The Top 100 Places to Drink Near Ayat
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- Esquire Garden State Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Ricardo Rodriguez
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Rank 3. Lita
Spanish
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Ricardo Rodriguez
- Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America
- NJ.com #26 · New Jersey’s 99 greatest restaurants, ranked
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- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Esquire Farmer's Dirty Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Punch Best New Bars
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- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- The New York Times The Restaurant List
- Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
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Rank 8. Almanac
Japanese-Inspired Cocktail Bar
- Bon Appétit America's Best New Bars
- Esquire Sadōtini · The Best Martinis in America
- Philadelphia Magazine 2025 · Best New Cocktail Bar · Best of Philly
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- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- USA Today Restaurants of the Year
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Rank 12. Superbueno
Mexican Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best #12 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #9 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Winner · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · Ignacio "Nacho" Jimenez
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Rank 13. Sip & Guzzle
Innovative Japanese Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best #39 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #1 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Winner · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
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- 50 Best #46 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #33 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar
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Rank 15. Kampar Philly
Malaysian
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Sam Pritchard
- Philadelphia Magazine #8 · 50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best New Bar
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- Time Out The Turkey Leg Sandwich · The 18 best sandwiches in the world right now
- Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 17. Double Chicken Please
Cocktail Bar
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- 50 Best #41 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #35 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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- 50 Best #59 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #4 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- VinePair Bar Program of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
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Rank 22. Martiny’s
Japanese Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best #75 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #23 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
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There's no sign on Eldridge Street, just a faux tailor's shop window with a glowing "A" and a buzzer you'll wait at long enough to second-guess yourself. This is the cocktail bar that opened in the old Milk & Honey space after Sasha Petraske moved on, and it runs on the same no-menu, tell-us-what-you-like philosophy. North America's 50 Best Bars lists it, and the wait outside on any given night suggests people have read that list.
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- 50 Best #72 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #37 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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The long wooden bar came out of a Pennsylvania mining-town dance hall and has been anchoring this Smith Street cocktail bar ever since. Victorian paneling, a tin ceiling, and a curtained parlor with a fireplace in the back make the whole room feel like someone's very well-stocked study. The cocktails are precise and the eponymous Clover Club is on the menu, naturally. The kind of place that makes Brooklyn feel older than it is.
- VinePair Industry Icon of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Time Out #8 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
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- 50 Best #3 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best New Bar
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Rank 27. Clemente Bar
Vegan Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best #15 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire Martini of the Year: Clemente Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- VinePair Bartender of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Sebastian Tollius
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Rank 28. The Dead Rabbit
Irish Cocktail Bar
A cocktail bar in the Financial District built around the legend of John Morrissey, a bare-knuckle Irish immigrant who ran one of the city's rougher gangs in the 1800s. The menu reads like a graphic novel, each volume dropping the Rabbit into a new era of New York's murkier chapters. The drinks are theatrical without being silly, and the Irish pub downstairs keeps things grounded for anyone who just wants a pint.
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
- Esquire Steakhouse Martini #2 · The Best Martinis in America
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Rank 29. Shinji’s
Japanese Cocktail Bar
- VinePair Bar Program of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
- 50 Best #77 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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Rank 31. Fiorella
Italian
The dirty pasta water martini has its own Esquire listing, which tells you something about how Fiorella operates. This South Philly pasta spot, a Michelin Bib Gourmand, runs a short, handmade menu out of what used to be a three-generation butcher shop. Marc Vetri's name is on it, the room is small, and the cacio e pepe is the kind that makes you stop talking mid-sentence.
- Esquire Dirty Pasta Water Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia Right Now
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Rank 32. Katana Kitten
Japanese Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best #52 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 4 Finalist · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Masa Urushido
- Time Out #18 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
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- VinePair Industry Icon of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Time Out #11 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- The Infatuation The Best Cocktail Bars in NYC
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- Esquire Candarin Orange · The Best Martinis in America
- Punch Best New Bars
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best New Bar
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- 50 Best #71 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Esquire Cartagena · The Best Martinis in America
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Rank 36. Dante
Italian Cocktail Bar
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- 50 Best #58 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire Dante Mini Martini · The Best Martinis in America
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A fortune-teller in the window is not a gimmick so much as a promise about the evening ahead. Past the red velvet curtains, this art deco cocktail bar on Hudson Street runs to carved wood, marble floors, a tin ceiling, and an onyx fireplace, all of it suggesting you should order something serious and stay a while. It landed on North America's 50 Best Bars list, which the regulars probably already knew.
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- 50 Best #95 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #45 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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Rank 38. Maison Premiere
New Orleans-Style Cocktail Bar
A four-tap absinthe drip at the center of the bar is a replica of the one at the Absinthe House in New Orleans, and that tells you most of what you need to know. Maison Premiere is a cocktail and oyster bar in Williamsburg that commits fully to the bit: dim golden light, mock antique everything, marble bar top, the faint sense that you've wandered into another city and century. It landed on North America's 50 Best Bars list, which tracks.
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- 50 Best #40 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Time Out #7 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
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Rank 39. Milady’s
Cocktail Bar
- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- 50 Best Julie Reiner · Industry Icon Award
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- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Esquire King Tusk · The Best Martinis in America
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Rank 42. Bar Madonna
Italian Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best #36 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Time Out #20 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
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Rank 43. Angel’s Share
Japanese Cocktail Bar
The unmarked door on the second floor of a Japanese restaurant looks exactly like where a broom lives, which is precisely the point. Angel's Share is a speakeasy-style cocktail bar with booth banquettes, bare brick, velvet curtains, and lighting set to confession-booth low. It landed on North America's 50 Best Bars list, and the room feels like it has always known that. Come early, come two, and find the door before someone else needs the mop.
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- 50 Best #31 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- The Infatuation The Best Cocktail Bars in NYC
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- Esquire 1884 Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 10 U.S. Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
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Rank 45. Ai Fiori
Italian
Marble bar, leather chairs, thick linens, and windows looking straight down Fifth Avenue: Ai Fiori is a formal Italian restaurant on the second floor of the Langham Hotel that telegraphs expense account before you've ordered drinks. The kitchen leans Italian with enough invention to keep it interesting, and the room is polished enough that nobody's rushing you. Gracious service throughout lunch and dinner.
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Rank 46. Bar Goto
Japanese Cocktail Bar
The Sakura Martini, a sake-and-gin affair finished with a salted cherry blossom, is the thing people come back for at this tiny, warmly lit cocktail bar on Eldridge Street. Kenta Goto spent years at Pegu Club before opening this place, and the short menu of original drinks leans on Japanese ingredients, house infusions, and a quieter kind of precision. Small enough that nobody is a stranger for long.
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Esquire Sakura Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Capucine Prager
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- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 4 Finalist · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide
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- VinePair Drinks Professional of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Meaghan Dorman
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- Time Out #26 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
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Rank 51. Theodora
Mediterranean Seafood
Wood smoke hangs in the air the moment you walk into this Fort Greene seafood restaurant, which should tell you something about how the kitchen operates. Chef Tomer Blechman anchors the menu around dry-aged fish and open-fire cooking, pulling from a Mediterranean pantry that keeps things interesting without announcing itself. The bar draws a crowd that clearly has opinions about natural wine, and the pita alone justifies showing up early.
- VinePair Food & Beverage Program of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out The 45 best restaurants in NYC right now
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Rank 52. Tigre
Seafood
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Esquire Cigarette Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- The Infatuation The Best Cocktail Bars in NYC
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Rank 54. Amor Y Amargo
Italian Cocktail Bar
Bitters are both the obsession and the inventory at this tiny East Village cocktail bar, which also sells an overwhelming wall of the stuff to take home. A dozen seats, a menu split between house originals and riffs on classics, and a bespoke option built around a Negroni, Manhattan, or Old-Fashioned if you'd rather just tell them what you're feeling. House-made vermouth pours on tap. A James Beard semifinalist, and the kind of place that makes you feel smarter for having gone.
- Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Ravi DeRossi - Overthrow Hospitality
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Rank 57. The Sunken Harbor Club
Tropical Cocktail Bar
- VinePair Bartender of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Garret Richard
- Time Out #2 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
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- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. East
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Rank 61. Smithereens
New England Seafood
A subterranean New England seafood joint in the East Village where the menu runs heavily toward the ocean and the wine list follows suit, mostly whites chosen to keep pace with it. The New York Times named it among the city's best new restaurants, and the sommelier took a Next Wave Award. The celery root float has become something of a minor cult object, which tells you something about the kitchen's sense of humor.
- VinePair Sommelier of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Nikita Malhotra
- The Infatuation #7 · The Top-Rated New Restaurants
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Logan Rodriguez
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Rank 63. Kabawa
Caribbean
Paul Carmichael grew up in Barbados, and Kabawa is his argument that Caribbean cooking belongs in any room it wants. A prix-fixe fine dining restaurant on Extra Place, it seats you at a horseshoe counter in a dark green room with mosaic tilework and a playlist sourced partly from Carmichael's cousin back home. The New York Times named it the top restaurant in New York City, and the cocktail bar next door is his too, for nights when the goat patty feels like the right move.
- 50 Best #14 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- Esquire Chef of the Year · Paul Carmichael
- Punch Best New Bars
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Rank 66. Dante
Italian Cocktail Bar
- Esquire Dante Mini Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar
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Rank 68. Bartolo
Spanish
Low ceilings with thick wood beams, amber light, and banquettes that make every table feel like a booth in the back of someone's private club. Bartolo is a Spanish restaurant in the West Village, the kind where you order oxtail braised in red wine and suckling pig and let the table fill up. The martini list has its own following, and the servers are sharp enough to keep a long night moving without making it feel rushed.
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Rank 72. Eel Bar
Basque
- Esquire Wet Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- The New York Times Potato Salad With Trout Roe · Here Are Our Top New York Dishes
- Eater The Best Lower East Side Restaurants
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Rank 73. LenLen
Thai
A Flatiron bar tricked out like a 1970s Bangkok shophouse, with vintage televisions and family photos on the walls and Thai cocktails on the menu. The jasmine martini landed on Esquire's list of the best martinis in America, which gives you a sense of how seriously the drinks program is taken. The kitchen keeps pace with late-night Thai food that pairs naturally with the cocktails. Open late, which the neighborhood needed.
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Rank 74. Hawksmoor
British Steakhouse
- Esquire Ultimate Vodka Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Time Out The 45 best restaurants in NYC right now
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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- VinePair Bartender of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Patty Dennison
- Time Out #15 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide
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Rank 76. Bonnie's
Modern Cantonese
Calvin Eng's Cantonese restaurant and bar sits on a nondescript east Williamsburg corner, close enough to the BQE that you'll feel the trucks. Inside, it reads like a retro Hong Kong diner, but the kitchen runs modern interpretations of regional Cantonese food, and the MSG Martini earned a spot on Esquire's national list. The Michelin Guide gives it a Bib Gourmand, and the James Beard Foundation named Eng an Emerging Chef nominee.
- Esquire MSG Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Emerging Chef · Calvin Eng
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
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Rank 78. Gage & Tollner
Steakhouse
Vintage mirrors, cherry wood, and brass gas chandeliers give this Downtown Brooklyn steakhouse an amber glow that makes every Tuesday feel like an occasion. The kitchen draws on the legacy of Edna Lewis, who ran it in the late eighties, so fried chicken and crab cakes share the menu with dry-aged prime beef. Dessert gets taken seriously, which a baked Alaska deserves. It has a spot on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list.
- World's 101 Best #84 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Esquire Turf Club · The Best Martinis in America
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef · Caroline Schiff
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Rank 81. My Loup
French
The bookshelves and well-worn wood make My Loup feel less like a supper club and more like someone's very good dinner party. The French-leaning menu reads casual but cooks with real intent, seasonal and confidently seasoned, the kind of food where the chef is clearly enjoying themselves. The bar is no afterthought either, named among Punch's best new bartenders. The New York Times and Bon Appétit both took notice, and it's easy to see why.
- Artful Living The Top 5 Most Stylish Restaurants in America
- Food & Wine The Top 15 US Restaurants
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Jillian Moore
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Rank 82. Dean's
British Dive Bar
- The Infatuation The 21 Best New Restaurants In NYC
- Eater The Best Restaurants in Soho
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide
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Rank 84. L’Americana
Italian Coffee Shop
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Takuma Watanabe
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Takuma Watanabe
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide
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Rank 85. Midnight Blue
Japanese Cocktail Bar
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Takuma Watanabe
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Takuma Watanabe
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Rank 89. Keens Steakhouse
Steakhouse
The ceiling is covered in thousands of clay churchwarden pipes, each one claimed by a regular who never came back to collect it. Keens is an old-school Manhattan steakhouse in Midtown, all dark wood and white tablecloths, and the mutton chop alone has landed on the New York Times list of the city's defining dishes. The porterhouse is USDA Prime, dry-aged in-house, and broiled without apology. It sits at number 68 on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list.
- World's 101 Best #68 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Winner · Timeless U.S. Award
- Eater The Best Classic Restaurants in NYC
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Sapphire velvet banquettes and jacketed servers signal exactly what this is: a fine dining room where Angie Mar fuses classic French technique with her Chinese heritage in a Greenwich Village townhouse that glitters like a jewel box. The cooking leans rich and saucy, the way haute French is supposed to, and a tasting menu is available for those who want the full ceremony. James Beard semifinalist, 2026.
- Esquire Bemelman at the Ritz · The Best Martinis in America
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: New York State · Angie Mar
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Rank 92. Oiji Mi
Modern Korean
A five-course prix fixe of modern Korean cooking in a sleek Flatiron room where the staff outnumbers the guests by a comfortable margin. The chef takes a restrained approach to bold flavors, which sounds like a contradiction until you're eating it. The cocktail program is sharp enough to earn its own following. Michelin awarded it a star, and the James Beard Foundation named the chef a 2025 semifinalist for Best Chef: New York State.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Esquire Martini Royale · The Best Martinis in America
- Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 93. Sauced
Natural Wine Bar
- Time Out #23 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- Roadbook The Best Restaurants and Bars in Williamsburg
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You ring an unmarked bell on an unmarked door below street level, and that's the whole game announced before you've ordered a drink. Inside, this cocktail bar in Chelsea is all deep armchairs, shaded lamps, a fireplace, and curtained alcoves fitted with a buzzer to summon your server when you're ready. It's a speakeasy setup done without irony, and the room is quiet enough that people actually talk to each other.
- Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 10 U.S. Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
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Rank 96. NARO
Korean
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Rank 97. Pitt's
Southern
- Food & Wine Pancake Soufflé · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
- Punch Rosie Martini · Our Favorite Cocktails
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Ben Hopkins
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Rank 98. Bar Americano
Spanish/Northern Italian Wine Bar
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Greenpoint
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide
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- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. East
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. East
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