The Saloon Era: Drinking in 19th-Century New York
New York's bar culture began in the 1800s, a time when saloons were the center of social life. In 1900, New York had approximately 10,000 licensed saloons serving a population of 3.4 million people. These were not cocktail bars. They were working-class establishments serving beer, whiskey, and simple spirits to laborers, immigrants, and everyone else.
The saloon was a democratic institution. Men of different backgrounds gathered in the same room. Saloons hosted debates, political meetings, and union organizing. They were places where working-class life happened. The saloon served food, provided credit, offered legal services through connections, and hosted games. Drinking was one function among many.
Jerry Thomas, the famous bartender, operated in this era and developed many classic cocktails at locations throughout New York. The Martinez, the Tom Collins, and other drinks that would define American cocktail culture began in New York saloons. Yet most customers never drank these sophisticated cocktails. They wanted beer and rye whiskey.
Prohibition: The Golden Age of the Speakeasy
When Prohibition began in 1920, New York's bar culture appeared to end. Instead, it transformed. The law created 32,000 illegal speakeasies in New York City. Drinking moved underground into basements, back rooms, and hidden establishments. The speakeasy became something more glamorous than the legal saloon had ever been.
Speakeasies required secrecy. You needed to know the location and often needed an introduction to enter. This exclusivity made the experience more alluring. The Prohibition era also coincided with Jazz Age culture. Speakeasies became venues for live music, dancing, and transgressive behavior. Women drank alongside men in ways that had been socially impossible before.
Visit New York's bar directory and you will find that some of the oldest bars still operating date from the Prohibition era. During these years, bartenders perfected cocktail techniques while working in difficult conditions. Many of the drinks and techniques from this period became foundational to modern bartending.
Post-Prohibition: The Mid-Century Manhattan Bar
When Prohibition ended in 1933, New York's bar culture entered a new phase. Restaurants and dedicated cocktail bars emerged. The 21 Club, one of Manhattan's most famous bars, transitioned from speakeasy to legitimate restaurant. Bemelmans Bar opened in the 1930s in the Hotel Carlyle on the Upper East Side, painted with murals by Ludwig Bemelmans and decorated with art.
The mid-century era established a template for sophisticated cocktail drinking. Hotel bars became destinations. The bars of Manhattan's greatest hotels were places where business was conducted and deals were made. The martini, the Manhattan, and the old fashioned became standard drinks that every respectable bartender could make perfectly.
This era also saw the rise of the three-martini lunch. Executives spent afternoon hours at restaurants like the Four Seasons drinking multiple martinis while conducting business. The cocktail represented success, power, and the privileges of American business culture. The bars of this era were almost exclusively male spaces, though that would gradually change.
The Dark Years: 1960s to 1980s New York Nightlife
By the 1960s, bar culture in New York was declining. The glamorous cocktail bars were becoming outdated. Television kept people home. Suburban life moved drinking away from urban centers. The bars that remained became increasingly grim. By the 1970s and 1980s, many of New York's bars were seedy establishments serving weak drinks to people seeking escape.
The AIDS crisis of the 1980s devastated New York's bar scene. Many bars closed. The community they served was destroyed. For a city that had prided itself on its bar culture, this was a dark chapter. Yet even during this period, some bars maintained standards. Bemelmans Bar and the Rainbow Room kept cocktail tradition alive when most other establishments had abandoned it.
For many New Yorkers in the 1980s, going to a bar meant going to a dark place with sticky floors and watered-down drinks. The tradition of sophisticated cocktail drinking seemed to belong to a past era that had no relevance to contemporary New York.
The Craft Cocktail Renaissance Begins
In the late 1980s and 1990s, New York's bar culture began to revive. Dale DeGroff at the Rainbow Room demonstrated that cocktails made with care and attention could thrive. Young bartenders paid attention. By the late 1990s, a new generation was reimagining what a bar could be.
Sasha Petraske opened Milk and Honey in 1999 on the Lower East Side. The bar had no sign, no phone, and no website. You had to know about it. Inside, the space was tiny and crowded. The bartenders mixed only classic cocktails using proper technique. Every drink was made with fresh ingredients and real spirits. The waiting list to get into Milk and Honey became legendary.
Death and Company opened in 2007 on East 6th Street, becoming the most influential bar of the 2000s. The bartenders here became celebrities in the cocktail world. They conducted research into lost cocktail recipes. They invented new drinks using classic techniques. They published their findings. Bartenders from around the world came to work at Death and Company or learn from them.
PDT (Please Don't Tell) opened in 2007 inside a hot dog shop, accessible through a hidden telephone booth. Attaboy opened in 2009 in the East Village with no sign and a hidden entrance. These bars proved that New York's obsession with cocktails had returned. The Lower East Side became the center of this revolution.
"New York has always been a drinking city. The question is never whether to have a drink. It is which bar deserves your time tonight."
The Modern Era: New York Bars Today
Today, New York supports dozens of bars at the highest level of craft cocktail excellence. The Lower East Side remains important, but excellent bars now exist across the entire city. New York's cocktail bars represent the best work happening in the bartending world. Some bars focus on historic techniques. Others experiment with new approaches. All maintain high standards.
The West Village has emerged as another crucial neighborhood for bars. Greenwich Village's history as a bohemian and LGBTQ+ center has made it a natural location for bars that prioritize community. The East Village, where the renaissance began, remains vital. Williamsburg in Brooklyn now hosts many excellent cocktail bars alongside its younger, more casual establishments.
New York bars today are training grounds for bartenders who will staff bars around the world. Young people come to New York to learn from the best. They work at bars like Angel's Share, Employees Only, and others. They study under bartenders who studied under the bartenders who learned from Dale DeGroff. The knowledge and culture is continuous.
Many of the bars from Prohibition and the post-war era still operate. Bemelmans Bar remains one of the finest hotel bars in the world. The Rainbow Room continues to serve excellent cocktails overlooking the city. These venues serve as living museums, maintaining traditions while engaging with modern approaches.
Visit hidden gem bars in New York and you will discover bars that operate with minimal fanfare, perfect drinks, and a serious approach to the craft. Explore all the bars that define New York and you understand why this city remains the cocktail capital of the world.
The history of New York bars reflects the city's larger history. Saloon culture embodied working-class solidarity. Speakeasies channeled the rebelliousness of the Jazz Age. Mid-century cocktail bars represented postwar prosperity. The dark years mirrored urban decline. The renaissance reflected the city's renewal. Today, New York bars represent the highest level of craft and seriousness applied to making drinks. Understanding this history helps you understand why a drink at the right bar in New York feels different from a drink anywhere else.