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13 Awesome Places to Swill a Cocktail for Under $10 in New York City

Good, cheap drinks are hard to find in Gotham. Here's a guide to the best of them.

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Let's face it. Good cocktails that happen to be cheap are not easy to find in this town. Hell, even cheap beer is becoming a relic as dive bars like the Mars Bar shutter and Subway Inn is forced to move. Fortunately, there are still some caring bar-owners who open up their doors every day and welcome tired, thirsty New Yorkers with a quality pour that's affordable. Here are 13 of them. Grab some equally affordable grub in the form of tacos and $1 oysters to help soak up all that booze.

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The Wayland

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While cocktails at this rustic-looking Alphabet City bar are always moderately priced by NYC standards, the happy hour menu, available Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., offers a few drinks for nearly half the price. Choose from a classic sazerac or margarita, or a Nassau Lemonade (rum, lemon, chipotle-infused agave, cucumber, and bitters) all for $7. For an extra buzz, add an oyster shooter, made with either mezcal or tequila, for $5. [Yelp]

Black Crescent

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This Lower East Side cocktail/oyster bar has earned a dedicated following for both its drinks and its seafood small plates. Happy hour runs until 8 p.m. (and then starts back up again from midnight until 1 p.m.) and involves $.99 oysters alongside a few $9 classic cocktails like manhattans and negronis. [Facebook]

The draught cocktails (which include an Aperol spritz and a version of a pina colada made with Branca Menta) at this Williamsburg favorite are normally $10, but stop in before 7 p.m. during their daily happy hour and those drinks are half price. Even better: Add two tacos from Brooklyn Taco's permanent pop-up at the bar get the whole deal for $12. [Photo]

Dutch Kills

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Usually almost any cocktail from this 20s-style Queens speakeasy is $11, but at happy hour all of those drinks go down to $8. That deal runs Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and all day on Mondays. [Facebook]

The Drink

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This low-key Williamsburg bar mixes up $10 drinks all day, which by New York standards is pretty cheap. But is also offers glasses of punch for $5 a glass, in flavors that rotate through from a long list of concoctions on a daily basis. Plus during happy hour, which runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m on Mondays through Fridays, all well drinks are just $6. [Yelp]

Fort Defiance

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During weekend brunch at Red Hook’s Fort Defiance, get a Red Hook Criterium (a highball made with Rabarbaro Zucca) for $9 or Bourbon Milk Punch for $9. During dinner, get a classic Sazerac, or one of several hot cocktails (like an apple toddy) all for $9. [Yelp]

Zombie Hut

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While almost all of the drinks at this contemporary tiki bar are under $10, the classic mai tais, planters punches, and Bahama mamas are the biggest steal at $5 apiece. With a group, it's also not a bad idea to just share a big scorpion bowl. [Foursquare]

Cienfuegos

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This rum-centric Cuban lounge offers half off select cocktails and punches until 7 p.m. daily. The discounted cocktails change regularly, but could be anything from a mai tai to an After the Rain, made with kaffir-infused cachaca, Manzanilla sherry, aquavit, and soda. [Foursquare]

Huckleberry Bar

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Huckleberry Bar offers all of its cocktails, which range from classics like a negroni to a wide variety of well-crafted house cocktails, for $9 during happy hour, which runs from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on all weekdays except Tuesdays. On Tuesdays it's even better: the Williamsburg bar offers these discounted cocktails all day and night. [Official Site]

Night of Joy

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Happy hour at Greenpoint cocktail den Night of Joy runs every day from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. During that time, cocktails like the beet and dill vodka and the basil-lime gin gimlet are just $6, as are frozen margaritas in a variety of fruit flavors. [Yelp]

No. 7 North

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This Greenpoint bar from the No. 7 team, which until very recently was an outpost of No. 7 Sub, now serves a full menu of reasonably priced cocktails. Nothing is over $11, and most drinks are under $10. Get a negroni or a cuba libre for $9, a gin and tonic for $8, and any one of five borough-inspired drinks (the standard being the Manhattan) for $7. [Instagram]

Bearded Lady

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Normally, cocktails at Bearded Lady cost somewhere between $10-$12. But until 8 p.m. every day, this popular Prospect Heights hang knocks $2 off the price of all of its excellent cocktails, making it possible to get a classy drink for as little as $8. [Foursquare]

The Narrows

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Cocktails usually run around $10 at this Bushwick bar, but during happy hour, which lasts until 8 p.m., everything goes down to $8. Happy hour also involves $1 oysters, which combined with the solid cocktails make this a frequent haunt of Roberta's staff, among other locals. [Foursquare]

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The Wayland

While cocktails at this rustic-looking Alphabet City bar are always moderately priced by NYC standards, the happy hour menu, available Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., offers a few drinks for nearly half the price. Choose from a classic sazerac or margarita, or a Nassau Lemonade (rum, lemon, chipotle-infused agave, cucumber, and bitters) all for $7. For an extra buzz, add an oyster shooter, made with either mezcal or tequila, for $5. [Yelp]

Black Crescent

This Lower East Side cocktail/oyster bar has earned a dedicated following for both its drinks and its seafood small plates. Happy hour runs until 8 p.m. (and then starts back up again from midnight until 1 p.m.) and involves $.99 oysters alongside a few $9 classic cocktails like manhattans and negronis. [Facebook]

Donna

The draught cocktails (which include an Aperol spritz and a version of a pina colada made with Branca Menta) at this Williamsburg favorite are normally $10, but stop in before 7 p.m. during their daily happy hour and those drinks are half price. Even better: Add two tacos from Brooklyn Taco's permanent pop-up at the bar get the whole deal for $12. [Photo]

Dutch Kills

Usually almost any cocktail from this 20s-style Queens speakeasy is $11, but at happy hour all of those drinks go down to $8. That deal runs Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and all day on Mondays. [Facebook]

The Drink

This low-key Williamsburg bar mixes up $10 drinks all day, which by New York standards is pretty cheap. But is also offers glasses of punch for $5 a glass, in flavors that rotate through from a long list of concoctions on a daily basis. Plus during happy hour, which runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m on Mondays through Fridays, all well drinks are just $6. [Yelp]

Fort Defiance

During weekend brunch at Red Hook’s Fort Defiance, get a Red Hook Criterium (a highball made with Rabarbaro Zucca) for $9 or Bourbon Milk Punch for $9. During dinner, get a classic Sazerac, or one of several hot cocktails (like an apple toddy) all for $9. [Yelp]

Zombie Hut

While almost all of the drinks at this contemporary tiki bar are under $10, the classic mai tais, planters punches, and Bahama mamas are the biggest steal at $5 apiece. With a group, it's also not a bad idea to just share a big scorpion bowl. [Foursquare]

Cienfuegos

This rum-centric Cuban lounge offers half off select cocktails and punches until 7 p.m. daily. The discounted cocktails change regularly, but could be anything from a mai tai to an After the Rain, made with kaffir-infused cachaca, Manzanilla sherry, aquavit, and soda. [Foursquare]

Huckleberry Bar

Huckleberry Bar offers all of its cocktails, which range from classics like a negroni to a wide variety of well-crafted house cocktails, for $9 during happy hour, which runs from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on all weekdays except Tuesdays. On Tuesdays it's even better: the Williamsburg bar offers these discounted cocktails all day and night. [Official Site]

Night of Joy

Happy hour at Greenpoint cocktail den Night of Joy runs every day from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. During that time, cocktails like the beet and dill vodka and the basil-lime gin gimlet are just $6, as are frozen margaritas in a variety of fruit flavors. [Yelp]

No. 7 North

This Greenpoint bar from the No. 7 team, which until very recently was an outpost of No. 7 Sub, now serves a full menu of reasonably priced cocktails. Nothing is over $11, and most drinks are under $10. Get a negroni or a cuba libre for $9, a gin and tonic for $8, and any one of five borough-inspired drinks (the standard being the Manhattan) for $7. [Instagram]

Bearded Lady

Normally, cocktails at Bearded Lady cost somewhere between $10-$12. But until 8 p.m. every day, this popular Prospect Heights hang knocks $2 off the price of all of its excellent cocktails, making it possible to get a classy drink for as little as $8. [Foursquare]

The Narrows

Cocktails usually run around $10 at this Bushwick bar, but during happy hour, which lasts until 8 p.m., everything goes down to $8. Happy hour also involves $1 oysters, which combined with the solid cocktails make this a frequent haunt of Roberta's staff, among other locals. [Foursquare]

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