New York City's Best Date Bars
New York City offers some of the best bars and mixologists in the world. The Ambiance Matchmaking team has gone above and beyond to select the best for your date night.
CHELSEA
THE TIPPLER
With a cozy, intimate, ivy-covered, cavern-like ambiance, this venue serves cocktails a level above the rest from a level below. Nestled in the cellar beneath Chelsea Market this brick-lined hideaway is filled with glowing light and hearty laughter every night of the week. With a carefully-crafted cocktail menu and a rotation of seasonal draft beers, you are bound to find something delectable to satisfy your buds. Pair a creative cocktail with a couple of small plates.
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RH ROOFTOP
Located on the rooftop of the beautiful Restoration Hardware hotel, this venue features an ingredient-driven menu accompanied by a curated selection of artisanal wines and craft beers. Its fairytale forest meets modern, swanky art deco ambiance making for a very unique dining experience. It’s also a hot brunch spot!
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CROWN ALLEY
With a unique ambiance, happy hour, and craft cocktails and beer, this local hotspot’s aim is to create an unpretentious and friendly drinking establishment featuring some of the finest craft beers and wines in the city as well as a rotating list of seasonal and classic cocktails. They offer more than 100 whiskeys, gins, agave spirits, rums, and amaro from around the world. Food is also served late seven nights a week.
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GREENWICH VILLAGE
DANTÉ NYC
Voted World’s Best bar in 2019, and other awards over the years, this beacon for the community has been operating since 1915. Featured in Vogue, Fortune, and many other renowned publications, this now registered New York City landmark’s unpretentious, relaxed atmosphere has attracted everyone from famous actors, writers, and musicians, to everyone in between.
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AMELIE
This unique, romantic French wine bar, offers Happy Hour, charcuterie boards, and a generous wine list offering 40 reds and whites by the glass, and roughly 100 by the bottle. This trendy lounge vibe is punched up with eclectic elements such as a chandelier constructed of letters penned by customers and wall-mounted illuminated wine bottle art.
Amelie Upper West Website
Amelie West Village Website
SOHO
CICCIO BAR & ALIMENTARI
This Tuscan-Italian restaurant serves classic cuisine in a simple, warm, cozy, yet elegant space that offers top-notch cocktails and sidewalk seating.
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JIMMY
This 18th-story cocktail lounge in James Hotel features an elegant, contemporary interior and a rooftop deck. The decor, inspired by Picasso's Blue period, is intimate and refined, with vintage and contemporary furniture and a working fireplace – all surrounded by 14’ windows and panoramic views of Midtown, Wall Street, the Hudson River, and the bridges spanning the East River.
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142 SULLIVAN
This compact watering hole is a cozy space that is decorated with vinyl records and local art. Offering a selection of cocktails, wine, tequila, and beer, this colorful, eclectic, artsy, and vibrant atmosphere is fun, warm, and inviting.
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LOWER EAST SIDE
EXCUSE MY FRENCH
This fancy ‘schmancy’ French tapas and cocktail bistro offers a luxe ambiance and warm cozy vibe among green wallpaper and gold accents.
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LENA
This French restaurant, wine, and cocktail bar is a modern, dramatic, cozy spot on the Lower East side with European flair. With cute décor, candlelit, music, and a calm atmosphere, this spot transports you straight to the Basque region of France.
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PLADO TASTING BAR
At Plado, small tasting plates and tapas-style dishes emerge from the open kitchen inspired by Mediterranean cuisine and seasonal produce.
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CASA MEZCAL
The fun, vibrant, warm, colorful Latin ambiance in this spot offers great cocktails and fresh Mexican fare, with a killer Happy Hour to boot. With an art gallery upstairs and a performance space in the basement, this low-key establishment eschews decadence in favor of modern minimalism.
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UPPER EAST SIDE
PIL PIL
Brick walls, tree branches on the ceiling & colored bottles set the scene for Spanish tapas & wine in this unique, cozy, romantic atmosphere.
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THE EAST POLE
This timeless, sophisticated Upper East Side haunt, decorated with drawings of old maps and subtle nautical accents is housed in a historic brownstone on a quiet block of 65th Street. The menu features simple yet elevated home cooking with a focus on local, seasonal, organic produce and sustainably sourced proteins. Their signature cocktail menu and full bar service focus on small-batch distilleries, breweries, and wineries.
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THE PENROSE
From its crisp porcelain tile flooring to its reclaimed wooden accents, vintage wallpaper, and exposed brick, The Penrose is a place without pretense. Locally-sourced food, and craft drinks, including an extensive beer and whiskey list, are inspired by old American and Cork traditions.
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WILLIAMSBURG
D.O.C. WINE BAR
As New York Magazine writes, “The wine at this rustic Williamsburg enoteca with a Sardinian slant flows like Rheingold at a frat party. This might explain why the ebullient, mostly Italian crowd is hugging and chain-toasting one another late into the night. For sustenance, try piquant honey-drizzled sheep's-milk cheese paired with a Sardinian red Cannonau served in a two-ounce glass called a marzianetto, or a delicious pressed panino on crusty ciabatta.” We think that sums it up perfectly.
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THE FOUR HORSEMEN
This well-known wine bar owned by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem serves small plates in cozy digs with light woodwork. One unique aspect of this joint is its focus on natural wine, Their charcuterie boards and homemade bread and butter offer a delectable complement to their top-notch main courses, which change regularly.
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LILIA
In a redone auto-body shop, Lilia brings the best of Italy to Williamsburg where wood-fired seafood, hand-crafted pasta, classic Italian cocktails, and warm hospitality come together to create a casual dining experience.
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BROOKLYN
LEYENDA
This pan-Latin-inspired cocktail bar and restaurant celebrates the spirits and imbibing traditions of Latin America, as well as traditional and modern takes on Latin dishes from across Central and South America and the Caribbean.
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LALOU
LaLou is a Prospect Heights restaurant and wine bar with a focus on natural, biodynamic, and small-production wines. The 150+ bottle list is a collaboration between friends and former colleagues, Joe Campanale (restaurateur, beverage expert, Food & Wine Sommelier of the Year) and Dave Foss (a hospitality veteran and former Anfora wine buyer).
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THE RIVER CAFE
Nestled under the Brooklyn Bridge with sweeping NYC skyline views and Michelin-starred American fare, this especially romantic atmosphere is accompanied by live piano, fresh floral arrangements, and impeccable service. With an elegant fine dining room and a serious dress code, this establishment has been wowing patrons from around the globe since 1977.
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