Editorial
The most romantic bars in New York City share a quality that has nothing to do with rose petals or violin music: they make you feel like the rest of the city doesn't exist for a few hours. We have spent months revisiting the candidates — the West Village wine bars, the Midtown speakeasies, the rooftop terraces with bridge views — and what follows is the list we'd send to someone planning to impress a date in this city.
Manhattan's most romantic bar options cluster in the West Village and Lower East Side. Both neighbourhoods reward the person willing to arrive slightly early, order before their date does and already look like they know where they're going. The bars below make that easy.
Brooklyn's bar scene rewards curiosity. The most romantic bars here tend to be found by accident: a cocktail bar in a converted pharmacy on Smith Street, a wine bar in a Cobble Hill basement that looks like a Paris cave à vins. The ones below we found on purpose, but they all feel like discoveries.
Not every rooftop bar in New York qualifies as romantic — most are too loud, too bright or too crowded to create any particular mood. The ones below have managed it: the right views, the right noise level, the right moment to suggest heading somewhere quieter afterwards.
The best romantic bars in New York have a particular skill: they make the city feel manageable, private even, for a few hours. West Village speakeasies do it with low ceilings and candlelight. Brooklyn cocktail bars do it with neighbourhood warmth and a menu that gives you something to discuss. Rooftop bars do it by putting the skyline in the frame and letting New York itself do the romantic work.
Book in advance for Employees Only, Little Branch and Maison Premiere on weekends. The rooftop bars above accept walk-ins but fill quickly after 7pm on Friday and Saturday evenings. Our standing recommendation: go early, stay for two drinks, and move on to somewhere for dinner before the mood dissipates.
James has been covering the New York bar scene since 2011. He lives in the West Village, contributes to several drinks publications and has a strong opinion about which Lower East Side bar currently has the best Negroni.