Where to Drink in NYC: Fall 2019

A new season marks a new selection of nightlife for New Yorkers to take advantage of, and this time there are a handful of spots you won’t want to miss. James Murphy and David Chang both have new spots, the Flowershop guys return with their latest venture, and New York Fashion Week is spilling out into the fall at exciting new clubs. It’s going to be a fun season at the best new bars in New York.

Daymoves

LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy showcased his hospitality side with The Four Horseman, a bar in Williamsburg focused on natural wines. Now he’s back with his second venture, Daymoves, a cafe that transforms into a nightlife destination designed around his much needed taste in upbeat, dance-y, and often obscure music. Daymoves will play music on a high-end speaker system from Murphy’s own record collection, recreating a sliver of the Despacio experience we’ve come to adore.

295 Grand Street, Brooklyn

Bar Wayo

Momofuku has become such an iconic brand in New York that their association alone is enough to draw a crowd of curious fans eager to try their new offerings. Fortunately for us it’s a bar this time around, saving us from impossible task of getting a table at a new David Chang restaurant. Instead we’ll comfortably post up at the bar with one of their inventive take on tiki cocktails in hand (but of course there’s a selection of Momofuku bites there too).

89 South Street

Lola

Lola was the place to be during NYFW with parties from The Last Magazine, Ricky Michaels, Parka Records, and pretty much the last stop after every other party in New York. Somehow it has still managed to keep up the pace since then. Stylish club kids have been populating the backroom where techno abounds, while models and DJs and model-DJs enliven the main room, where there’s even a stage for the occasional band performance.

169 Avenue A

[JJ’s Hideaway]

JJ’s Hideaway

Williamsburg has received its fair share of hotels and prime-property bars, but in the midst of its expansion a more accessible fun-loving space may have been lost. Enter JJ’s Hideaway, a vibrant new bar and club, that’s a counterpoint to its neighboring rooftop bars with cheaper drinks to fuel late night dancing. Harkening back to the punk and New Wave scenes of the ’70s and ’80s, JJ’s strategy is to keep it simple, allowing the music and the crowd to dictate the vibe.

The Dance

Coming from the people behind Baby’s All Right, The Dance brings a much needed dose of eclectic and down-to-earth energy to Lafayette Street. Located across the PUBLIC Theater, The Dance lives up to its name based on their select pre-opening events, where the crowd has made the space feel more like an old-school house party than a proper club.

428 Lafayette Street

Little Sister

Late at night you’ll want to trickle into Little Sister, an underground lounge adjacent to the Moxy East Village. Here you have all the hallmarks of a sexy subterranean space: dim lighting, red velvet furnishing, dark wood accents, and vintage chandeliers. All of it makes for a seductive experience to round out the eclectic nightlife experiences that neighbor it.

112 E 11th Street

[Evil Twin]

Evil Twin

Arguably one of the best—and certainly one of the most infamous—craft beer makers in the world, Evil Twin finally lands in New York. Known for their unique flavor offerings and gypsy-brewing, Evil Twin selected a distinct space to house their first standalone brewery. Off the beaten path at a large greenhouse-like space in Ridgewood, Evil Twin is filled with a rotating selection of weird and wonderful beers (with even weirder names).

1616 George Street, Brooklyn

Le Chalet

Offering a hospitality experience is increasingly important to create a sense of brand identity, so it makes sense that Saks Fifth Avenue would create a bar within their storied space that is as refined as their reputation would suggest. The French-chalet inspired bar serves as the counterpart to the restaurant L’Avenue, which Saks brought over from Paris.

611 5th Avenue

Fever Tree Porch

Fever Tree might be best known for their cocktail mixers, but now New Yorkers will get the whole package at their new Fever Tree Porch. The year-long partnership with Bryant Park allows Fever Tree to themselves craft the very cocktails their mixers were designed to enhance, bringing something new to the ever-popular Winter Village at Bryant Park.

Bryant Park

[Alphabet Bar]

Little Ways

When The Flowershop opened it was an intimate little space that happened to draw a cool and eclectic crowd back down to the Lower East Side. A couple of years later and it’s become a staple of the neighborhood, and founders Ronnie Flynn and Dylan Hales are ready to work that magic again. Little Ways is their newest spot opening soon in Soho, and while it focuses more on the restaurant aspect (no pool tables at this one), there will be a more casual upstairs bar with specialty cocktails, natural wines, and the good-time-having vibe of its founders.

343 W Broadway

Ray’s

With Ray’s, the former Le Turtle space has been transformed into an old-school dive bar with new age touches. The owners—including Carlos Quirarte and Justin Theroux—have ensured that the space is filled with cheeky and fun decor that brings a hometown feel, creating an atmosphere they felt was lacking in new downtown bars.

177 Chrystie Street

Alphabet Bar

The Moxy has landed in the East Village, and while its spacious restaurant Cathedrale has received the most attention, Alphabet Bar might just draw its biggest crowd. The bar is actually an all day cafe that gradually turns into a nightlife spot later in the day, offering a cozy living room vibe. There are books curated by the Strand, vinyl records chosen by Academy Records (which you can play), and the piece de resistance, a Skee Ball machine that’ll be put through its paces once the drinks start flowing.

112 E 11th Street