Pier I Café

Just enter Riverside Park at West 72nd Street and walk down a couple of blocks, and you’ll find this modest riverfront bar that the locals have been keeping a secret. Two heavy-duty grills and a few dozen small tables are all you’ll need—and all there is. The beer and wine list may be pedestrian ($5 Corona, Stella, Sam Adams Summer Ale and $6 glasses of Columbia Valley pinot grigio), but not so the Hudson views.