Drinks in East Village

A plain corner bar at Avenue A and 2nd, open since 1985 in a building that went up in the late 1860s as the Teutonia Savings Bank. The ground-floor windows run nearly the full height of the wall. Upstairs is a lounge called Old Flings. Berlin, the music venue, is the basement of the same building.

Daily 2pm to 4am

Open since 1958 and named for the colors of the Ukrainian flag, still run by the founding family. Faded murals of the Ukrainian countryside on the walls, a pool table at the back and a jukebox. Drinks are among the cheapest left on this side of the neighborhood. Cards work, but the bar runs no tabs.

Reported from late afternoon until 4am, not confirmed by the operator

The New York branch of the Las Vegas bar, on Avenue A since 2006 and twenty years old in 2026. Punk on the jukebox and no cover at the door, ever. It shut for two weeks in 2024 to be filmed in and went straight back to normal. The Ass Juice shot is ordered once.

Reported open from mid-afternoon until 4am, not confirmed by the operator

Opened in August 2012 in the old Joe's Bar, which closed when its proprietor died. The people behind Mona's and Sophie's took it on, refinished the bar, and put the checkerboard floor and the wallpaper back in their original patterns rather than choosing new ones. Pool table and a jukebox.

Reported evenings into the early hours, not confirmed by the operator

Lucy Mickevicius took the bar over in December 1987 and ran it on her own terms until an eviction closed it in 2024. It reopened in March 2025 under Golden Age Hospitality with the ceiling soundproofed, the bathrooms made accessible and a new jukebox put in, and the rest of the character left alone.

Daily 5pm to 4am

Open at 15 East 7th Street since 1854, and it still sells one thing, its own ale, light or dark, two mugs at a time. Sawdust on the floor and cash in the till. No reservations, and there is no way around the door.

Mon to Sat, 11am to 1am. Sun, noon to 1am

Tiki crossed with rock and roll, open on 14th Street since 2002. The windowless back part runs live music most nights, rockabilly through surf and garage, and burlesque and open mics on other evenings. Piña coladas come out on fire. Totem mugs cost thirty dollars and the novelty glassware carries a deposit.

Reported open from 4pm with Monday closed, not confirmed by the operator

Also called Lys Mykyta, Ukrainian for sly fox, and licensed as Karpaty Pub. Narrow and dark, with squeaky seats facing a television and a few booths behind them. Shots run about four dollars. The kitchen next door will send pierogi over until 10:30pm.

Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm, closed Sunday and Monday

A pool table and cheap drafts have kept this East 5th Street bar useful. EV Grieve began in December 2007 as Sophie's Bar Blog, written to document the closing of this bar and Mona's after Page Six reported both were for sale. Neither one closed, and Rich Corton and Kirk Marcoe took Sophie's over in 2008.

Daily, 2:30pm to 4am

A narrow front bar on First Avenue with a rear alcove and a yard behind it, every surface layered in graffiti and stickers. It opened on St Marks Place in 1979 and moved here soon after, sat empty for years, and was brought back in 2008. The doors open at 10am.

Daily 10am to 4am

Scribbled-over walls, shelves of books nobody reads, a jukebox, and a projector at the back running B-movies on a loop with the sound down. It has held this end of Avenue A since the early nineties. Dark and cheap and loud.

Reported open from midday until 4am, not confirmed by the operator