48 Hours of Drinking in New York

Amor y Amargo opened in 2011 with an unusual thesis: a cocktail bar that uses only stirred drinks and never citrus. Bitters are the centerpiece. The 12-seat spa Drop bags. Find a hotel-adjacent bar within a five-minute walk. Order something simple to anchor yourself to the city.

230 Fifth Rooftop draws a steady local crowd in Flatiron. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The polished room you'd take a first date to. Sit at the bar. Talk to the bartender. Stay one drink — you're scouting, not committing.

230 Sportsbar (Madison Tavern) draws a steady local crowd in Theater District. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the ev Walk into the city's drinking quarter (the heart of the night, not the tourist version). Two drinks, two rooms. Pace yourself — Saturday is the long day.

Angel's Share draws a steady local crowd in East Village. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Sunset. Find a rooftop. Order whatever the house specials around sundown. Take photos but don't lose 90 minutes to your phone.

Apothèke is hidden on Doyers Street, the curved alley in Chinatown that was the most violent block in late-19th-century New York. The bar is styled as a Victori Eat somewhere with serious bartending built in. The right room is one you order both your dinner and your nightcap from.

Arthur's Tavern draws a steady local crowd in West Village. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The bar that made you book the trip. The pre-research one. Reservation-only ideally. Stay until last call.

Attaboy occupies the former Milk and Honey space on Eldridge Street. Sasha Petraske ran Milk and Honey here from 2000 until 2013 and Attaboy continues the tradi Mary, Mimosa, or whatever low-ABV house play the room runs. Eat. Pay. Walk.

Banzarbar draws a steady local crowd in East Village. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Find the hotel bar at your departure airport equivalent — somewhere quiet, low-volume, well-staffed. End the trip on a martini and a clean conversation.