The Wayland sits on the corner of Avenue C and East 9th Street, in a space dressed like a turn-of-the-century country general store: reclaimed wood, brass taps, a single shelf of brown spirits behind the bar. It opened in 2012 and has built its reputation on smoked apple pie shots, a farm-driven cocktail menu, and live music every Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night.
It is the right bar for someone who wants a cocktail with the rough edges of a dive and a live band 12 feet away. It is the wrong bar for anyone allergic to crowds — by 22:00 on a Friday the room is two-deep and the band is loud. The Infatuation's Manhattan guide groups it with 'East Village bars worth the trip past Avenue A.'
One narrow rectangular room with the band corner near the front window. Bartenders work from a single station along the back wall. Eater New York's 2024 round-up of Alphabet City bars described the lighting as 'amber and forgiving' — accurate.
Order the I Hear Banjos ($17) — apple pie moonshine, applewood smoke, lemon, bitters. It is the signature cocktail and the room genuinely smells like an orchard for the first sip. Regulars on r/AskNYC recommend the Garden Variety ($16, gin, cucumber, celery) when the kitchen is making the in-house seasonal shrubs. Skip the boilermaker specials; the whiskey pours are short for the price.
Mid-twenties to thirties locals on weeknights; visitors and bachelorette parties on Saturday after 22:00. Time Out New York's most recent update notes the music nights pull a hospitality-industry crowd, which is the best night to come.
The Wayland's own site and Instagram; The Infatuation; Time Out New York; Eater New York; r/AskNYC; Google Maps reviews (n=2,800+).