Editorial
The best bars east village new york has earned through decades of nights that started with one plan and ended with another. The neighborhood runs from St. Marks Place down to Houston, and every block has something worth knowing about. We have been coming here since before the juice bars arrived and we are still here. These 10 are the reason.
Avenue A is the main artery of East Village bar culture. It runs from the park down to Houston and picks up density past 9pm on any night worth going out. These are the ones that define what the strip is actually about.
The East Village preserves more genuine dive bars than anywhere else in Manhattan. These are the ones that have held out against the forces that have turned the rest of the city into cocktail museum pieces.
Beyond the dive bars, the East Village has quietly developed one of the best concentrations of serious cocktail and natural wine programs in the city. These four are the ones that have earned their place.
The East Village remains the most honest neighborhood in Manhattan for a night out. It has not been fully cleaned up and it has not lost its character. Death and Co is the obvious anchor for cocktail people. McSorley's is the one you bring everyone to first. Amor y Amargo is the one you keep coming back to.
Start on East 6th Street, work east to Avenue B, and stay until Avenue A decides for you. The neighborhood is best experienced without a plan and worst experienced with one.
James has been writing about New York bars since 2011. He considers Death and Co his second office and still gets carded at McSorley's, which he takes as a compliment.