| Description | Bar | Neighborhood |
| Old-school prepster hangout with a fruit motif. Featured in the 1990 movie Metropolitan. | |
| Multiple locations (including one across from Lincoln Center) great oyster bar, frequented by the Mad Men characters. | |
| Believed to be the oldest bar in NYC, they serve only two drinks: their own light and dark beer. | |
| In the Carlyle, this bar features illustrations by a famed children's book writer covering its walls. | |
| Dylan Thomas died here. Generations of longshoremen drank here. | |
| Its more of a tourist trap now, but the Founding Fathers were known to meet to drink and plot revolution in this building. | |
| There's salsa dancing and tons of tequila, and a glowing neon sombrero outside, but this nightlife spot is most notable for having the longest bar in New York. | |
| Probably NYC's famous gay bar, some trace the beginning of the LGBT movement to an incident at this watering hole. | |
| O. Henry wrote his famous 'Gift of the Magi' from a booth at this bar. It doubled as a flower shop during Prohibition. | |
| Legendary musicians Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane once played at this famous jazz lounge. Langston Hughes drank here too. | |