10 Of The Best Hidden Bars And Restaurants In New York

Lantern’s Keep in the Iroquois hotel exudes the glamour of New York past. Photograph: Editions Jonglez

From an original speakeasy to a much-loved hole-in-the-wall bodega, we pick 10 ‘secret’ places from a new book on New York’s eating and drinking scene

BARS

Lantern’s Keep, Midtown West

Opened in the early 1900s, both the Algonquin and the Iroquois hotels exude the glamour of times past. Inside, the Algonquin has its famed Round Table restaurant, where Dorothy Parker gathered with editors of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. But the Iroquois has a hidden little jewel box of a cocktail bar called Lantern’s Keep. There’s no sign for it, but in-the-know imbibers are aware that if the lantern affixed to the Iroquois’s facade is lit, they can go inside and have a drink. Lantern’s Keep opened in 2011, but you wouldn’t know it from the decor, which looks more like a Parisian beaux-arts salon than a New York bar. Chic black panelling contrasts with marble tables and Louis XIV chairs upholstered in powder blue velvet. Head bartender John Ploeser and his team designed the list of 40 cocktails, from the refreshing Regal Business (gin, grapefruit, honey, lime) to the boozy Double Barrel (rye, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, angostura and orange bitters). Ploeser has a polite, midwestern air that makes him instantly likeable and easy to talk to and he loves the social aspect of bartending.
• 49 West 44th Street, +1 212 435 4287, iroquoisny.com/lanternskeep. Open Mon-Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-1am

Blind Barber, Lower East Side

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 Photograph: Editions Jonglez

Alphabet City was the first location for Blind Barber, which opened in 2010 and has since expanded to Williamsburg and Los Angeles. The entrance is a working two-seat barbershop. Designed to feel like a retro dentist office, even the barber’s tools are on rolling dental trays. The back room bar is hidden behind a rolling door, which opens up to a large lounge. And the name? It’s a reference to the titles given to speakeasies during prohibition such as Blind Tiger and Blind Pig, a message to policemen to turn a blind eye to the activities going on behind the scenes. The cocktail menu has a core selection of classics, including Strawberry Fields with vodka, lemon juice, honey, strawberries and parsley, and the Smoke + Dagger of whiskey, jalapeno-infused Combier, lemon juice, cucumber, and ginger. The seasonal cocktails change in fall and spring, and pizza is provided until 10pm by Gnocco next door.

Back to the barbershop: the small room takes advantage of the original exposed brick of the building and the decor features distressed metal boards, vintage Koker barbershop chairs, and wooden auditorium seats. The underlying concept is a nod to the barbershops of yore where a community would come together. To that end, Blind Barber offers a drink with your shave – anything from spirits to beer. Just no cocktails until the bar opens at 6pm.
• 339 East 10th Street, +1 212 228 2123, blindbarber.com. Backroom open Mon-Sat 6pm-4am, Barbershop noon-9pm, Sun noon-6pm

Nublu, East Village

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 Photograph: Editions Jonglez

During the day, the outside of Nublu looks like a shuttered storefront, with metal grates perpetually down except for where the slats have broken off. Sometime between 2013 and 2014, street art appeared which added a splash of colour. At night, the only sign of something happening is the little blue light marking the entrance. Inside, however, activity is truly buzzing, as Nublu has become a stronghold for musical improvisation across genres. Nublu had humble beginnings in 2002 as a simple clubhouse where friends of owner Ilhan Ersahin would come and play music. Ersahin, himself a musician, describes its early days as more of a rehearsal space. He acquired the wine and beer licence just so they could drink during and between jams, as the space was always open to the public. It’s a haven for musicians getting their careers started, as well as for famous ones such as Moby, Norah Jones and David Byrne, who come to perform secret shows or take in the latest sounds. At the bar, expect a wide range of sake, along with beers and wine.
• 62 Avenue C, +1 347 529 5923, nublu.net. Weekdays: first band 9pm, late band at 11pm and 1am; weekends first band at 9pm, late band at midnight and 2am

No Name Bar, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

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 Photograph: Editions Jonglez

The unmarked bar behind the burnt-wood facade of 597 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint not only lacks a name, it doesn’t even have a phone. “It might sound like a cliche, but I wanted to bring back a sense of discovery,” says owner Jessica Lee Wertz. The only entrance marker is the antique bronze door knocker shaped like a Chinese dragon. Push the door open and you’ll be in a long, narrow bar that feels like the Orient Express. Opposite the bar, a series of narrow benches with tiny tables are reminiscent of train cars. The space is outfitted in reclaimed wood with design elements inspired by China, Japan, and Morocco. When Wertz first opened the bar in 2010, she recognised everyone who came to drink there. Now, there are always new faces. It’s the kind of place where you can order an old fashioned and your friend can have a Budweiser, and there’s no judgment either way. Many chefs and servers from the surrounding restaurants come in for a nightcap, since No Name is one of the few bars around that stays open until 4am every night.
• 597 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, on Facebook. Open Sun-Thurs 3pm-4am, Fri-Sat noon-4am

William Barnacle Tavern at 80 St Marks, East Village

Though the William Barnacle Tavern itself is no longer hidden, the bar is one of the few authentic speakeasies left over from prohibition, and the building itself still holds a rich history of secrets – including intact mafia escape tunnels and safes. The entrance to the bar was originally through a butcher shop next door, concealed from the street. Behind the bar was a dance hall, which later became a jazz club and is now the theatre. The William Barnacle Tavern specialises in absinthe — 28 variations of it — and single malt whiskies. The bar owner, Lorcan Otway, used to be a shipbuilder, so the maritime theme of the bar is a nod to his past, creating a dive-y, non self-conscious pub. Unlike many of the trendier prohibition-style bars in New York City, the tavern is not only authentic, but every item in the bar also has a fascinating history connected to Lorcan and his family. Lorcan himself is often behind the bar, too, making 1920s-inspired cocktails or serving absinthe.
• 80 St Marks Place, +1 212 388 0388, on Facebook. Open Mon-Fri 6pm-2am, Sunday 1pm-2am

RESTAURANTS

La Esquina, Soho

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 Photograph: Editions Jonglez

The name of this place (“the corner”) would have you think it’s just your average tiny taqueria. From the outside, it looks casual, like an old Mexican diner, with corrugated tin siding and a neon sign. You could come here and just get tacos to go – but then you may get curious about where the people disappearing through the door inside the narrow taqueria are going. If you have a reservation or are lucky enough to get in without one, the host will open the door and you’ll walk downstairs, through the kitchen and into the main brasserie. Upstairs, everything is bright, but here it’s dimly lit. Past a row of iron bars, the dining room feels a bit like a dungeon, but with better food. Candles positioned around the room are dripping in wax. A soundtrack of pop music sets a party mood. La Esquina is known for its margaritas and they’re the perfect complement to the Mexican street food. There’s the classic elotes callejeros (grilled corn on the cob smothered in mayonnaise, cotija cheese, and lime juice), ceviche, and queso fundido (melted cheese with pumpkin seeds and chile de arbol) that arrives in a cast-iron pan with plantain chips for dipping. And there are tacos (around $5 a taco) in all varieties: grilled steak, chicken, fish of the day, cheese, veal tongue, carnitas, and slow-roasted pulled pork.
• 114 Kenmare Street, +1 646 613 7100, esquinanyc.com. Open daily 6pm-2am

Sakagura, Midtown East

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 Photograph: Editions Jonglez

Open for almost 20 years, Sakagura is found in the basement of a nondescript Midtown office building. Cross the threshold of the restaurant, however, and you’ll feel as if you’ve entered a Japanese village. The decor is such that diners have the impression they’re sitting outside, with interior facades that look like houses, replete with windows, shutters and dormer roofs. Though the architecture isn’t an exercise of purist Japanese form, the raised level of the sake bar area, a mini Shinto shrine, and rice paper dividers give it a homey feel. It’s one of the finest places for Japanese food in the city – and at affordable prices. As an appetiser, try the Washu beef self-cooked on hot stones, a sea urchin soup with soft boiled egg and salmon roe, the onsen tamago (a slow-cooked poached egg in cold soup), the buta no kakuni (a special stewed diced-pork dish), or thechawanmushi egg custard topped with ponzu soup. For mains, there is miso stewed beef tongue with shitake mushrooms, spinach, taro potato and daikon radish.
• 211 East 43rd Street, +1 212 953 7253, sakagura.com. Open for lunch Mon-Fri 11.30am-2.20pm; dinner from 6pm every day

Glasserie, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

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 Photograph: Editions Jonglez

Outside, only a neon green G marks the entrance to this spot on the northernmost tip of Brooklyn. The building goes back much further than the entrance would have you believe, too. When it was a glass factory, from the 1870s to the 1930s, the workers would cart their wares through the courtyard to the back exit, which opens onto Newtown Creek. Now, the factory’s enormous kiln door hangs in the courtyard and an original ceramic basin holds plants. As owner-developer Sarah Conklin prepared to open she spent months researching the building and found antique etchings of the factory’s fixtures – now hanging by the entrance — through the Corning Museum of Glass upstate. Also, poised around the room are copper pots from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia – handed down by Conklin’s mother. To say that it serves purely Lebanese or Middle Eastern food would be to oversimplify. The emphasis is on seasonal ingredients and honouring the integrity of the flavours. Syrian cheese brushed with Za’atar might be served with heirloom tomatoes in the summer and pickled beets in the winter. The wine list emphasises obscure wines from the Mediterranean, Slovenia, and Croatia.
• 95 Commercial Street, Brooklyn, +1 718 389 0640, glasserienyc.com. Open Mon-Fri 5.30pm-11.30pm; Sat-Sun 10am-11pm

Mexico 2000, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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 Photograph: Editions Jonglez

Mexico 2000 is a hole-in-the-wall bodega in south Williamsburg under the elevated J-M-Z train tracks that gave Jay-Z his name – and got its own name because it opened in 2000. It made its mark on the NYC culinary map in 2012 when Alex Stupak of Empellón made a dish inspired by the chilaquiles from the bodega. But fans of Mexico 2000 had been going there for years, picking up basics such as plantain chips, sweet breads, lotto tickets, toilet paper, and canned foods from rickety shelves, while grabbing cheap, authentic Mexican food. Besides the famous chilaquiles, there are tacos, burritos, chimichangas, tortas, huaraches,sopes, enchiladas, tostadas, and more, along with soups and stews. There are actually two locations of Mexico 2000 on the same block now. The success of the tiny bodega led to an expansion two doors down into a formal restaurant, but the taqueria in the tiny bodega remains active despite the growth.
• 367 Broadway, Brooklyn, +1 718 782 3797, no website. Open daily 8.30am-10.30pm

Ganesh Temple Canteen, Queens-Flushing

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 Photograph: Editions Jonglez

Across from a row of family houses in Flushing is a large building with an entrance so intricately carved it looks like it’s straight from a temple in India. The Ganesh Temple, as it’s colloquially known, opened in 1970 (with the current building dating from 1977). Its official name is the Hindu Temple Society of North America, because when founded in 1970 it was the first and only traditional Hindu temple in the country. Downstairs is a canteen serving dosas,masalas, and mango lassi so good it warranted a visit from Anthony Bourdain. There are 17 variations of dosas, and an additional four varieties available only on weekends. The all-vegetarian canteen is open seven days a week from morning until night with Ganesha in gold overseeing the basement dining space. Afterwards, grab desserts at the sweet shop in the Swaminarayan Hindu temple just down the street.
• 45-47 Bowne Street, +1 718 460 8484, nyganeshtemplecanteen.com. Open daily 8.30am-9pm

New York Hidden Bars & Restaurants, by Michelle Young and Laura Itzkowitz, is out now, published by Jonglez Publishing, for £12.99. To order a copy for £10.39, including UK p&p, visit bookshop.theguardian.com or call on 0330 333 6846

By Michelle Young and Laura Itzkowitz

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