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Where to Get a Drink on the Upper East Side, From East 62nd Street

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Quick answer

The good bars on the Upper East Side are mostly north of us, in the 70s and 80s on Second and Third Avenues, not in the East 60s. From East 62nd Street: Bemelmans Bar at Madison and 76th for the murals and the piano (there's a cover once the music starts), Jones Wood Foundry on East 76th for a pint in a back garden, Uva on Second at 77th for wine and a small plate, The Penrose on Second at 82nd for a good beer in a room you can talk in, and Auction House up on East 89th when you want candles and no televisions. The East 60s themselves are thin on bars, so plan on a 10 to 20 minute walk north.

People at tables in a warmly lit bar in the evening
The Upper East Side drinks early. Most of these rooms are full by 7 and calm again by 11. · Photo by Kevin Snow on Unsplash

Here's the honest version, which you won't get from a listicle: the East 60s are not a bar neighborhood. The blocks right around us are residential, and the ones that aren't are mostly restaurants with a bar you can sit at rather than bars you'd travel for. That's part of why it's quiet here at night, and we're not going to pretend it's something else.

So when you want a drink, you walk. North into the 70s and 80s on Second and Third Avenues is where the Upper East Side actually drinks, and it's 10 to 20 minutes on foot from our front door. West to Madison gets you the one genuinely famous bar up here. South into Turtle Bay gets you old saloons. All three directions work, and all three are walkable home, which is the real luxury of staying on this side of town.

A few things to know about drinking up here. It starts early and ends early: a room that's packed at 7:30 on a Thursday can be half empty by 10:45. Nobody is checking your outfit except at the Carlyle, where you'll feel better in a jacket. And most of these places take walk-ins, which is not true of the restaurants. If you want a specific table at Bemelmans, get there before the piano.

We've listed these by what you're in the mood for, with walk times from East 62nd Street. There's no bar in our building, so consider this the substitute.

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