Listening bars are everywhere in New York, but Bar Orai’s location stands out. The space, hidden on the second floor of a Midtown building, is designed like a living room with midcentury couches and armchairs that make it feel low-key and relaxing. Stop by for Japanese whiskey, and listen to songs from the 2,000 vinyl records on its walls. There’s food like katsu sandwiches (the team also owns East Village Japanese restaurant AOI Kitchen). The bar has no website, and reservations are a must.

The Tusk Bar serves smart remixes of cocktails you already know: There’s a play on a Bloody Mary made with soy and Clamato and a martini mixed with shallot vinegar. The food menu comes from the team behind Wildair and includes a shrimp cocktail, chickpea fritters with Thai basil aioli, and a passionfruit pavlova. The bar is part of a trio of projects at the Evelyn Hotel, with a restaurant and cafe to come. It’s quiet here, making it good for meetings, gossiping, or both.

Housed in a “moody, cozy space” in what had been the newer location of the stalwart diner, Chat ‘N Chew, Another Country is a listening bar named for the 1962 James Baldwin novel. The food menu includes fried peanuts, fried chicken, and a sardine sandwich, while drinks in the $16 to $18 range come with names like “No Room for Squares” that show off mezcal, Campari, Carpano, and mole bitters. It’s owned by Botanica’s Mark Connell (also a current partner in Brooklyn pizzeria Oma Grassa and the Ridgewood bar Nowadays), and DJ and bartender Timothy Jenkins.

Sip & Guzzle is two destinations in one. The lower level of the bar, called Sip, is run by Shingo Gokan: Before opening eight bars across Japan and China, Gokan had been the bar director for a decade at Angel’s Share in Manhattan, which opened in 1993, closed, then reopened in July. The upper level, named Guzzle, is overseen by Employees Only alum Steve Schneider; he serves classics and more familiar cocktails, plus swanky izakaya fare and Japanese street food from Mike Bagale, former chef of three-Michelin-starred Alinea in Chicago.

Mexican cocktails are finally getting their due. New bars like Superbueno and Lolita have been putting smoky, salty drinks in the spotlight. Bar Nena is another one to watch. The West Village bar from the owners of Jajaja serves mixed Mexican drinks, like carajillos and micheladas, plus fermented beverages, like pulque and tepache. The small food menu has Mexican deviled eggs, chicharrones, and chorizo tacos.

This Mexican cocktail bar is run by a former employee of Ghost Donkey, a popular bar in the East Village that closed during the pandemic. The bar stays open until 2 a.m. or later every night with a rowdy crowd that chases mezcal shots with beef consomé. Cocktails, like a green mango martini and a salted tamarind milk punch, start at around $20.

William Elliott, bar director at sibling location, Maison Premiere, oversees the beverage menu at Tigre, which pulled ideas from Playboy’s Host & Bar Book. Cocktails have names like the Rolls Royce and Mister Softee. The space features a horseshoe-shaped bar that evokes “residential sexiness in New York from the 1970s, ’80s, and maybe even ’90s,” according to New York Magazine.

Is anyone surprised that Hellbender is a hit? The new cocktail bar, from the owners of the American restaurant, Rolo’s, has customers lining up for carajillos and margaritas in a dining room with booth seating and a stuffed jaguar. Hellbender is a bar, but you could also treat it like a restaurant: There’s a full food menu with fried fish sandwiches, queso fundido, shrimp cocktail, and more.