Best Bars in NYC That Take Reservations (2026)

Getting drinks in New York shouldn't always mean standing in a line or hovering around a packed bar hoping two seats open up. Plenty of the city's best cocktail bars, wine bars, rooftops and lounges let you reserve a table ahead of time.

We checked each bar's booking setup and stuck to places where a reservation works for drinks, not restaurants that happen to have a bar. Some are easy to book weeks ahead. Others, like Double Chicken Please and schmuck., release only a handful of tables and still run mostly on walk-ins. Every bar below opens with a label that tells you which kind it is.

Reservation policies were last checked in October 2026.

Below 14th Street has the densest concentration of reservable cocktail bars on this list. The catch is that several only reserve part of the room, so read the booking line before you count on a table.

Flatiron, NoMad and Gramercy have some of the clearest reservation systems on this list. Most of these bars publish a release window, and a few are hotel bars that treat a reservation as the normal way in.

Midtown is where a reservation matters most, since you're usually working around a show, a train or a dinner. These cover speakeasies, a sky-high lounge, wine bars near the theaters and two of the best rooms at Grand Central and Rockefeller Center.

Fewer options up here, but both are worth the trip. They're relaxed cocktail bars that take Resy bookings and still hold seats for walk-ins.

Brooklyn's best cocktail bars lean walk-in, so the ones that do take bookings are worth knowing. Williamsburg has the views, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill have the classics, and Astoria gets a pick of its own.

Know the release window. Sip & Guzzle opens 10 days ahead at midnight and Double Chicken Please six days ahead. The Portrait Bar and Temple Bar open two weeks out, Clemente Bar three weeks, Bar Blondeau 28 days, and Nubeluz and Bar Madonna 30 days.

Check for a minimum. Most bar reservations are free. The exceptions here are Martiny's ($50 per person) and Overstory ($75 per person).

Check what you're booking. A reservation doesn't always mean the bar itself. At Maison Premiere it's the dining room or garden, at The Dead Rabbit it's The Parlor upstairs, and at The Flatiron Room drinks-only tables start after 10pm.

For more than six, look for the group rules. Subject takes up to eight on weekends and twelve on weekdays, Raines Law Room at The William books up to 15 by email, and The Honey Well takes up to 12 online.

No booking? Go at opening. Most of these bars keep seats for walk-ins, and they're easiest to get in the first half hour.