The Ultimate Guide to Happy Hour
From Brooklyn to the Lower East Side, where to eat and drink cheap.
I love a good Happy Hour, don’t you? I remember when I was new to the workforce, fresh out of law school and a first year associate at a big firm in Midtown in the mid 90s. Happy Hour meant heading to El Rio Grande or Zarella’s for many frozen margaritas, dollar beers and bad decisions.
But modern Happy Hours hit different now, as the kids say; chefs and bar folk are using the early hours of the evening to bring in new diners and make regulars out of neighborhood folks with deep discounts on fancy cocktails, fruity frozen margs, natural wines, martinis, Negronis and more. There’s a lot a lot more than just mixed nuts on the bar: expect briny oysters, tacos, serious platters of mezze, and boards of cheese and charcuterie, caviar-topped fried chicken, and more. The best part? Most are priced at $10 or less, a discount that’s seriously welcome given that wines by the glass and cocktails cost as much as a fancy moisturizer on GOOP these days.
So why not start the night a bit earlier, save some cash, get to bed earlier for your journaling ritual, or at least home in time to binge whatever’s on MAX or HBO or whatever it’s called. Here are some amazing Happy Hour deals (organized by neighborhood) across the city!