Top five East Village cocktail bars

If you’ve wondered what a Miami motel in the 80s was like, just go to Motel No Tell in the East Village. They serve deliciously fun cocktails like the vodka Discotini and the mezcal Poolboyalong with mouth-watering bites like the iconic Motel-N-Out Burger for dinner or lemon meringue pie pancakes for brunch.

They host events (trivia Monday, mixtape bingo Tuesday, and live music Wednesday) and offer the space for private parties, so you can boogie on your birthday under the disco ball and neon signs while you sip on a frozen piña colada–and who wouldn’t want that?

Have you ever wanted to enter a speakeasy through a super secret way, the way they did during the Prohibition Era? To enter Please Don’t Tell in the East Village, call from a payphone inside Crif Dogs, a hot dog stand next door. Inside this dark, intimate space, you can sip on a bacon-infused old-fashioned, devour some hot dogs, and vibe out to the cool music and atmosphere.

Private events are available for up to 30 guests. For smaller groups, reservations are required,, and there’s no standing room available. So if you have the luck and patience to get a table, count your lucky stars!

According to the owners, Romeos is the “neon palace of your cocktail dreams”: the outside is painted like a King of Hearts card and the inside is decked out with soft, pink overhead lighting and neon heart signs hung on the walls. Romeos is cool, and they know it, with their chocolate negronis and pistachio mai tais; they have fun and taste.

You can book this East Village cocktail bar for birthdays, private parties, corporate or PR events, and other small gatherings. Come for the cool drinks and photo ops and stay for the warm hearts and sexy vibes.

Less than a block from the bustling Tompkins Square Park, you’ll find the Pineapple Club, a tropical East Village cocktail bar. This eclectic, colorful space is decorated with many plants, blue and pink accents, and pineapple wallpaper. Sit under the skylight and indulge in a rum daiquiri, $1 oysters on Mondays, and other shared, delectable bites.

You can rent out this tropical bar for a birthday party, corporate dinner, or another social, private event in their main lounge, downstairs bar, and the balcony and lower atrium for up to 140 of your closest friends and family to enjoy.

If you’re looking for a rustic, cozy cocktail bar that feels like, according to the owners, “a house party hosted at a friend’s country cabin,” then The Wayland is the perfect place. According to New York magazine’s Grub Steet, this is rated the “Absolute Best Bar in the East Village.” Come in and enjoy an oyster shooter during happy hour, or a honeydew melon vodka spritz with some savory bites from the kitchen for brunch, lunch, or dinner.

On some nights, they host live music, and you can rent out the space (maximum 110 people) for any birthday celebration, corporate cocktail party, anniversary party, or other small-ish gathering.