The coolest bars in New York City right now

Lara Kramer/Fodor'sTravel

New Yorkers often love their local watering hole, but there are too many choices to remain loyal to just one bar.

From creative cocktail dens to boisterous beer halls to intimate wine bars, here are the hippest drinking establishments in New York City right now.

Bar Goto

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Japanese-style attention to detail is on display at Bar Goto, a Lower East Side watering hole with a reputation for hospitality from Pegu Club veteran Kenta Goto. Japanese comfort food — from miso wings to a variety of okonomiyaki, a savory pancake-like dish — are served alongside craft cocktails inspired by Japan with ingredients including miso, yuzu, and sake. Dimly lit and tight on space, this is an ideal date-night spot. Try the Far East Side, with sake, tequila, shiso, elderflower, lemon, and yuzu bitters.

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Eli's Night Shift

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Walk by this outpost of the Eli Zabar empire on the Upper East Side by day and you'll find a café serving sandwiches and coffee, but once the night shift begins, the focus changes to craft beer. Ten local craft beers are on tap here, and they change weekly. Oysters, porchetta sliders, and one hefty burger are also served. The focus here is definitely on beer, but the cocktail list is tempting, too; indecisive drinkers should put their fate into the bartender's capable hands with the Bartender's Choice.

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The Bennett

The Bennett

On a prime stretch of West Broadway in Tribeca, The Bennett is a new cocktail bar from the team behind Raines Law Room and Dear Irving. Interiors are handsome, with a plush banquette running along one wall, but during the summer outdoor tables on the sidewalk can't be beat. Alongside small bites (we love the cauliflower croquettes with blue cheese and pepper jelly), sip a house cocktail such as the Dove Dispatch, with tequila, Campari, red bell pepper, grapefruit, and chili salt.

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