The best piña coladas in NYC

Bright-blue drinks with wee umbrellas and tiki masks hanging on bamboo walls make a fitting setting for Bococa beachcombers sipping a "skinny" colada. The lighter indulgence at this Carroll Gardens oasis is a non-blended version with the same rich coconut taste.

Save for a marquee sign spelling out BEACH, a few rogue pineapples peeking out from behind the bar and framed portraits of Hawaiian-shirted actors (Robin Williams, Harrison Ford), the inviting space reads more industrial than island-inspired. But then a pink-shirted, pinker-haired bartender brings you a crushed-ice Kilauea Colada fanned with a paper umbrella, and with one sip, it starts to feel less Brooklyn and more Big Island. The allspice, bitter blood orange and absinthe give a tang and make for a less-cloying sipper.

Operating through the end of September, the tropical rooftop pop-up at the Sixty LES Hotel offers summery cocktails from the NoMad vet Ivo Diaz at the Tahitian-themed bar, including the Mama Colada. Hit refresh with rum, pineapple, and simple syrup, finished with lime and toasted coconut.

The light fixtures are glowing candy-colored blowfish, the walls sport gaudy ’50s tropical prints, and the drink menu is heavy on beach-bar standards like the piña colada. Choose banana, mango or strawberry as the base flavor for a classic colada at the ultimate Hawaiian-shirt hangout.

If it’s not broken, it doesn’t need fixing. If you’re looking for something tried and true, this smooth, classic piña colada has no airs about it. It’s reliably refreshing. Get to this subterranean Midtown surf shack to try it out.

This Hudson River–hugging nautical “dive bar” from Taavo Somer (Freemans) and Ken Friedman (the Spotted Pig) is a confusing—but successful—high-low hybrid. Voted the best bar in the West Village/Meatpacking in the Time Out Love New York awards in 2014, the Rusty Knot knows a thing or two about slingin’ cocktails. The evidence is in their sugary-sweet and spiced colada, a thick blend of cocout milk, pineapple juice and, most importantly, rum. 

Frozen drinks are served on the rooftop at this bi-level behemoth beer hall, so head straight up and get your hands on a signature piña colada mixed with strawberry daiquiri. It may not be a beach getaway, but a 13-foot-wide screen dedicated to soccer, and Manhattan (and McCarren Park) views certainly don't hurt. 

The frozen piña colada (dubbed a “frozie”) at Battery Harris is poured and blended with makrut lime–infused white rum, Coco Lopez and pineapple juice. The name of the bar itself is a nod to an abandoned beach bunker in Fort Tilden park—and shore-inspired decor, including colorful stained-wood interiors, a transparent geometric roof and a wraparound deck, will get you in the spirit as you sip on one of these blended beauties.