Important Notice:We have made the tough decision to say goodbye to the Foursquare City Guide mobile app, effective December 15, 2024, with the web version to follow in early 2025. Visit our FAQ for more information or to download our Swarm app.
The secret bar scene is hotter than ever in NYC. Ostensibly hidden drink dens with top-notch cocktails. A Manhattanite's guide to the city’s best 'secret' bars. Please, don’t tell anyone…
132 9th Ave (btwn W 18th & W 19th St), New York, NY
Speakeasy · Chelsea · 308 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: Hidden behind a dummy wall in the back of Stone Street Coffee Co. Facade is marked by a red light. Push wall back to get to the bar. Has a claw-foot tub in the center of the room. Order the Pimm's Cup
113 Saint Marks Pl (btwn 1st Ave & Avenue A), New York, NY
Speakeasy · East Village · 439 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: Walk into Crif Dogs. Look for a phone booth. Step inside, pick up the phone and press the buzzer once. Not twice. A voice answers, after approval, the wall of the booth opens to let you into the bar.
Princess Abigail Bacani: To get to this unmarked bar, walk to the back of the Five Guys on Bleecker Street, and up the stairs next to the bathroom. You can have Five Guys delivered right to your barstool.
67 Clinton St (btwn Stanton & Rivington St), New York, NY
Speakeasy · Lower East Side · 65 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: To get to this swanky lounge, walk straight to the back of the tavern Barramundi and push the buzzer next to the door marked "private." Once youre buzzed up, order truffles in mint and Dark & Stormy.
Princess Abigail Bacani: This metal-themed lounge is accessible via an unmarked doorway on Avenue B by 14th Street. Go up the flight of stairs and you'll find a big bar, black chandeliers, black curtains, and a stripper pole.
Dive Bar · Greenwich Village · 130 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: Serves over 70 beers. Just find the address,124 MacDougal, walk down steps to the black door. A bunny is spray-painted by the entrance. If the door is closed, ring the buzzer so they’ll let you in.
Princess Abigail Bacani: The unmarked brown door on the triangular corner of Seventh Avenue South and Leroy Street will lead you down a staircase and into the basement watering hole. Cash only.
Cocktail Bar · Upper East Side · 71 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: Actually located in another bar, XVI. Tell the bouncer you’re there for JBird, follow the bird logos that line the wall. Go down a staircase and through two doors marked “exit” leading to the lounge.
Princess Abigail Bacani: Tucked into an unassuming brownstone, this secret bar draws pre- and post-theater crowd that skews more towards industry insiders. Even though it looks like you’re entering an apartment, go right in.
Princess Abigail Bacani: Buzz to get in. Laid out like a Prohibition-era apartment. Enjoy drinks in the lounge & living room while bartenders make them in the kitch. Pull the chain next to your table to summon your server.
Princess Abigail Bacani: A storefront on E 6th with wooden panels in place of windows. Death & Co. is printed on metal out front. Give your number to the bouncer at the door. He’ll call you when you can come inside.
58 3/4 E. 34th St (btwn Madison and Park Ave), New York, NY
Speakeasy · Murray Hill · 15 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: The newest speakeasy to hit the scene. A Murray Hill secret locale located behind an out of service ATM. Tapas, Cocktails in teapots, and has a plexiglass case with “a million dollars cash” in it.
131 Chrystie St (btwn Broome & Delancey St), New York, NY
Speakeasy · Lower East Side · 122 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: Above Home Sweet Home's ground-floor entrance. Once on the 2nd fl, a bouncer will greet you at what seems to be an art gallery. Through the gallery you'll find Fig 19. Order the jalapeno margarita.
8 Stuyvesant St (at E 9th St & 3rd Ave), New York, NY
Speakeasy · East Village · 491 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: One of the simpler "hidden" bars to get into. On the second floor of the sushi restaurant, there is a discreet, marked door through which you'll find the bar.
102 Norfolk St (btwn Delancey & Rivington St), New York, NY
Speakeasy · Lower East Side · 205 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: Back Room fronts as a closed toy shop. Creep down an alley to find the entrance. Drinks are served in teacups. The front door has a peek-and-speak hole, and a sliding bookcase reveals a second bar.
Princess Abigail Bacani: Hidden under a corner roadside taqueria, The Corner. Go downstairs behind a door marked "employees only", sneak through the kitchen, then a sort of locker room, to get to this underground restaurant.
149 Mulberry St (btwn Grand & Hester St), New York, NY
Speakeasy · Little Italy · 225 tips and reviews
Princess Abigail Bacani: Accessible via a subterranean door beneath a Little Italy souvenier shop. It's part club, part restaurant, and home to a weekend brunch that rages well into the early evening.