By Megan Bungeroth, Annie Denes, Jon Lentz

When the mood to imbibe strikes, you can grab a beer or a gin and tonic at any old bar in the neighborhood. But when you’re craving a delicious, expertly crafted cocktail, the likes of which can only be invented by a true mixologist, where do you go on the Upper West Side? We picked out a half-dozen top spots for specialty drinks and sipped them all in the name of research to bring you the best cocktail options uptown. Check them out, then go to nypress.com/best-cocktails-uws to vote on the ultimate adult beverages.
The Dead Poet
450 Amsterdam Ave.
212-595-5670
thedeadpoet.com

Jack Kerouac, $12
Flavor 3
Inventiveness 2
Intensity 3
Presentation 3
Value 4

This standard Irish pub features a long list of cocktails named after—you guessed it—dead poets, and fun literary touches around the bar to maintain the theme. The drinks are mostly classic cocktails matched up thematically with their deceased-author counterparts: e.g., Oscar Wilde is a sour apple martini; Walt Whitman gets his own version of the Long Island iced tea. The idea is cute, but it doesn’t necessarily translate into cocktail heaven. The Jack Kerouac, a tall combo of Don Julio Silver tequila, blue curaçao, fresh lemon and lime, and a dash of maraschino (the friendly bartender’s recommendation for a sour drink), tasted fine but is basically a blue margarita. Not that that’s a bad thing; just come here for the solid staples rather than creative genius.

Jacob’s Pickles
509 Amsterdam Ave.
212-470-5566
jacobspickles.com

Pink Picket Fence, $11
Flavor 5
Inventiveness 5
Intensity 4
Presentation 4
Value 4

Jacob doesn’t just do pickles, although their inclusion in the cocktail menu is inspired. Here, you can indulge in Southern comforts like big fluffy biscuits with jam, honey and organic butter or munch on an array of homemade pickled veggies, all complemented by creative drinks that go well with brunch or dinner. The Pink Picket Fence is a simple concoction of Farmer’s Organic Gin, fresh-squeezed lemonade and a dribble of Chambord, blowing past your standard raspberry lemonade. Other standouts are the Lavender Gin Fizz, made with their own lavender-infused simple syrup, and the spicy brine margarita, which tops the house-infused jalapeño Espolón tequila with pickle brine for a savory/salty combo that packs a punch.

Shalel Lounge
65 W. 70th St.
212-873-2300

Moroccan Fizz, $13
Flavor 3
Inventiveness 2
Intensity 3
Presentation 2
Value 2

At first, this hard-to-find Moroccan-inspired downstairs lounge seems like a welcome change of pace on the Upper West Side. It’s broken up into many small rooms with comfortable couches and low lighting, but the drinks don’t measure up. The Moroccan Fizz, a vodka-based drink, was uninspired and tasted like spiked orange juice or a sad mimosa. Despite its appealing name, the Honeymoon in Greece, a concoction including champagne, pomegranate liqueur and a splash of orange juice, was overly sweet and was reminiscent of a Jolly Rancher. Overall, the theme was promising, but this lounge—and its menu—missed the mark.

Slightly Oliver
511 Amsterdam Ave.
212-362-1098
slightlyolivernyc.com

Orchard Peach Smash, $10
Flavor 5
Inventiveness 4
Intensity 3
Presentation 5
Value 5

This British gastropub elevates food-inspired cocktails beyond gimmicks to sheer liquid deliciousness. The drink menu changes seasonally, a good reflection of how carefully they are crafted, and also includes traditional-style punches and old standbys. The Orchard Peach Smash, with house barrel-aged rum, white and yellow peach, and ginger mint, is a simple yet sophisticated take on a summer favorite. It’s also pretty to behold, the color of a sunset and served with a single large cube of ice, keeping the fruit juice from getting watered down. The drink avoids the pitfall of oversweetness and is a great opener or closer to a night out.

The Lobby Bar at the Empire Hotel
44 W. 63rd St.
212-265-7400
empirehotelnyc.com

The “S” Gossip Girl cocktail, $15
Flavor 5
Inventiveness 4
Intensity 4
Presentation 4
Value 3

The recently revamped cocktail menu at the chic yet welcoming hotel bar may be a tourist-trap PR gimmick—they’re all named after characters from the TV show Gossip Girl—but at least they’re tasty gimmicks. The “S” cocktail is served in a chilled flute, topping Grey Goose vodka with honey water, champagne and fresh lemon juice, garnished with a sliver of lemon peel. The drink is strong but goes down smooth, and the honey water takes the edge off the vodka without adding too overpowering of an element. A popular choice—among the mostly young ladies who order these drinks, according to the bartender—is the Nate Bait, a piña colada-type combo of Bacardi coconut rum, pineapple juice, lemon juice and simple syrup served icy and up in a martini glass. It’s delectable enough to forgive the gimmick.

The church where 583 Park holds events. Photo by Jonathan Springer.

Last week, nearly 200 people from the Upper East Side showed up at a Community Board street life committee meeting to debate the fate of a church/event space on Park Avenue. The embattled 583 Park operates as an upscale event space out of the Third Church of Christ Scientist on Park Avenue and East 63rd Street. The Rose Group, which operates 583 Park, has been leasing the space since 2006, hosting lavish weddings, large charity events and functions like fashion shows for designer Oscar de la Renta. Over the years, it has become a favored spot for many event planners and a sore spot for many neighbors.

Some local residents complain that the noise, traffic, lights and crowds generated by events at 583 Park—about 100 a year—are too much for their quiet neighborhood. The Rose Group counters that without their 20-year lease, which requires $250,000 in annual rent plus 10 percent of the revenue from their events, the church would not be financially able to remain in their landmarked building.

The battle has worked its way through several court cases and has come to rest most recently on the approval of a beer and wine license for 583 Park, the subject of which caused intense debate at the meeting.

Residents spoke of double-parked cars and the clatter of loading and unloading for major events at the space. Employees of the Rose Group and 583 Park summoned letters of support from their high-profile clients and from neighbors who don’t have any qualms with the events.
After several complicated court battles, the SLA will no longer grant individual single-event licenses to caterers at 583 Park, which is how they’ve been operating for the past few years. Now they’re hoping for a beer and wine license, which they say will still limit their business, but without which they would potentially have to close.

That would be good news to several board members who expressed their disapproval of 583 Park.

“This is definitely an invasion of our neighborhood and the use of our sidewalk streets in a residential neighborhood,” said board member Michelle Birnbaum.

Other board members cited the long history of complaints from the community as reason enough to deny the application. Many characterized the operation as out of character with the neighborhood, but some said that the bustle of activity is to be expected anywhere in Manhattan.

“There are huge disruptions in this community, this direct area, outside of this church,” said board member Jonathan Horn, citing the multiple film shoots that go on every year as well as the summer street closures and maintenance of the Park Avenue malls.

“We live in New York City; even in a residential area, there are disruptions,” Horn said. He cited the fact that 311 complaints are way down, which the Rose Group touted as an improvement and opponents said was not a clear indication of their ire, as they had simply given up on calling, as proof that the situation has gotten better over the years.

“I find that very indicative of the fact that the Rose Group, whatever the problems at the beginning, that they’ve acknowledged—and I would say that I personally saw, initially, issues where they were taking over the streets, the sidewalks—they have done their best to fit in and accommodate,” he said.

The criteria for a beer and wine license is much less stringent than for a full liquor license. According to the State Liquor Authority, “Community opposition alone is not sufficient to disapprove an application” that isn’t subject to the 500-foot rule (which this application is not). The SLA may take the community board’s objections, if the full board votes down the application, into consideration, but they aren’t bound to follow it.

“If we say no, they walk out of here and they go to the SLA and they take their chances,” said board member Barry Schneider. “However, if here the community board uses its wisdom to say, ‘Let’s say yes but with conditions, with stipulations that they will have to adhere to,’ if they get their beer and wine license, then they will be held to a higher authority than the community board; they will be held to the SLA.”

The committee voted against the approval of the license for 583 Park, though not unanimously. The issue will reach a final full board vote on Wednesday, July 18.

During Prohibition, New Yorkers drank illegally behind the unmarked doors of underground speakeasies, which over time became more visible due to an easily bribed police force. Now, 79 years later, speakeasies have made a comeback in New York City. Beginning with Sasha Petraske’s Milk and Honey, these hotspots became the rage—especially Downtown—by offering glamor and clandestine mystique as an alternative to overcrowded sports bars. The cocktails and décor may have changed since the Prohibition era but an age-old rule still applies—the more exclusive something seems, the more people want in.
Tonight, we’re giving you the secret password and inviting you to follow us down velvet-dark side streets to Downtown’s best hideaways. From East Village lounges to Lower East Side lairs, here’s your sneak peek at what goes on behind our favorite hidden doors.

1. The Back Room: Best Cure for a Monday
It’s pin-drop quiet on Norfolk Street as you pace back and forth, searching for The Back Room’s tell-tale toy store façade. A low metal gate marked Lower East Side Toy Co. signals that you’re in the right place; you push it aside to descend into an alleyway suffused in a hazy, champagne yellow. Behind an unmarked door a bouncer waits to ask the password. Proletariat, you mouth, slipping into the crimson darkness within. Inside, Victorian settees in brothel red line the mezzanine floor, where locals sip Prohibition-styled cocktails out of ceramic teacups. On the walls, pale-limbed lovelies framed in ornate gold pose impishly above a live jazz quartet that’s just begun to play. Then perhaps, if you’re a VIP or press, the bartender pushes open the bookcase to a strictly guarded back room within a back room, a secret room where certain celebrities may or may not also be unwinding. Taking in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and an enormous cushion in Arabian Nights azure, you find yourself feeling like a superstar as well…at least until it’s time to go home.

102 Norfolk St. (betw. Delancey & Rivington Sts.); 212-228-5098; see The Back Room’s Facebook page for Monday night’s “Lucky’s Lounge” password, which is updated on a weekly basis; Sunday-Wednesday: 7:30 p.m.-around 2:30 a.m.; Thursday: 7:30 p.m.-3 a.m.; Friday-Saturday 7:30 p.m.-4 a.m. For reservations, email thebackroomnyc@yahoo.com. No fur allowed.
Prices: cocktails: $10-$14; beer: $7; wine: $8.

2. 2nd Floor on Clinton: Best WAY to Impress Your Significant Other
“Why can’t we just stay in tonight?” complains your date as you enter Lower East Side bar Barramundi with a crush of sports fans. With a knowing smile, you lead the way into the lounge’s recesses and to a door marked “Private,” where, to your date’s disbelief, you press the nearby buzzer. Soon enough the entrance opens, revealing a comely hostess who beckons you to follow her up a wooden staircase washed in ivory candlelight and into an elegant parlor. Discordant gypsy violins hum softly as you recline in the burgundy window seat to sample port and absinthe-flavored chocolates. “This is a haven,” your date exclaims, and you can’t help but agree, realizing that you’ve just discovered the perfect way to go out while remaining right at home.

67 Clinton St. (enter through Barramundi); 212-529-6900, www.2ndflooronclinton.com; Thursday, Friday & Saturday: 7 p.m.-2 a.m. (last entry at 1 a.m.). Inquire in person about their private online reservation system.
Prices: cocktails: $14-$16; beer: $10; wine (by the glass): $14; wine (bottle): $42-$95; liquor: $12-35; chocolates, assortment of three: $9.

3. Apotheke: Best WAY to Feel Like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
You’re about to give up the hunt for Chinatown’s Doyers Street but suddenly there it is, coiling off the Bowery like a scrap of serpentine lore snatched from some urban fairytale. There, concealed beneath the faint aura of spices and a sign marked “Chemist,” you uncover the entrance to Apotheke.
I guess I’m not in Manhattan anymore, you muse, clasping the lion-etched brass handle and opening the door. Inside, high-backed fainting couches dazzle in sea green and burgundy, illuminated by the garnet- and sky-colored lamps dangling above. Behind the marble bar, tinctures and potions beckon like liquid gems—come closer. You take the bait, ordering a creamy coconut blend that soon turns into two before you finally slip back out into the clove-soaked evening, already plotting your return.

9 Doyers St. (betw. Bowery & Pell Sts.); 212-406-0400, apothekenyc.com; Monday-Saturday: 6:30 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday: 8 p.m.-2 a.m. For reservations, email info@apothekenyc.com.
Prices: cocktails: $15-$18; wine: $13; champagne & sparkling wine: $18-$415;

4. Sake Bar Decibel: Best Man Cave Since Fred Flintstone’s
Searching for a speakeasy where kitsch is king? Look no further than Decibel, a Japanese sake den buried beneath trendy East 9th Street. After spotting the blinking red “On Air” sign and sleet-gray awning, descend the staircase below street level and enter Decibel’s dimly lit cavern. In the front room, graffiti-coated walls and a disco ball set the stage as you wait to be seated, which, before 7 p.m. on a weekday, shouldn’t take very long at all. In the secluded back room beyond, red lanterns cast a warm glow over vintage sake labels and Transformers action figures frozen in fighting postures behind the bar. The plain, translucent elixir that soon arrives at your table is also more than meets the eye—if you’re not already a sake lover, consider yourself converted.

240 E. 9th St. (betw. 2nd & 3rd Aves.); 212-979-2733, sakebardecibel.com; Monday-Saturday: 6 p.m.-2:50 a.m.; Sunday: 6 p.m.-12:50 a.m. No Reservations, walk-ins only.
Prices: sake (5 oz.) $8-$33; sake (bottle) $18-$187; beer: $5-$6; plum wine: $8; Japanese spirits: $5-$20; food: $1-$11.

5. Please Don’t Tell (PDT): Best Reason to Hit Redial
Saturday night; the roar of St. Mark’s Place. Inching past a cluster of frat boy types you enter Crif Dogs, a hot dog dive concealing a 1930s phone booth that also serves as PDT’s elusive entrance. You pick up the phone, follow the instructions. I hope they answer, you think to yourself, recalling all the times you couldn’t get through before finally landing tonight’s reservation. One minute that feels more like 10 elapses and then…the door on the other side of the booth slips open. As the hostess ushers you to your seat passed a stuffed black bear sporting fangs and a hat you notice something even odder, considering the neighborhood you’re in—tranquility. Yes, somehow you’ve found a hip East Village hotspot where you don’t have to fight for a seat or the bartender’s attentive service, even if you did have to fight to get in.

113 St. Mark’s Pl. (betw. 1st Ave. & Ave. A; enter through Crif Dogs), 212-614-0386, pdtnyc.com; Sunday-Thursday: 6 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Friday-Saturday: 6 p.m.-3 a.m. Table reservations are made same day only beginning at 3 p.m. ; bar seats are first-come, first-served.
Prices: cocktails: $15; beer: $7; wine: $12-$16; food (from the Crif Dogs menu): $5-$8.