listen to music from the seventies, and above all... we play skee-ball! Késako? It is a game that consists of rolling a small ball into a target. Halfway between petanque and bowling, this very entertaining game is ideal to surround your evenings! You should also know that the Full Circle Bar hosts very serious skee-ball championships, but don't worry, it is of course possible to play with friends every day. For a relaxed atmosphere and anything but pretentious.

A huge Beer Garden located in a former garage. This bar, just a few blocks from NYU, is constantly packed with young students who are no strangers to beer! A fraternal atmosphere that students will appreciate. No doubt that with your French accent, you'll make friends in less than 10 minutes! The beer list is extensive, and the grilled cheeses are particularly good. On weekends, a huge projector broadcasts American soccer and baseball games in a fiery atmosphere.

A nice, casual place in the heart of Hell's Kitchen, where you can drink excellent coffee. The place is rather cosy, with a big leather sofa and shelves of books, which you can browse through while drinking your drink. The pastries and cakes are better than in many coffee shops. The raspberry filled donut (vegan, by the way) particularly caught our attention...

Located on the roof of the McKittrick Hotel is this friendly cocktail bar. The drinks are so inventive and successful that you'll find yourself liking cucumber with gin, or grapefruit with rum. The bar boasts trees and tall plants and gives the place a jungle feel. Add to that the beautiful view of the Hudson River and you'll have a great night. If you're doing Sleep No More, also in the McKittrick Hotel, this bar is the perfect place to debrief with your friends about the night you just had...

One of the few Harlem speakeasies still open today. This bar with its chillatmosphere - meaningcool - is known in New York for its dantesque cocktail list. From gin and cucumber to vodka and cinnamon, the menus are so inventive that you never know what to expect when you order. Cocktails are classified by spirit (rum, vodka, gin, whiskey...). Don't hesitate to ask the barman for advice if you don't know what to choose. A place to discover for a relaxing evening.

One of the best speakeasies in town, and one of the only ones still open that actually served as a speakeasy during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. Don't look for flashing red neon lights to find the entrance to the bar, but rather a staircase guarded by two bouncers. The bar's decoration seems to be inspired by the home of Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy. The place once belonged to New York mob boss Luciano, and is one of only two true speakeasies to have survived the century.

At Rum House, we almost forget we're in Times Square. This piano-bar has not changed much since it opened in 1970, it is the area around the establishment that has evolved. The wooden interior looks very vintage, but it's simply because it's authentic. To reinforce this feeling of time travel, the waiters have kept their original clothes! The bar has a second life thanks to its long cocktail list and excellent mixologists. All this to a piano tune. A place out of time.

A small and unpretentious neighborhood bar, with a very large selection of beers: 18 draught beers and 30 bottled beers. Good cocktails too. The decoration and the service are very warm. The food is also excellent for a bar. Our favorite dish, among a vast choice of salads, filet mignon, fish and pasta of all kinds, is the lobster mac & cheese. Every night, especially on weekends, the small room fills up quickly, people talk loudly, the atmosphere is friendly and good humored.

Park Slope's trendy parents swear by Union Hall! Surprisingly, even a little scary at night, the decor of the place looks like your grandmother's library: shelves full of books, fireplace, portraits hanging on the wall and leather armchairs. An ideal place to have a beer when the mercury never stops dropping in New York. In another room, concerts or burlesque shows take place every day. In a third room (the bar is 460 m²!), there are bocce courts, a game similar to petanque.

Tired of the traditional evenings around a beer to remake the world? Why not try shuffleboard, a game similar to curling where you have to place pucks with a broom in the center of a target. It is better to be four, six or eight to play, especially since the price of the court for one hour (50 US$) is to be shared between the players. The decoration, vintage, like an old bowling alley, is very successful and maintains a nice atmosphere.

Speakeasy, these replicas of underground bars from the time of Prohibition, the Lower East Side is not lacking. But this one has the advantage of being quite unknown. It is located at the bottom of an art gallery. Even the front door is not easy to find. Look for a small handle on the left towards the bottom! The rather minimalist decoration plays the card of the unauthorized secret bar, and it's quite successful. One of the coolest places in New York where, above all, you won't have to wait an hour to get a table.

A most astonishing speakeasy since it is located at the back of a pawnshop which in itself is not particularly unique. But once you have passed through the wooden green door at the back, you have a completely different place to go, a chic bar-restaurant. Leather sofas, dimmed lights, candles on the tables, a lounge atmosphere emerges from the place. The dishes offered are not exceptional and the portions are very small, we recommend this place especially to go for a drink in the evening.

Angelina, a Parisian tearoom that has been established on rue de Rivoli for almost 120 years, needs no introduction. Its New York counterpart is just a stone's throw from Bryant Park, and features a Parisian-style room with superb Belle Époque paintings, where you can enjoy pastries and viennoiseries that are no match for those concocted at the original address. The signature dish is the Mont-Blanc. And the rich hot chocolate never disappoints. Another Angelina Paris boutique has just opened on the Upper East Side.

Dress code of rigor in the evening to enter this bar seen many times in the series Gossip Girl. The place is quite spacious and it is quite possible to find a table outside in the early evening. On Friday and Saturday evenings, it's another atmosphere, with a bouncer at the entrance and often a long queue before you can access the roof. The perfect place to dance with the sons and daughters of Manhattan's wealthy families.

Opened in June 2014, Dear Irving has quickly become a must. As with New York's top restaurants, it is advisable to book well in advance to get a seat in this bar. Its four rooms are decorated according to a theme: Marie-Antoinette (ceiling chandeliers and abundant ornaments), Gatsby the Magnificent (1920s style), Abraham Lincoln (velvet sofas) and John Fitzgerald Kennedy (colourful decoration, very 1960s). We come here especially for the huge and inventive cocktail menu.

Just a few blocks from the Flatiron Building, Vin sur Vingt is the perfect place for those who want to take a well-deserved break over a glass of wine and a plate of cheese or charcuterie, either at the table or in front of the counter. The menu offers about fifty wines by the glass, classified by region: expect some well-known names, but also some great discoveries. As for the dishes, there are tartars (tuna or beef), salads, sandwiches, cassolettes, and a few French classics such as escargots and rillettes.

Would you like to have a drink on board a boat? We're talking about a 1929 lightship that plied the waters of the East Coast for 30 years before dropping anchor on the banks of the Hudson River at Pier 66. The bar and restaurant is actually called Pier 66 Maritime & Grill, but regulars still refer to it as " the Frying Pan". The place is not well known to tourists, but it is still packed on weekends when the weather is good. Order a beer and sit on the deck to enjoy the sunset over New Jersey and Manhattan.

Let Love Inn is one of the best kept secrets in Queens... Don't be fooled by the facade, which doesn't look like much, and push the door of this corner bar: you'll enter another world, especially on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and sometimes Sundays nights, when bands come to perform on the tiny stage, for incredible jam sessions . Sitting at the bar of this bar, chatting with the bartender, you'll feel like you're back in Frank Sinatra's time. Not to be missed if you are staying in Astoria.

Opened in the summer of 2013 in a long room on a street corner (which converts to a terrace in fine weather), Barawine is a trendy place where you can come for an aperitif during the week (happy hour is quite interesting) or to dine in earnest, why not on the large communal table. Large bay windows overlooking the street, frequent DJ sessions and a breathtaking wine and cocktail list are sure to delight. On the solid side, tuna tartare, salade niçoise and onion soup are just some of the dishes on offer.

This tiny speakeasy is run by Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy, both long-time mixologists. You knock on the door, a hostess directs you to a free table, then the bartenders come in: tell them what you're in the mood for, they'll know what to concoct. Everything is good, so it's hard to be disappointed. We like the muffled atmosphere and the very successful 1930's atmosphere. There is no reservation, you have to try your luck, and you should know that New Yorkers start lining up even before the opening.

There are few chances for visitors to eat at Rao's: the ten or so tables in this traditional Italian restaurant run by the Rao family (who arrived in the city in 1896) are reserved all year round. The place is considered one of the most difficult places to get a table in New York! So we come here to get an idea of what a real Italian-American canteen looks like, which has crossed the century. Go there, you won't be disappointed. And maybe you'll get a seat at the bar... if the boss is in the mood.

An Irish pub that looks like an Irish pub , except that the second floor (The Parlor) is home to one of the world's finest cocktail bars... Winner of numerous awards, the place is impressive, at least as impressive as the bartenders in red tuxedos juggling some fifty bottles without the slightest distinctive sign. You can choose one of the inventive cocktails on the menu or opt for the unknown, guided by the master mixologist in charge. A word of advice: ask to be placed in the Parlor.

The Saks Fifth Avenue store hides a secret... On the eighth floor is an intimate bar designed by Philippe Starck. The place looks like an ultra-classy mountain chalet, with a rather original decoration. On sunny days, the terrace offers a unique view of Rockefeller, Fifth Avenue and the Empire State Building. The Chalet is part of the restaurant L'Avenue, located one floor above. It is the new trendy place, go there for the atmosphere and for the celebrity sightings. Kim Kardashian, Mariah Carey and Jimmy Fallon are regulars.

THE trendiest bar in Williamsburg. This is where the hipsters from all over New York meet. So to go unnoticed and mix with the population, take out your most vintage T-shirt, your slim jeans, and your sunglasses. On Fridays and Saturdays evenings, the bar turns into a nightclub with the arrival of DJs. In the garden, you will find a van that sells tacos. Ideal to accompany your beer! Brooklynites know Union Pool well for its reputation as a singles bar. It seems that we go in alone, but we go back together...

Well known to the residents of the area, The Brooklyn Icehouse is a bar with a very relaxed atmosphere. It is not uncommon to see parents coming with their children. As for the decoration, it reproduces that of the saloons found in New York in the 19th century. The menu includes more than 70 beers (!), sorted by country, as well as many whiskies. And for those who don't want to drink on an empty stomach, enjoy one of the many barbecue pork sandwiches! In summer, you can enjoy the beer garden with its wooden benches and tables.

A friendly Scottish bar with beer, Celtic music, board games and a table tennis table. Be careful, generally, the competition rages between pongists, amateurs abstain! Every Monday evening, from 8:30 pm, groups come to play Celtic music. The bar is narrow and quickly crowded, you have to like the friendly atmosphere! Fortunately, you can get some fresh air in the pleasant garden, which has wooden benches. It can be enjoyed all year round, as it is heated and covered in winter.

A brand new restaurant that makes a lot of noise, which we recommend above all for its inventive, varied and delicious cocktails. All you have to do is sit along the magnificent circular bar to enjoy it. You can order food, but the dishes, which are quite good, are a little expensive. A place is very nice for a drink, in a corner where there wasn't much until recently. The installation of Legacy Records here is further proof that Hudson Yards is on the way to becoming a moving neighbourhood.

In the heart of Midtown, Providence since 2004 replaces the Bar Bat, which was one of the favourite caves of the New Yorkers. This property is full of history. In 1930 a church was established here, then, 40 years later, the legendary Media Sound Studios with a recording studio of it where Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, The Stones and other John Lennon avenue in acoustics. The place is very warm, comfortable armchairs, small glass tables, candles, floor, one has the feeling of being in a large loft away from the world. One of our favourites, for its atmosphere and its history.

Maison Premiere is a bar-restaurant specializing in oysters. Their full menu is served until 10:30pm every day. The bar also offers a selection of cocktails, spirits, wines by the glass and beers. Maison Premiere is renowned for its list of over thirty varieties of oysters, all sourced through direct relationships with producers. Their absinthe list is the largest in the United States, and they offer traditional absinthe service. Maison Premiere has received numerous awards and accolades, including the James Beard Foundation Award for "Outstanding Bar Program" in 2016. Whether sampling fresh oysters or enjoying a cocktail, Maison Premiere is a must for seafood lovers in Brooklyn.

This one-of-a-kind bar is set up like an ultra kitschy mobile home you might see in Florida or Las Vegas. With its old red neon signs, Elvis posters, vintage signs, 1960s music and crazy decor, the Trailer Park Lounge takes us to another place and time. The margarita flows freely (if there are at least four of you and you're in good shape, order a pitcher), the burgers are not divine but they do the trick. For a sunny late afternoon.

This is the Financial District's hip new cocktail bar, set on the top floor of an Art Deco tower that also houses a gourmet restaurant (Saga). What we like: the surprising 360-degree view from the terrace, and the bar's intimate atmosphere. What we don't like: the price of cocktails and the hefty bill that follows. Reservations are possible, but only if you spend a minimum of US$50 per person. We therefore recommend going without a reservation, preferably at opening time. A great experience.

A cozy bar that's popular for several reasons: its worthwhile happy hour (cocktails, glasses of wine, beers and oysters at reduced prices Tuesday to Friday from 4pm to 6pm), and the fact that you can eat there until closing time. It's a popular spot for New Yorkers to unwind with friends after work.

Bar Goto is a very small Japanese bar whose front on Eldridge Street is barely noticeable. Few people venture there by chance; for example, you often meet regulars who are sitting at the bar, busy talking to the excellent bartender. In addition to the many delicious cocktails, the selection of sake, the two Japanese beers and the few wines, the place is famous for its Japanese food bar, including Okonomi-yaki (a kind of pancakes with eggs and cabbage) and various fermented vegetables. A real New Yorker secret.

Hell's Kitchen is certainly not short of places to go out, far from it, but many of the bars in the neighborhood can be a bit impersonal. At Pocket Bar, it's the opposite: the place is intimate (hence the name!) and is frequented by a clientele of regulars who all know the bartender by his first name. At the end of the evening, the atmosphere is even more relaxed, we sing along to old hits that everyone knows and we make new friends. No cocktail on the menu but the Sharknado Sangria pleases most people!

In a well-kept Zen setting, some twenty cats roam freely. All are up for adoption. The café serves Japanese dishes and allows you to see the cats in their own personal space: the cat garden. To keep the felines calm and children safe, access is forbidden to unaccompanied 12-year-olds, and children under eight are only allowed on Wednesdays, between 11am and 8pm. The Koneko Cat Café is a place of tranquillity, lulled to sleep by the purr of cats. Entertainment is also provided, including relaxation sessions.