Bars

Our picks to bars and drinking in Harlem. Whether you’re looking for a cocktail or a beer, use our picks to the best new bars in Harlem

Harlem Tavern has a massive international craft-brew garden, with the 7,000-square-foot venue seats 350 and boasts 80 different beers (20 drafts and 60 bottles). Gather your crew around the umbrella-shaded tables on the patio or at one of the communal wood tables inside. The cocktails are strong drinks and for beer nerds they have a great selection and keep the seasonal beers in rotation.

This come-one, come-all suds haven at Bier International brings brew-house cred to Harlem. Beer is the thing, with a focus on crowd-pleasing classics rather than hard-to-find geek bait. A diverse crowd congregates around recycled-wood picnic tables to hoist a selection of ten mostly European drafts—such as malty imperial pints of Fuller’s London Pride—plus more than a dozen international bottles, including Harlem’s own Sugar Hill Golden Ale. The Euro-café vibe makes the bar a popular option.

Eighteen taps dispense craft and commercial beers (Goose Island, Stella) at the Harlem drinkery at Harlem Corner’s Social, decorated with exposed brick, white subway tiles and a working steel fireplace. Boozers can also choose from more than 40 bottles (Hitachino, Peroni) and classic cocktails at the 20-foot-long reclaimed-wood bar. Settle into a tweed banquette or communal high-top for a full-fledged meal—the menu includes lobster mac and cheese, semolina-crusted branzino and buttermilk-fried oysters.

Mi Abuelita Restaurant is called the Best Sports Bars in Harlem. “…I have always enjoy the authentic Spanish food. They use fresh ingredients and great service. Love the soft and perfectly made yellow rice with a little of garlic and the great affordable prices. If you stop by, say hello to Janet the owner and tell her Miguel sent you there,” Says Miguel Matos for Urbanspoon.com. Tip: I love miy garlic shrimp, better know as camerones ajiyo.

Red Rooster Harlem may be a restaurant first and foremost, but anyone who’s made the trek is just as likely to tell you about the scene: Marcus Samuelsson’s uptown gamble is a certified hot spot, with a nightly scrum as lively and diverse as any in town. Thankfully, some of the folks who have been lining up three deep at the front bar can now slip downstairs to Ginny’s Supper Club, a sprawling basement lounge modeled after the Harlem speakeasies of the ’20s. With its own menu.

Have a spot you love not listed here, post it in the comments section below.

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