Enter through a storefront that’s been modeled after an old locksmith and shoe repair shop to find this cocktail lounge. Inside, owner Massimo Lusardi (who owns nearby wine bar Uva) created a space that feels like a cozy living room with little lamps set on bistro tables. Customers can order creative riffs on classics like the Manhattan High Tea, which incorporates Early Grey-flavored syrup, while nibbling on Italian bar snacks like mini paninis and olives.

This radio-themed speakeasy in the Radio Wave Building’s cellar executes on its concept with a menu sorting drinks into four categories: energy, frequency, vibration, and descent. Each drink is illustrated and described in painstaking detail, like the “Light Me Up,” with bourbon, Jamaican rum, mango black tea, amaro, yellow chartreuse, Sichuan peppercorn, lime, and pineapple. It ends up being a complex drink with layered flavors. During the day, the space up front is a coffee shop with speciality grab-and-go coffee, nitro cold brew, pastries, cookies, and chia parfaits.

The team behind Raines Law Room, which set a new standard for speakeasy elegance, opened this similarly sexy bar in Gramercy in 2014. While the apartment-like entrance is anything but striking, the decor — including crystal curtains and a room inspired by Marie Antoinette — makes a dramatic statement. Drinks run the gamut from tiki to a wide selection of whiskeys.

During Prohibition, speakeasies weren’t slinging fancy Manhattans but rather whatever hooch the staff could obtain under the alcohol ban. Sunshine Laundromat harks back to those simpler days, slinging bottles of Miller High Life behind a faux-washer door. The real draw, however, are the numerous pinball machines played by arcade fans.

Blame Please Don’t Tell bartender Jim Meehan — who is no longer affiliated with PDT, as its known — for the mid-aughts fascination with speakeasies. But more mercifully, the bar behind a phone booth in Crif Dogs signaled a sea change in New York cocktail culture. Its meticulous approach to both classic and hyper-specific house cocktails remains among the most sophisticated around. Sample a concoction laced with port along with the fancy hot dogs.

While this tropical Japanese-themed speakeasy behind Wanpaku is small, the brightly lit, airy space doesn’t usually feel overwhelmingly crowded. Owner Leif Huckman, who is also behind Donna in South Williamsburg (RIP), has called the bar a “Japanese clam shack,” and as such, small plates like spicy tuna served atop crispy rice or fried baby octopus round out the menu. The drinks menu has an entire section devoted to highballs, all of which are worth a try.

Fig. 19’s secret pathway is more clever than most. Above the dance-centric hotspot Home Sweet Home, an art gallery has a door in the very back that leads to the hip watering hole. Chandeliers and accessible cocktails cater to a Lower East Side crowd, while the jazz soundtrack offers an escape from the rowdier scene below.

The tiny Attaboy, with only bar seats and three booths, does justice to the old Milk & Honey space. Ring the bell on the unmarked door to get in, though a line on most nights will give away the gimmick. Reservations and menus were once shunned, but a bartender will always happily chat about the ideal beverage.

The bi-level Chinese Tuxedo is also home to subterranean Peachy’s, which announces its cheeky humor with a neon sign saying, “no photos, no fighting.” A dragon made of light is the centerpiece of the artful space. The cocktails lean heavily on tequila, mezcal, and rum.

La Milagrosa, a speakeasy and mezcaleria in one, lies behind an apparent freezer door in a Williamsburg deli. The narrow, woody space specializes in agave-based spirits used in drinks like a just-smoky-enough mezcal margarita. The hip-yet-friendly crowd is usually lost in conversation or bopping along to an eclectic music mix provided by rotating DJs.

The revival of Gage & Tollner, a historic chophouse in downtown Brooklyn, garnered plenty of attention. But when the restaurant’s upstairs bar Sunken Harbor Club opened in late 2021, anyone who enjoys geeking out about cocktails was equally excited for St. John Frizell’s bar opening. After all, Frizell (who’s also a partner at Gage & Tollner) ran a successful tiki-themed night at his Red Hook spot Fort Defiance for years. The nautical touches in the space translates to drinks like punch bowls adorned with flowers and other tropical libations.