The best bars near Times Square, NY

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What is it?: A Hell’s Kitchen bar/restaurant with a real cocktail list and a room that can handle large groups without feeling cavernous.

Why we love it: Bea is a neighborhood favorite. A mere 12–14 minute walk west from Times Square gives you enough distance to breathe normally again. Inside, it’s low-lit and lively, with servers and bartenders who manage the pre-theater rush like they’ve seen it all a million times (because they have). The food is Italian-ish with some spins and total departures–nobody will feel left out. The bar program is what sets Bea apart from others of its ilk with a short but sweet cocktail menu offering novelty and fun.

Time Out tip: It’s a strong “one drink becomes another becomes dinner” option, so if you catch it post opening curtain, you can settle in.

Address: 403 W 43rd St, New York, NY 10036

Opening hours: Mon–Fri 5pm–2am; Sat, Sun 11am–4pm, 5pm–2am

Expect to pay: ~$16–18/cocktail; ~$15-21/glass of wine, $60-210/bottle of wine; ~$9-11/beer

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What is it?: Valerie is the big, grown-up cocktail bar upstairs. Madame George is the intimate, saucey cocktail lounge downstairs.

Why we love it: Starting from the corner of 42nd and Broadway, this pair of connected places are about a 7–9 minute walk. It’s a pick your adventure kind of scenario: Upstairs, it’s more refined with a lot of work shirts. Downstairs, it’s plush and dim with a few loosened buttons. At both places, the staff (primarily the bartenders) are attentive and highly professional. The menu at Valerie is oriented toward clean flavors and familiar presentations, the downstairs things are on the playful side. Expect a healthy number of tourists at virtually any hour, but it doesn’t feel like a stampede–there’s enough space to breathe. 

Time Out tip: Do one drink and chophouse dinner upstairs at Valerie, then take it downstairs when you’re ready to relax.

Address: 45 W 45th St, New York, 10036

Opening hours: Tue–Sat 5pm-2am; Mon 5pm–midnight

Expect to pay: ~$20/cocktail

What is it?: A massive four-floor Irish pub/venue where theater crowds, office stragglers, and sports diehards can all enjoy a pourfect point.

Why we love it: Connolly’s is a family owned and operated Irish bar smack dab in Times Square. As virtually every town in America sports an Irish-ish pub on its main drag, what Connolly’s offers will surprise and intimidate exactly nobody. That makes it, at least in my estimation, a great option for your visiting family who are less than excited about venturing far from home. The menu sticks to Irish-American standards (stews, fish & chips, burgers, breakfasts) and they all arrive fast hot and tasty. Especially when you’re threading the needle for curtain time on a show, that matters. They boast 50 beers on tap and a full bar, plus there’s plenty of TVs if you want to catch the game.

Time Out tip: Go pre-theater but earlier than you think; get that order in. 

Address: 121 W 45th St, New York, NY 10036

Opening hours: Mon–Sat 7am–4am; Sun 8am–4am

Expect to pay: ~$18/Cocktail; ~$14-15/glass of wine; ~$9-12/beer

What is it?: A Hotel Edison lounge for rum-centric classics, nightly music, and pre-/post-show crowd.

Why we love it: It’s about an 8–10 minute walk from 42nd to the Rum House, which is close enough to the hubbub to keep your plans, but just far enough that the din starts to recede into the background. You can get a great cocktail here. And the room has vibes going for it–low-lit and coppery. The bartenders know the brief and they make the often-sugary drinks sturdy. Expect a moderate-to high tourist quotient (Times Square extends to 47th), though it doesn’t feel like a souvenir shop hawking shaker tins. This place is a real treat for anyone who loves rum.

Time Out tip: Order a classic to level-set, then something with a little more pizazz to shake things up. No reservations Sun–Tues.

Address: 228 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036

Opening hours: Sun–Thu 4pm–1am; Fri, Sat 4pm–2am

Expect to pay: ~$12–19/cocktail

What is it?: A narrow bar where the point is cheap drinks without ceremony. One of Manhattan’s most legendary dives.

Why we love it: It’s basically around the corner from all the neon. Let’s call it a 3–5 minute walk at the max. The room is narrow, loud in a friendly way. The bartenders here deft, whipping drinks out for the crowd at an impressive pace. Tourist traffic is high here at certain hours in certain seasons because it’s famous and convenient. At other times, it’s just a sleepy little bar with solid bones.

Time Out tip: Go on a weeknight. Keep your order simple and your elbows tucked in. If you sit at the back, don’t sit in Jimmy’s seat. You’ll know it when you see it.

Address: 140 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036

Opening hours: Mon–Wed 11:30am–2am; Thu, Fri 11:30am–4am; Sat 12:30pm–4am; Sun 4pm–2am

Expect to pay: ~$4–10/drink

What is it?: A laid back, vaporwave cocktail bar tucked inside the downtown 1 train station at 50th Street.

Why we love it: This shiny little nook is on the Times Square outskirts–the flashiness bleeds to the bar’s surrounding environs but doesn’t make it past the front door, which just so happens to be inside of the downtown 1 train station. It’s a 10–12 minute walk north from all the action and the payoff is the satisfying. Inside, the vibe is super cool with drinks to match. The bartenders have some serious skill but don’t act precious about it. It’s unlikely to be wall-to-wall tourists at any hour.

Time Out tip: Ask the bartender how to have a pizza ordered to your seat.

Address: Inside the downtown 1 subway station at 50th St, Manhattan

Opening hours: Mon–Sat 4pm–2am

Expect to pay: ~$20/cocktail; ~$10/beer; ~$17/glass of wine

What is it?: A two-level, art-deco-leaning penthouse bar in the Aliz Hotel with undeniable views.

Why we love it: Here we have a practical choice in an impractical neighborhood. Roughly a 6–8 minute walk from the chaos and a 30-second elevator ride up, you’ll find a big change in perspective and tone. The place itself is classy, designy and vibey. The cocktails are excellent. The staff are all highly professional, low-key and friendly; they know that they’re more or less ambassadors of several well-moneyed concerns, but you get the sense that they’re well taken care of. Tourist factor is fairly high, but you can’t be mad about it–the same spell that works on them works on the most jaded of us i.e. breathtaking skyline views and expert cocktailing.

Time Out tip: Get a reservation and try, as much as possible, to be sat near a window. 

Address: 310 W 40th St, New York, NY 10036 (At the Aliz Hotel Times Square)

Opening hours: Mon 5pm–midnight; Tue–Thu 5pm–1am; Fri, Sat 4pm–2am; Sun 4pm–midnight

Expect to pay: ~$20/cocktail; ~$10/beer; ~$20/glass of wine

What is it?: A cash-only joint where you get a free hot dog with each inexpensive drink.

Why we love it:  Like Dante, by the time you’re through witnessing unrelenting grotesquery and horror you’re gonna probably need a quick pitstop to reconstitute what’s left of your spirit. In Hell’s Kitchen, a hot dog awaits. Not Cerberus, a frankfurter. And at Rudy’s (a divey, super inexpensive bar) one comes free with every drink. A 12–15 minute jaunt west from the City of Dis (at 42nd & Bway) and you’ll know you’re in the right place by the large, anthropomorphic pig guiding you on like Virgil, wearing a mildly discomfiting smile and frozen in a wave as if to say: reclaim all hope ye who enter here.

Time Out tip: Bring cash. Embrace the combo specials–this is not the night to hunt for a rare amaro or whatever.

Address: 627 9th Ave, New York, NY 10036

Opening hours: Mon–Sat 8am–4am; Sun noon–4am

Expect to pay: ~$4–9/beer; ~$5–7/beer-and-shot combo

What is it?: A Rockefeller Center brasserie with a serious bar program that’s firing on all cylinders. 

Why we love it: Roughly 15 minutes of walking lands you at Rockefeller Center, New York’s Art Deco nexus. Here, the design and architecture and history on display are actually worth the upward-gazing-induced crick in one’s neck. While still intense with crowds swirling in a near-constant eddy around 30-Rock, the energy is less likely to induce an epileptic seizure or anxiety attack. Le Rock is, as befitting its environs, an elegant interplay between old world class and nouveau standards. The staff are at the top of their game with bartenders constructing beautiful versions of classics beside totally novel recipes. It’s not actually a bar, but the cocktail program is very much at the core of Le Rock’s raison d'etre.

Time Out tip: Come mid-afternoon for a quieter experience. Setting yourself up with a procession of small plates to accompany your drinks is a fantastic way to take a tour around the menu.

Address: 45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10036

Opening hours: Mon–Fri 11am–9pm; Sat 4pm-9pm

Expect to pay: ~$22/cocktail; ~$12–17/beer

What is it?: A polished wine bar in the Le Bernardin orbit with loungey seating and one of the city’s best cellars.

Why we love it: Sure, venturing north 15 or so minutes from Times Square into Midtown’s canyons of grey and glass feels a little odd. Still, there are oases of life and the means to really live it before you hit Central Park–Aldo Sohm, for example. This is a destination for wine-lovers, an oasis of good taste and class where you can learn something if that’s your pleasure, but you can also just relax and have a nice time. The space is sleek and composed and relatively unpretentious with an expert staff ready to guide without lecturing. Le Bernardin’s books may be closed, but you can still have a world-class evening here, at its sister establishment.

Time Out tip: Every night at 9pm, the master Somm uncorks a hand-picked magnum. Make a res for a little before this, order dinner, then settle in for the fun.

Address: 151 W 51st St, New York, NY 10036

Opening hours: Mon–Thu noon–11pm; Fri noon–11:30pm; Sat 4pm–11:30pm

Expect to pay: ~$13–38/glass of wine; ~$8–19/beer; ~$35/wine flight

What is it?: A late-night Theater District standby for whiskey… just kidding! 

Why we love it: Not to be confused with its more affected theic cousin, The Russian Vodka Room makes no bones about its game. From 42nd and Broadway, it’s about an 18–20 minute walk north by northwest. Inside, it’s convivial vibes. Dark and a little jumbled in neon and mirrors, this place straddles the line between kitsch and camp, but the city having more or less stamped such fun out, it’s a wonderful thing to behold. That goes double with an ice-cold martini in hand. The staff are hospitable characters who keep the pace up. The tourism factor is high (theatergoers looooove it), but it still feels like a real New York oddity in the best sense. Plus you can get some delicious, soul-salving Ruskie food here–always a treat.

Time Out tip: You can do a tasting of vodkas or a flight of rarities, but they sure do make a great martini.

Address: 265 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10036

Opening hours: Mon–Wed 4pm–1am; Thu–Sat 4pm–2am; Sun 4pm–midnight

Expect to pay: ~$12–22/cocktail; ~$10–12/beer; ~$14/glass of wine; ~$7–16/vodka; ~$15–20/small plates; ~$28/mains