Located at 54 Jay Street in Brooklyn’s DUMBO, Olympia Wine Bar is just what this neighborhood needs: A chill, nabe wine bar. Olympia offers a dozen bottled/glass wines. A few small tables fill out the space, but it’s mostly bar-style seating. Olympia offers innovative wine bar food and a killer cheese plate (we hope some Manhattan wine bars take notice). Next time you’re in DUMBO, you need to check out Olympia.
Located at 63 West 38th Street atop the Refinery Hotel, the Refinery Rooftop Bar offers beautiful south and west views of Midtown South, including a front row view of the Empire State Building. The place is spacious with three areas: one indoor, one hybrid indoor-outdoor with a retractable roof and an outdoor space. Reservations are recommended. While we found the guest list at the door rather unnecessary, this is a good place to visit for after-work or a date.
Located at 37 East 28th Street in the southern end of Manhattan’s Murray Hill, Snafu 28 is the second location of the famous Midtown East spot. Fourteen tap beers are offered. The long bar area takes up most of the space, along with some banquette seating and high-top tables in back. Six TVs available for your sports viewing pleasure. No kitchen, so you’ll have to eat somewhere nearby.
The cheese plate at Olympia Wine Bar in Brooklyn. We’ve noticed recently that some cheese plates at wine bars are getting a bit skimpy on the cheese servings. Not the case at Olympia. Full review of Olympia Wine Bar forthcoming.
Located at 121 Ludlow Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Amuse is a cool new wine and beer spot. Eight tap beers served, but you come mainly for the wine (no hard liquor available).
Located at 38 West 26th Street (on a block fast becoming a huge NYC pub crawl destination with its half-dozen bars), Flatiron Hall is a beer bar from same owners as Houston Hall. This is the same beer selection brewed by Greenpoint Beerworks (who make beer for Heartland Brewery and Kelso). The food menu primarily consists of bistro fare. Spacious bar and dining room upstairs, including Prime seating by the windows for people watching on West 26th Street. The Beer hall is downstairs.
Located at 28 Greenwich Avenue in Manhattan’s West Village, Virgola is a long, narrow, cozy wine bar that seats at most 20 patrons at once. With mostly tables of two, with a couple of tables that seat 4-5, Virgola offers 12 wines by the glass and 15 by the bottle (all glass wines are also available by bottle) and three bottled beers. Limited food menu includes three types of oysters, meat/cheese offerings and a few specials like shrimp cocktail. Even though the place is small, no reservations are available, unless you have a party of four. The place opens daily at 5pm, so we recommend getting there at 5:05pm!
Located at 4476 Broadway near 191st Street at the northern edge of Washington Heights, Buddha Beer Bar, with its 26 beer taps, most likely offers the largest draught beer selection of any bar in the northern tip of Manhattan. Budda Beer Bar is fairly spacious, with a mix of hi and low rise tables scattered throughout the space. The food offerings encompass a mix of bar food, pizzas and Mexican fare. We look forward to returning here.
Located at 2130 Broadway (between 74th and 75th Streets) in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Beacon Bar is to the right of the lobby of the Beacon Hotel. During our visit at happy hour, the space had a laid back, but upscale feel to it. We did spot not-in-use velvet ropes near the entrance, so later at night, Beacon Bar probably plays the ‘velvet rope’ game, which is a bit rare for this part of town. Aside from the physical bar, the space is filled with mostly two-seat tables and lounge-style seating. Three draught beers and another dozen bottled beers are offered; wine and cocktails are also available.
Located at 123 Allen Street in Manhattan’s LES, Antler Beer & Wine Dispensary is a beer/wine only spot located just north of the Allen & Delancey Street intersection. A few steps down from street level is the long and narrow spot with a bar in front and a seating area in the back offering assorted styles of seating. Seven tap beers, two tap wines and 12 glasses of wine are available. For food, a small selection of wine bar-type snacks including chacuterie is available. Antler is worth a visit next time you’re on the Lower East Side.
