The Spritz Has Officially Taken Over NYC Bars This Summer

Rosé was up first, with its 2014 and 2015 Hamptons shortages, followed by frosé’s moment in the summer of 2016 and now the spritz is bursting onto the summer stage, stealing the limelight as the drink of the season. It’s time to call it: Summer 2017 in New York City is all about the spritz (reminder: it’s made with any number of liqueurs and soda water), whether people like it or not.

Public relations companies and Aperol have colluded For seemingly unknown reasons, the fizzy drink, led by the Aperol version, is popping up on menus around town, and not just in single drink form. Pitchers of the stuff, as well as entire menus of varieties, are flooding restaurants across the city.

The evolution makes sense, considering last summer an entire book came out around the drink. The New York Times spotlighted it at the time, writing: “The drink’s footing in the United States is a bit shakier ... But that’s beginning to change.” That, combined with the fact that restaurants constantly need new gimmicks — and that the drink admittedly is very refreshing in the summertime — has led to a point of no return.

Now, after several seasons of unsuccessfully trying to make fetch happen, NYC bars have taken the drink with the traditionally “suburban mom” reputation and brought it firmly into hip territory — and are charging the prices to match. The average for a single glass appears to be $15 for what is often a low-ABV drink, though many do beef it up with gin or another boozier alcohol. Here’s where restaurants have gone particularly hard on the spritz trend:

Dante at Genuine

AvroKo, the design firm and restaurant group behind Saxon + Parole and Ghost Donkey, has taken its Genuine space (191 Grand Street) and offered it up to the Dante team (Linden Pride and Naren Young) for an Italian restaurant collaboration perfectly suited to the Instagram age.

The cocktail menu will change in the fall, but this season it’s called the “Summer of Spritz.” It doesn’t get much more blatant than that — there’s a slushie, a bottled version, and even a Negroni spritz served in a porron. Just look at the Instagram geolocation page for proof positive that the spritz is catching on.

Casa Apicii

Another all-spritz menu, this one for the month of July only with six versions. Beware, though — the trendy drink clocks in at a whopping $15 here (62 West Ninth Street).

Santina

Stefanie Tuder

Apparently chef-owner Mario Carbone has declared it the summer of the spritz over at Santina (820 Washington Street), where a pitcher of it sits on the menu. Santina’s version includes housemade Aprerol Italian ice, prosecco, and soda water, plus a healthy dosing of mint and orange.

Nitecap

Spritz flows freely on tap at Nitecap (151 Rivington Street), in addition to two other versions, each for $15.

The Bennett

Matt Taylor Gross

It’s all about big ass spritzes at The Bennett (134 West Broadway). Three large-format types (six to eight servings each) are on the menu for $50 — a traditional, strawberry, and mimosa version.