The 15 very best happy hours in NYC

Weekdays 4-6pm

This august institution of imbibing with oodles of style toasts to happy hour with $8 Moscow mules and whiskey sours so nice you're likely stay a little longer for regular prices. 

Weekdays 3-6pm

Mary’s has everything you could want in a LES bar: an icy martini, solid bar food (Ritz crackers and pimento cheese dip or fried cheese curds might just help you ward off that looming hangover) and late-night dancing under a glittering disco ball. Happy hour brings $12 cocktails (that’s $3 off the regular price for their martinis, mules and more), $6 drafts and $10 wine. As a bonus, stop by on “Martini Mondays” to grab an “Adult Happy Meal” all day long—that’s a martini and a basket of fries for $18.

Mon-Thurs 4-7pm and Friday 3-7pm

Sweet Afton's sweet deal is $2 off house spirits and select beers and wines. That math adds up to suds that start at $5 and wines as low as $10. 

Daily 12-6pm

This just-opened Ecuadorian sports bar in Park Slope serves up hard-to-find dishes like salchipapas, made with thin-sliced sausage and salty fries and ideal for eating under a giant TV. At happy hour, they serve up a mini version of salchipapas for $8, plus a $5 Ecuadorian hot dog with chorizo and crushed potato chips on a baguette. Wings are only a buck then, too, and they go down real easy with $5 Coronas, Corona Lights and Miller High Lifes. Classic margs, daiquiris and mezcal negronis are $10, and wines and sangria are $9. 

Tues-Thurs 5-7pm and 9-10pm

One of our favorite restaurants of 2020, lovely Kokomo has two rounds of happy hour, each with a $10 frozen rum punch and spritz, plus beer and wine for $6-7. 

Weekdays 5-7pm

Served only at the bar or under Sereneco’s “tree table” (aka its Amstel King Ficus, for those of us who got super into plants during the pandemic), Sereneco’s happy hour offers $10 cocktails, $10 wine and $5 beers. Designed to be bright, airy and calm, the space is ideal for sipping a drink at the end of a long day of work. 

Weekdays 4-6pm

Need a quiet oasis to read a book or escape the raucousness of other bars' happy hours? Settle into this tasteful, magical lil Greenpoint drinkery for $10 cocktails, $10 wine and $6 beers. 

Daily 2–7pm 

At this iconic dive bar’s happy hour, you can get $2 off liquor drinks, $1 off suds and the beer shot combo, which pairs a $2 well shot with your beer of choice. 

Monday-Thursday 5-8pm

Las’ Lap’s rum cocktails warm up even the coldest of New York days. Try the Ocho Old Fashioned, where the whiskey is swapped for golden rum, or a daiquiri, made simply and expertly with Bacardi, sugar and lime. Las’ Lap is named for the last hour of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago — at happy hour, though, when cocktails are $13, you’ll just be getting started. 

Daily until 7pm 

This romantic Rivington Street wine bar has been a backdrop for date night, meet-cutes and self love since 2006. Its happy hour encourages infatuation with rosé, red, white and sparkling wine for under $10. 

Tue-Thu 5-7pm, Sun 4–7pm

Picturesque cocktails are served in a narrow 30-seat space fitted with blue-and-gold damask wallpaper and budget replicas of famous paintings at this stylish, Paris-inspired staple. Expect two-for-one deals on select drinks.

Daily noon–6pm

Add some snacks to your sips at this 58-seat spot, which is designed with colorful scalloped tiles and a shingled outside awning that emulates fish scales. Here, you’ll find a happy hour deal that includes a half-dozen oysters for $11, $7 lagers, $11 wines and $13 house cocktails.

Daily until 7pm

Hours of cheap drinks ($3 and $4 select pints) could have you struggling to stay upright at this tried-and-true East Village favorite, but only if you insist on sampling all 19 different suds available on tap.

Weekdays noon–7pm

The spiked frozen coffee at this southern fried Williamsburg hang is so good you could almost forget Skinny Dennis even has a happy hour. You shouldn’t, though—it features $1 off drafts and well drinks. There’s also often live country music from locals, so you can settle in on the dive’s pickup-truck bench or church-pew seats and tap your toes. (Be a pal and tip the musicians, please.)