10 Best Bars in Chelsea, New York City

Housed behind an unremarkable door in the stairwell of the subway station at the southeast corner of 7th Avenue and West 28th Street, this 600-square-foot speakeasy-like cocktail bar has enough room for 30 lucky people. The dimly lit space pops with blue and purple hues, as a DJ plays funk and electronica. The experience will quickly make you forget you're drinking a nicely made (but somewhat pricey) cocktail in a subway station.

If you're looking to sip a classic cocktail in a space that harkens back to a bygone, old New York era, point yourself to the legendary Chelsea Hotel. The Lobby Bar, which opened in 2022 after the hotel was fully renovated, is vintage to the nth degree. Think: opulent chandeliers, a marble-topped bar, high ceilings, wood-paneled walls, and plush vintage furniture. And of course, there's a menu of classic libations, including re-created drinks from around the world. Pro tip: go for the ultrachilled Dukes Martini from the Dukes Hotel in London.

Bar B is kind of an odd duck, but in the most charming of ways. It's a narrow, no-bigger-than-a-hallway venue with no seats—just standing room at a long counter (unless you can nab a sidewalk table). It's also a hybrid, of sorts: there are cocktails, like an excellent Negroni, but also excellent Italian and Iberian snacks, too. Sip a glass of wine and nosh on chicken-liver-pâté-topped bruschetta, or tuck into a bowl of penne all'Amatriciana. Best of all, everything is very nicely priced.

New Yorkers love a speakeasy. Hidden behind a clandestine door inside jewel box–size Stone Street Coffee, 1920s-esque Bathtub Gin is a dark, brooding yet sleek spot for elevated and creative libations using unlikely ingredients like quail eggs, salt-and-vinegar potato chips, and graham crackers. Not surprisingly, the bar stocks an impressive array of gin, but cocktails are also made with rum, vodka, whisky, and other spirits. There's a food menu of bar bites like chicken sliders and charcuterie.

It's a restaurant. It's a bar. It's a winery. But above all the newish location of City Winery at Pier 57 is a music venue, attracting top-notch artists and comedians. The 350-seat auditorium is an intimate spot to catch a show. Singer Rufus Wainwright, comedian John Mulaney, and musician Norah Jones have graced the stage. Even the late, great Prince put on unannounced shows at City Winery. The in-house eatery serves everything from burgers to seafood to flatbreads, and the bar has 12 different wines on tap.

Set in an erstwhile horse stable, The Eagle is the New York City hub for the community of leather fetishists and an institution in the local gay community. Leather daddies and those who love them frequent this bi-level chainlink-clad bar to show off their leather-clad bodies and sip beer and cocktails. The bar is also a den of sorts for the local bear community. During the warm-weather months, the anything-goes rooftop bar is open. One need not be dressed in leather or particularly hirsute to enter. Everyone is welcome.

This 10,000-square-foot club—complete with a chandelier and roomy downstairs lounge—has scheduled shows by popular headliners such as Roy Wood Jr. and Kate Clinton, as well as occasional pop-in performances by big-name funny folks like Dave Chappelle and Lewis Black.

At this gay bar, the plentiful flat-screen TVs and cheap Budweisers draw sports enthusiasts of every stripe, from athlete to armchair. The bar also sponsors—and frequently hosts parties for—a number of local gay sports teams. The two-for-one happy hour in the early evening on weekdays is one of the best deals in the neighborhood.

At this Southern-inflected bar you can have your cocktails and eat your fried oysters and smoked cheddar biscuits, too. Located in far West Chelsea (a short walk from the 7 line's 34th Street–Hudson Yards subway station), this relaxed watering hole from New York restaurateur and hospitality king Danny Meyer is an intimate space to quaff and nibble the night away. The bar also offers a nice happy hour with discounted signature cocktails from 3 to 7 pm.