Neighborhood Happy Hour Crawl: Walk the Upper West
Welcome to the Upper West Side, where Columbia students drink side by side with well-off, family-heading adults. The happy hour specials in this relatively calm, picturesque neighborhood correspond with the clientele, offering intellectual, cheap and swanky—sometimes all in the same place.
The Dead Poet
Happy hour deals last until 8 PM, and there’s always free popcorn to be had. The best time to come is on your birthday, because if it’s on the same day as a famous writer’s, you get a free drink. Themed bars are always good for something. (450 Amsterdam Ave.; 212-595-5670)
George Keeley
Though the happy hour savings aren’t the most significant here (just $1 off drafts), it’s worth attending because it starts at 2 PM. Precious few bars let in the discount drinkers that early on a regular basis. (485 Amsterdam Ave.; 212-873-0251)
Jake’s Dilemma
The happy hour here is one of the best deals you’ll find in the Upper West Side, offering half-off the bar between 4 PM and 8 PM every day. If you make it over later than that, you can still get $1 “mugs” of beer and $9 pitchers (domestic only), which isn’t too shabby. Definitely a “bro” bar, there’s foosball, buck hunter and even beer pong. (430 Amsterdam Ave.; 212-580-0556)
Dive 75
As you make your way towards Columbus Ave, you’ll find Dive 75 between that and Amsterdam. Happy hour specials run for two hours, so make it over during the 5 PM to 7 PM window to get $3 Bud bottles, $5 well drinks, $4 domestic drafts and $3 off the wine. If you swing by on Friday, you can start the happy times earlier, at 3 PM. (101 W 75th St.; 212-362-7518)
Prohibition
Having moved to Columbus (and to the classier end of the spectrum than Jake’s Dilemma), Prohibition offers nightly music and happy hours that include $5 frozen beverages (cosmos and margaritas) in addition to a variety of $4 (okay, just the Miller Light is $4) and $5 beers. (503 Columbus Ave.; 212-579-3100)
Cleopatra’s Needle
Boasting half-off martinis and wine between 4 PM and 7:30 PM, Cleopatra’s Needle is worth a stop on your Upper West Side crawl. You’ve got to take into consideration the number of $10 martinis offered on the menu—during happy hour, you can drink “wild passion” and dirty martinis alike for just $5. (2485 Broadway; 212-769-6969)
Bar Thalia
Forget happy hour—Bar Thalia offers daily specials that last through the duration of its opening hours. For instance, $5 beers (not the fancy beers) go along with trivia on Tuesdays and $7 signature cocktails are available on Thursdays (cocktails tend to go for $11 and up). Friday’s got your whiskey drinks covered, while Saturday is vodka day. There’s also food, jazz music and sometimes even poetry readings. Sophisticated! (2537 Broadway; 646-597-7340)
Photo via Cleopatra's Needle
