The Best Happy Hours in NYC
Fifteen happy hours worth leaving work early for, from $1.50 oysters in the West Village to $10 negronis on MacDougal and half-price wings in Williamsburg, with the days and hours for each.
The best happy hour in New York right now is the $1.50 oyster at Due West in the West Village, Monday to Thursday from 5 to 7pm. After that, it depends on what you want: $10 negronis at Caffe Dante, half off every drink at Down the Hatch, half-price oysters at Cull & Pistol, $10 cocktails at Clover Club. Below are fifteen happy hours across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, grouped by neighborhood, each with the days, the hours and what things actually cost.
One rule for the whole list: we only included deals that the venue publishes itself (on its site or menu) or that a 2026 listing confirms. Happy hours change with the seasons and the staff, and the internet is full of 2019 deals at bars that no longer exist. If you are planning a group outing, call ahead. Most of these deals are bar only, so arrive early enough to claim stools.
Midtown gets its own list, since the office crowd is its own ecosystem: see the best happy hours in Midtown Manhattan.
At a glance.
- 01Due West$1.50 oysters in the West Village
- 04Down the HatchHalf off all drinks for five hours on weekdays
- 09Cull & PistolHalf off the entire oyster list for a comparative tasting
- 14Clover Club$10 cocktails and half price oysters at a top Brooklyn bar
- Cost
- Deals include $1.50 oysters, $6 well drinks and $10 cocktails
- When
- Most happy hours run on weekday afternoons, some all night Monday
- Where
- Fifteen happy hours across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens
West Village and Greenwich Village
A small, warm corner bar on West 10th that has quietly become the best-value oyster stop below 14th Street. Happy hour oysters are $1.50 each (six minimum), and the drink list keeps pace: draft cocktails at $11 and $12, a shot and a shorty for $14, red or white wine at $9 and beer at $5 to $6. The draft Green-Witch, made with Greenhook Ginsmith gin, pamplemousse, absinthe, saffron and toasted rosemary, is stranger and better than a happy hour cocktail has any right to be.
Happy hour: Monday to Thursday 5 to 7pm, Friday 4 to 6pm. Go for: a dozen oysters and a Green-Witch. Know before you go: the six-oyster minimum is per order, so bring a friend or commit.
The MacDougal Street branch of the Mermaid group is a proper seafood happy hour, not just a raw bar discount. Chef's choice oysters and littleneck clams are $2 each (six minimum), clam chowder is $4, a mini fish taco is $4 and there is a clam slider for $9. Cocktails are $12, the Hugo Spritz is $10, wine is $10 and draft beer is $8. Monday is the move, because the deal runs all night.
Happy hour: Monday all night; Tuesday to Sunday 4:30 to 6pm. Go for: oysters, clams and a cup of chowder. Know before you go: it is steps from the Comedy Cellar, so it works before an early set.
Dante's negroni reputation is the reason this old Village cafe has lines at night, and the afternoon "Negroni Sessions" are the civilized way in: $10 negronis every day from 3 to 5pm. The expensive showpieces (the $90 Vintage Negroni made with 1970s Plymouth gin, and the flight) are excluded, which is fair. The Dante West Village outpost at 551 Hudson St runs a daily martini hour in the same 3 to 5pm slot, with select martinis at $10 per a current 2026 listing.
Happy hour: daily 3 to 5pm. Go for: a classic negroni at a sidewalk table. Know before you go: the specialty martinis (Caviar, Pornstar and friends) are not part of the West Village deal.
A basement bar with wings, loud music and the most generous published happy hour on this list: half off all drinks, Monday to Friday from 2 to 7pm. That is five hours. Jello shots and Michelob Ultra or Tecate are $5 all day, wings are $1 on Mondays, and hot dogs drop to $3 from midnight to 4am. It is a college bar and knows it, which is part of the appeal. For more in this spirit, see our dive bar guide.
Happy hour: Monday to Friday 2 to 7pm. Go for: Monday wings and half-price pitchers. Know before you go: it gets loud and young after 9pm.
East Village, Lower East Side and NoHo
A tiny natural wine bar with a serious kitchen, and one of the few happy hours in the city aimed at people who care about what is in the glass. From 4 to 6pm on weekdays and 3 to 5pm on weekends, every wine by the glass is $5 off, bottles are 10% off and every food item is $5 off. That last part is the steal, since the small plates here are the real thing. If this is your speed, our natural wine bar guide has more.
Happy hour: Monday to Friday 4 to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 3 to 5pm. Go for: two glasses of whatever skin-contact the bartender is excited about and two plates. Know before you go: the room seats very few; go right at opening.
A dark, unpretentious bar on East Houston with a happy hour that runs every day of the week until 7pm: $2 off draft beer, $6 well drinks, $6 house wine and $3 off frozen drinks. Six-dollar wells seven days a week, a block from the Broadway-Lafayette station, is a public service.
Happy hour: daily until 7pm. Go for: a well drink and a booth. Know before you go: there is a back room for parties if you are organizing a group.
A German beer garden off the Bowery with a long, generous happy hour on the slow nights. On Monday and Tuesday the deal runs until 10pm; Wednesday and Thursday it ends at 7pm. Drafts are $2 off, a one-liter stein is $16, pitchers are $29, wine by the glass is $2 off and a beer flight is $12. On Sundays from noon to 2pm, classic espresso martinis are half price (normally $20).
Happy hour: Monday and Tuesday until 10pm; Wednesday and Thursday until 7pm. Go for: a liter stein in the garden on a Monday. Know before you go: the fall menu has cider donut and pumpkin spice espresso martinis at full price, $22.
SoHo and Chelsea
The old SoHo dive was reborn a few years ago as a polished neighborhood bar with a good kitchen, and its happy hour is one of the best deals in a very expensive zip code. Oysters, raw or roasted, are $12 a half dozen or $24 a dozen. The California Dreamin' and the Pink Sand Paloma are $13, a 50/50 martini is $14, wine is $14, and an espresso tonic is $9 (or $14 with bourbon).
Happy hour: Sunday to Thursday 4 to 6pm. Go for: a 50/50 martini and a half dozen roasted oysters. Know before you go: no Friday or Saturday deal.
The Lobster Place's sit-down oyster bar inside Chelsea Market takes half off its entire oyster list on weekdays from 4 to 6pm, with drink specials alongside. The list runs to roughly a dozen varieties, East and West Coast, which makes this the best place in the city to do a cheap comparative tasting. Our oysters and raw bars guide has more on the room.
Happy hour: Monday to Friday 4 to 6pm. Go for: one of every oyster on the list. Know before you go: Chelsea Market is a tourist maze by 5pm; enter from 9th Avenue.
Financial District
A Mexican cantina on the Stone Street end of FiDi with a clear, posted 2026 happy hour. House margaritas are $10 (normally $14), frozen margaritas are $9, house wine is $7, Mexican beer is $6, chips and salsa are $5 and queso and chips are $10. It runs Tuesday to Thursday, 2:30 to 6:30pm, bar only. The window is long enough to catch an early exit from the office. The Financial District guide has where to go after.
Happy hour: Tuesday to Thursday 2:30 to 6:30pm, bar only. Go for: a frozen margarita and queso. Know before you go: Tuesday is trivia night, from 7pm.
Upper West Side and Upper East Side
The Upper West Side Mermaid runs the same excellent deal as its downtown sibling: oysters and littlenecks at $2 each (six minimum), clam chowder at $4, fish tacos at $4, and Aperol spritzes and margaritas at $12. It is one of the few good happy hours on Columbus Avenue, and a fine move before a show at the Beacon.
Happy hour: Monday all night; Tuesday to Sunday 4:30 to 6pm. Go for: a dozen oysters on a Monday. Know before you go: the bar fills with neighborhood regulars early; tables are not part of the rush.
A handsome Second Avenue bar that does a little of everything, all of it well. Weekday happy hour from 3 to 6pm brings Penrose cocktails at $12, Pinot Noir or Pinot Grigio at $12 and a mug of Spaten for $5. After 10pm every night, a spicy margarita, an espresso martini or a beer and a shot is $10, and weekends from 9:30am to 3:30pm the bar knocks $2 off brunch drinks. The Upper East Side guide has the rest of the neighborhood.
Happy hour: Monday to Friday 3 to 6pm; nightly $10 specials after 10pm. Go for: a $5 Spaten at the bar. Know before you go: it is open until 4am every day.
Brooklyn
A barbecue hall a block from the Williamsburg waterfront with a working person's happy hour: $6 Shiner Bock, an $8 pulled pork sandwich and half-price wings, weekdays from 4 to 7pm at the bar. Thursdays bring all-you-can-eat wings for $25. It is the most food you can get for the least money on this list.
Happy hour: Monday to Friday 4 to 7pm, bar only. Go for: a pulled pork sandwich and a Shiner. Know before you go: check the specials calendar on the site, which is updated weekly. Our Williamsburg guide has more.
Julie Reiner's Smith Street cocktail parlor is one of the best bars in the country, and its weekday happy hour is the cheapest way to find out why. From 4 to 6pm, Monday to Friday, cocktails (including the namesake Clover Club and the Kula Negroni) are $10, wine is $10, Brooklyn Lager is $7, bar snacks are $5 and oysters are half price. Full-price cocktails here run nearly double. See our cocktail bar guide for the rest of the canon.
Happy hour: Monday to Friday 4 to 6pm. Go for: a Clover Club and half-price oysters. Know before you go: the front bar is the happy hour zone; the back parlor is often booked for events.
Queens
An Astoria gastropub with a big back patio and a straightforward deal: $10 select house cocktails (starred on the menu) and $10 beer and shot specials, Monday to Thursday from 4 to 7pm and Friday from 3 to 7pm. It is one of the neighborhood's default after-work bars, and the patio is the reason people stay for dinner. More in our Astoria guide.
Happy hour: Monday to Thursday 4 to 7pm, Friday 3 to 7pm. Go for: a starred house cocktail on the patio. Know before you go: no weekend happy hour.
Places we left off
Some famous happy hours did not make the cut because they no longer exist or we could not confirm them. Maison Premiere in Williamsburg, once the city's most famous oyster happy hour, says on its own site that the oyster happy hour is not currently offered. Several bars advertise a happy hour window but publish no prices, so we left them for a future update rather than guess. And a long list of blogs still recommends bars that closed years ago. If a deal you love is missing, it is probably one of those three.
How to use this list
Pick the neighborhood, then pick the drink. For oysters, it is Due West, the two Mermaids, Cull & Pistol and Milady's. For cocktails, it is Clover Club and Dante. For the cheapest possible night, Down the Hatch and Botanica. And for a happy hour that turns into dinner, Ruffian and Mable's.
Happy hour is where New Yorkers actually meet each other, so treat it like a reservation you did not have to make. Arrive at the start, sit at the bar, tip on the full price, and order the thing the deal was built around.
Questions, answered.
- What time is happy hour in NYC?
- Most New York happy hours run somewhere between 3pm and 7pm on weekdays, with 4 to 6pm the most common window. A few, like Down the Hatch in the West Village, start as early as 2pm, and some oyster bars run their deal all night on Mondays.
- Where is the best oyster happy hour in NYC?
- Due West in the West Village has $1.50 oysters Monday to Thursday 5 to 7pm and Friday 4 to 6pm. The Mermaid Oyster Bar and The Mermaid Inn do $2 oysters and clams all night Monday and 4:30 to 6pm the rest of the week, and Cull & Pistol in Chelsea Market takes half off its oyster list weekdays 4 to 6pm.
- Are there happy hours on weekends in NYC?
- Some. Ruffian in the East Village runs 3 to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, Caffe Dante does $10 negronis 3 to 5pm daily, and Botanica on East Houston runs its deal every day until 7pm.
- Do NYC happy hour deals apply at tables?
- Often not. Many deals, including Mable's Smokehouse and Mad Dog & Beans, are bar only. Assume the bar is where the discount lives and arrive early enough to get a stool.
- Where are the best happy hours in Midtown?
- Midtown has its own guide. See our list of the best happy hours in Midtown Manhattan for Grand Central, Bryant Park, Hudson Yards and theater district picks.
Next up
The Best Oysters and Raw Bars in New York CityWhere to find the city's sharpest mignonettes, deepest raw bars, and oyster happy hours that actually justify leaving your apartment.Read it Get the Shout Sheet.
One email every Thursday with what to do in New York this weekend. Free.
