NYCGuide
The Best Happy Hours In Manhattan
photo credit: Porchlight
Every day, you show up to work and either accomplish a sufficient amount or look productive enough to not get fired. And after you’ve either crossed enough tasks off your to-do, you deserve to get a drink that doesn’t cost $20. So here’s a guide to 19 great Happy Hours in Manhattan for every budget.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Alex Rivera
When: Mon-Thurs, 5pm-8pm
The Deal: $6 Beer; $ Wine; $13 Cocktails
Las’ Lap is a cool Caribbean bar on Orchard Street with potted plants, floral bar stools, and a cocktail list that emphasizes ingredients like coconut, passionfruit, and rum. It gets pretty busy here, and you’ll probably find it hard to get a seat (it’s a small place), but you won’t encounter the massive crowds you find at other LES bars like Kind Regards and Mr. Purple.
photo credit: Daniel Krieger
When: Mon-Thurs, 4pm-6pm
The Deal: $11 Cocktails; $12 Half Dozen Oysters; $24 Dozen Oysters; Discounted Wine Bottles
Before it closed in 2014, Milady’s was one of the few dive bars in Soho. Now it’s back and not remotely divey, but you can still save a few bucks on their new, much fancier cocktails during Happy Hour. If your group wants to get oysters and a whole bottle of wine to share, they discount some of those options as well.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
When: Mon-Fri, All Day
The Deal: $6-$8 Margaritas; $25 Bottomless Margaritas from 4-8pm
Bottomless margaritas on a weekday? Only our strongest soldiers. If that’s you, head to this festive, flower-covered Mexican restaurant in East Harlem from 4-8pm. If it’s not, you can still show up at any time and still get individual margaritas for $6-$8, and everything from cheese arepas and birria fries to huge deep-fried chile rellenos.
When: Mon-Sun, 12-6pm
The Deal: $6 Drafts, $8 Wells, $8 Wine
You asked one person at your desk to skip out early and grab a drink, but Cheryl overheard you and invited the whole floor, and now you need a place for 35 people in FiDi. Come to this huge indoor/outdoor beer garden with picnic tables and a lot of beers on tap. You can try any of the 13 different types of burgers while Cheryl tries to recruit people to play Jenga.
When: Mon, 4pm-7pm; Sun and Tues-Friday, 2pm-7pm
The Deal: $1-$2 Off Beers and Margaritas
You come to Sweet & Vicious for two things: frozen margaritas (they’re especially potent here) and an outdoor patio. If you’re here in the warmer months, it’s great for big groups—but it does get crowded.
When: Weekdays, 4pm-7pm
The Deal: $10 Cocktails; $10 Half Dozen Oysters; $18 Dozen Oysters; $7 Oyster Shooters; $9 Glasses Of Wine; $4-$5 Beer
The Wayland, located on Avenue C in Alphabet City, is your ideal neighborhood bar. It's good for dates, good for casual drinks with a small group, and good for Happy Hour. They make great cocktails, but they aren’t uptight like those bars where you have to enter a phone booth then name every president in order to get seated.
When: Mon-Fri, 5pm-8pm; Sun, 3pm-8pm
The Deal: $1 Off Beer, Wine and Well Drinks; $5 Jello Shot; $8 Beer and Shot
One of the quirkier bars around (Star Wars memorabilia abounds), this place has a lot going on: sports on the TV, a room with a dance floor, and a small lounge that looks like someone's private library. The bar feels much more like something you’d find in a small college town than something you'd come across in the middle of the West Village.
When: Mon-Fri, 4-7pm
The Deal: $8 Select Red & White Wine, $9 Sangria, $7 House Mixed Drinks, $6 Select Beer Drafts, $10 Cocktail of the Day
For beer, sports, and throwback tunes, invite your entire friend group to Harlem Tavern. There’s a big indoor space with a bunch of TVs, and an even larger outdoor area with more TVs and long tables. There’s a full menu of sandwiches, snacks, and soul food, but you’re there for loud music and $7 mixed drinks.
photo credit: RPM Underground
When: Mon-Fri, 3:30-8pm
The Deal: $4 domestic beers, $6 wine, $7 well drinks, Karaoke $1 per song at the bar
RPM is a very large venue that feels like a funhouse with 18 private karaoke rooms, an in-house vinyl shop, and two large bars. Their weekday Happy Hour goes long and relatively late, and they do discounts on more than just drinks.
photo credit: The Infatuation
POWERED BY
When: Mon-Fri, 11am-7pm
The Deal: $7 Beer; $7 Wine; $8 Select Cocktails
Tavern 29 is a two-story bar with TVs, chandeliers, and exactly one thing that sets it apart: a rooftop. It isn’t very high, so you won’t get much of a view, but there a bunch of picnic tables that are perfect for outdoor group drinking in Nomad. And if the weather isn’t great, you can grab a table inside and eat a burger.
photo credit: Noah Fecks
When: Daily, 5-7pm
The Deal: $5 Beers, $6 Wine, $10 Cocktails, Discounted Snacks
This ’70s bar feels more LES than UES. There’s a big shiny disco ball, and they do things like bingo and burlesque nights. These are generally after-dark activities, but we like to come by on the tail end of Happy Hour to pregame with beers, burgers, and corn dogs, all for $5 each.
When: Mon-Wed, 4pm-7pm; Thurs-Fri, 3pm-7pm
The Deal: $10 Cocktails; $7 Tap Beer; $6 Bottled Beer; $8 Wine Glasses
Cask gets pretty busy, but thanks to its giant size, it’s never overly crowded. It is, however, loud. So come to this super dark, wood-beamed bar when you're looking for a good time with a group. They usually have a DJ supervising the dance floor downstairs.
When: Mon-Sat, 3pm-7pm; All Day Sunday
The Deal: $11 Select Cocktails; $5 Flask of Punch; $6 Select Beers
Porchlight is a bar in Chelsea brought to you by the king of hospitality and hamburgers, Danny Meyer. The drinks are well-crafted, they have interesting Cajun-adjacent bar snacks, and we’re big fans of their space, which is ideally situated for both a two-person meet up and a ten-person get-together.
photo credit: The Rum House
When: Daily, 4pm-6pm
The Deal: $10-$12 Cocktails; $5 Beers
Right in the heart of Times Square at the bottom of the Edison Hotel, The Rum House is a surprisingly pleasant place to grab a drink. The cocktails are great, the space feels like an old-timey saloon, and there's often live music.
When: Mon-Fri, 3-7pm; Daily after 10pm
The Deal: $2 Off Drafts, Wine, And Well Drinks; $10 Drink Selections After 10pm
The Penrose is kinda nice, so you won’t find deep discounts on their $16 dirty pickle martinis and spicy margs. But it’s also one of the few spots on the UES where you’ll find something resembling a scene. If that’s appealing to you, you can easily save a few bucks with discounted well drinks and wind up talking to a stranger who went to school with your cousin. There are plenty of food options, including fried pickles, a burger, and steak fajitas.
When: Weekdays, 11am-7pm
The Deal: $7 Well Drinks; $6 Select Drafts and Cans; $8 House Wine; discounted snacks
Stag’s Head looks like it’s going to be a bro scene, largely due to its Turtle Bay location. But it’s really more of a beer scene. They offer more than your typical roster of Ballast Point taps, so if you’re into deep cuts of craft beer, you’ll be happy here. There's also an outdoor patio.
When: Mon-Fri, 12pm-6pm
The Deal: $9 cocktails, $7 wine, $9 Select Apps
Thyme & Tonic has an entirely gluten-free food menu and an extensive bar featuring “garden to glass” cocktails and elixirs based on botanicals, seasonal herbs, and spices. There’s a lively scene both inside the dining room and out in the flower-powered outdoor area.
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
When: Mon-Thurs 3-7pm; Fri-Sun 12pm-7pm
The Deal: $5 Draft Beers, $5 Well Drinks, $7 Top Shelf; Plus Additional Discounts Until Close Every Day
This big bar on Amsterdam Ave feels like the kind of place you might have frequented junior year, complete with foosball, pool tables, and, yes, intense games of beer pong. If you want to pay college prices for that pitcher of Shock Top, come during Happy Hour (until 7pm everyday).
When: Mon-Fri, 5-7pm
The Deal: $8 Cocktails
A lot of places call themselves speakeasies, but Harlem’s 67 Orange Street is named after the original address of a downtown speakeasy that doubled as a legendary Black-owned dance hall. At this two-level spot, there are more dates than dance breaks, but the dark, cavernous space and $8 cocktails still feel like a fun secret.
