Bars with fireplaces

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Manhattan | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island

WEST VILLAGE

Blind Tiger Ale House
This welcome break from the ice-cream, smoke and T-shirt shops lining Bleecker Street is a beer drinker’s heaven—there are more than 100 either on tap or bottled. Connoisseurs can pick a specialty brew from any number of countries, or stick with a domestic like Sixpoint or Sierra Nevada, all of which nicely wash down the kitchen’s small plates, such as deviled eggs, seven-pepper chili, or a toasted cheddar melt with roasted bacon, apple, onion and cheddar cheese. 281 Bleecker St at Jones St (212-462-4682, blindtigeralehouse.com)

Amity Hall
In a space that was once a cooperage—that is, a barrel manufacturer—comes this bi-level beer hall in the West Village. Forty taps will dispense mostly craft brews, including domestic and international picks like Chicago’s Goose Island IPA and Belgium’s Chimay Tripel. Or nurse a whiskey or winter cocktail beside one of Amity’s two working fireplaces. Look out for a variety of stuffed burgers on the food menu. 80 W 3rd St between Sullivan and Thompson Sts (212-677-2290, amityhallnyc.com)

Highlands
This new Scottish gastropub, designed by Joe Calabrese of AvroKo, features a dining room and library decked out in vintage leather furniture and stuffed stag heads—ideal for savoring the extensive Scotch collection and cocktails based on the peaty spirit. There’s a selection of microbrews from Scotland, such as the award-winning Bitter & Twisted IPA, while traditional dishes include Cullen Skink, a cream-based soup with smoked cod. 150–152 W 10th St between Greenwich Ave and Waverly Pl (212-229-2670)

GREENWICH VILLAGE

The Dove
Artsy types, Bleecker Street buskers and East Village expats mix easily in this French-windowed basement bar, with its Persian rugs, gilded wall sconces and fireplace with an ornately carved custom-made mantle. In addition to including specialty cocktails and ten draft beers, the menu lists 13 wines by the glass, and barkeeps are happy to provide sample sips. Oenophile co-owner Frank Locker is out to convert Cosmoholics and hops-heads and will gladly give you directions to his wine store across town. 228 Thompson St between Bleecker and W 3rd Sts (212-254-1435)

Bar Next Door
Hidden in the basement of a beautifully restored townhouse, this bar feels like a secret enclave. A brick fireplace, low ceilings and stone-and-exposed-brick walls somehow provide superb acoustics for the regularly scheduled live jazz performances, which include the Joel Frahm Trio on Tuesdays, and Sunday night’s more mellow Afterglow, featuring local guitarist Peter Mazza. If you’d like something to nibble, a full menu is offered until 2am (3am on weekends) from the adjacent trattoria, La Lanterna di Vittorio. 129 MacDougal St between 3rd and 4th Sts (212-529-5945). Cover: $10; average drink: $10. AmEx, DC, Disc, MC, V.

EAST VILLAGE

The Lobby Bar at the Bowery Hotel
The Bowery Hotel’s ornate lobby bar, from veteran hoteliers Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson (both of the Maritime Hotel), is among the city’s most inviting settings for a drink. Plush velvet couches and chairs, Middle Eastern tilework, Turkish rugs and the green sprays of palm leaves share space with dark, wood-paneled walls sporting antlers and paintings of hounds. The combined effect falls between an officer’s club in the colonial Far East and an aristocrat’s hunting lodge in the British countryside. 335 Bowery at 3rd St (212-505-9100, theboweryhotel.com)

Shoolbred's
This East Village bar owes its atmosphere to co-owner and Tony–award-winning set designer William Ivey Long, who filled the cozy pub with stained-glass flourishes, an abundance of orchids, cherrywood-paneled walls and Louise Bourgeois lithographs. You’ll find low-key tipplers conversing over fresh-squeezed screwdrivers and greyhounds, made to order with an old-fashioned citrus press on the bar. 197 Second Ave between 12th and 13th Sts (212-529-0340, shoolbreds.com)

MIDTOWN

Haven
This 4,000-square-foot bi-level space straddles the line between food and drink destination, but the thoughtful cocktail program tilts the scales toward the latter. High-end tipples include the Jezebel (rose-infused gin with strawberries, basil and Meyer lemon) and Pears and Herbs (cognac, lemon, and pear puree with sage and thyme). For the holidays, try the peppermint truffle: organic Rain vodka infused with mint and bittersweet chocolate. 244 E 51st St between Second and Third Aves (212-906-9066, havennewyork.com)

Forty Eight
Despite the lavish setting and expense-account menu, this extravagant cocktail lounge is so surprisingly welcoming, it’s easy to forget you can’t afford it. The drinks deliver: A sugar-free Steve Collins is pleasantly bitter (though it is stevia-sweetened), combining Bombay Sapphire, citrus juices and ginger over crushed ice. The French Forty Eight defies its froufrou fixings (Hendrick’s gin, ginger liqueur, Roederer champagne and strawberries), adding up to a balanced treat. While there’s plenty here to make us skeptical—the prices, the buttoned-up crowd—the place turns out to be a New York paradox: a destination cocktail lounge in midtown. 1221 Sixth Ave at 48th St (212-554-4848, 48nyc.com)

MURRAY HILL

Black Bear Lodge
Once it starts snowing outside, head for this mock ski lodge, with antique decorations from Rocky Mountain states. For added authenticity, the fratty bar boasts Western saloon prices ($10 buckets of six beers till 7pm) and Big Buck Hunter tournaments. Beware: The bartenders don’t like to hear repeat songs from the jukebox and will dole out “punishment” shots to the offending parties…as well as to those who are caught dancing with the wooden black bear in the corner of the bar. 274 Third Ave between 21st and 22nd Sts (212-253-2178, bblnyc.com)

TRIBECA

Brandy Library
Labels are the primary reading material at this candlelit library, where shelves (complete with those old-fashioned wooden ladders on wheels) are stocked with bottles, not books. Lifelong learners can enroll in “spirit school” seminars that explore the history and production of particular boozes, or just study the hefty, leather-bound volume (complete with glossary) that passes for a drink menu. 25 North Moore St at Varick St (212-226-5545, brandylibrary.com)

UNION SQUARE AREA

The Beauty Bar
This nearly 14-year-old salon-cum-bar still does what it does best: $10 manicures with a drink (Mon–Fri 6–11pm; Sat, Sun 7–11pm) in front of chrome hair dryers, a buck off beverages from 5 to 9pm, nightly DJs and holiday-themed beauty pageants (including a Christmas one). When it was still a functioning hair salon—the Thomas Beauty Salon—indie gods Pavement shot the video for “Cut Your Hair” inside. 231 E 14th St between Second and Third Aves (212-539-1389, beautybar.com/ny/home.html)

Manhattan | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island