4 Best Bars in NoLIta, New York City

Ruining livers since 1880, dark, narrow, and grungy Milano's is one of the best dive bars in the city, its Italian name a reminder of the time when Little Italy stretched all the way up to Houston Street. After entering, let your eyes adjust to the lack of light and then grab a stool at the long bar. Patrons and bartenders might appear intimidating at first but after a few potent well drinks, you'll stagger out of Miliano's with a few new friends. Open from 8 am to 4 am every day.

This local dive bar has occupied the same corner, in various guises, since 1920, making it a true stalwart among the neighborhood's glam boutiques. Staff pour cheap well drinks and beer at all hours. It lives up to its motto—"Life is short. Drink early."—by opening at 8 am six days a week.

This unpretentious lounge is high on the sweet factor and luckily low on the vicious attitudes, which helps explain why it's been consistently popular since it opened in 1998. There's a lovely back garden that's more private than the sceney bars you might otherwise hit in SoHo and NoLIta.

As the name suggests, Tom and Jerry's is pretty much an every-person's bar, a casual mainstay on the New York scene that caters mostly to locals who come for everything from casual afternoon beers to late-night cocktails. There's seating at the long bar or at picnic tables under the windows.