No metro card is required to visit these underground reservoirs.
New York City’s subway system is home to a select group of underground cocktail bars—which have been transformed into glamorous meeting places where straphangers can trade the filth of the transit system for a few dirty martinis.
The Big Apple’s list of subway taverns includes Manhattan haunts Nothing Really Matters, La Knox and Naxu — as well as Brooklyn’s La Boudoir, which boasts access to the world’s oldest subway tunnel.
The owners of the underground hot spot cite the history and hustle and bustle of New York City as a major inspiration for their business.
“People who walk in your door want to be there and they have to look for it. The journey is half the fun, especially in New York,” said Adrian Gallo, owner of Nothing Really Matters.
“There’s also the romance of finding this place, of it being super cool. It’s almost like your secret.”
Head on down and check out these Subway bars.
nothing really matters
Beneath the bustle of Times Square lies Nothing Really Matters – a cocktail bar that not only welcomes but also invites the chaos of the city.
For Gallo, it means fostering an atmosphere in the tourist hotspot that attracts crowds of white-collar types who might otherwise rush home after a long day of work in Midtown.
“I really wanted to bring a New York bar to New Yorkers in Times Square, because there really isn’t one like it,” Gallo told The Post.
“I wanted to create an oasis for them to escape to after work… It’s the escape from your daily grind that everyone associates the metro with.”
This dark and luxurious salon is located at West 50th Street and Broadway, just down the stairs from the entrance to the No. 1 Railway Station, where dear diver siberia bar Called home once. However, it offers a completely different — and more “sophisticated” — vibe, Gallo said.
Gallo looked to the streets of New York City above his bar for inspiration, but also incorporated the styles of Toyko and Buenos Aires, and even his favorite – and especially neon – film, ” Also from “Blade Runner”.
“I wanted to capture how light reflects off certain surfaces here inside the subway station,” Gallo said.
Although Nothing Really Matters is not difficult to find, and its doors open to hordes of passing travelers, Gallo deliberately neglected to hang any signs above the haunt or at street level.
“It’s almost like your secret. People love secrets – they love to keep them close to their chest, but they also love to tell them to the people they love most or those they want to impress most. And maybe that’s us,” Gallo explained.
Plus, Gallo pointed out, the weather underground never changes.
Signature Cocktail: New York Sour
Although the cocktail selection at Nothing Really Matters changes seasonally, the bourbon-based drink with lemon juice, simple syrup and a red wine floater stands out as an all-time staple.
La Noix
Hidden behind an unassuming door in the 7th Avenue and 28th Street subway stairwell, La Noix is easily overlooked by the thousands of straphangers charging onto the 1 train every day — and that’s the way founder Jay Perry likes it .
Although it doesn’t consider itself a speakeasy, this small and dimly lit haunt only serves a few tempting barfis at a time.
Perry said, “I don’t like big clubs, I like small cozy environments where you can drink quality drinks and be surrounded by 20 to 50 people instead of 500.”
“I wanted to create it almost like a living room. A house party experience.”
The exclusive 600-square-foot underground space is heavily inspired by old New York – and takes full advantage of living conditions outside a dirty transit hub.
“We have that kind of duality of the crowds, the rigors of the metro and the commute. And here we have fancy cocktails in a really beautiful environment,” Perry said.
One of Perry’s favorite details are the thick glass bricks that allow patrons to see the footsteps of unknowing travelers passing by: “We know they’re there. They don’t know we’re here.”
Despite being so close to a transit hub – which is In recent years has become synonymous with crime – La Noix has turned into somewhat of a haven of escape from the chaos, especially for women.
Perry estimates that 75% of customers are women, noting that staff take extra measures to keep them out of the bar.
Signature Cocktail: More passion, more problems
More Passion, More Problems, a vodka-based drink with passion fruit liqueur, lemon and orange juice, has been the most popular drink since La Noix first opened its Subway doors.
Noksu
The sleek and elegant 12-seat chef’s counter restaurant occupies what was once a modest barbershop in the 34th Street Herald Square subway station — and it has only velvet curtains and a password-protected door that leads to the dingy path of the 1-train. Isolates himself.
“We’re trying to keep every diner from thinking, ‘Hey, I’m walking on the New York City subway,’ and once they open the curtains, they’re just like, ‘Wow, we’re in a Are in a different world!” co-owner Bobby Kwak explained, adding that he wished the hotspot had a selfie booth to capture diners’ expressions.
When Kwak opened the restaurant last September, he knew he wanted to combine the charm of the Big Apple with Korean culture — the name Naksu Riffs is based on the venue’s underground space, and is Korean for “of the earth.”
“New York City represents nothing more than a very busy and busy subway, with a variety of people from many different cultures and nationalities all wanting to reach their destination at the same time,” Kwok said.
But don’t worry, Kwok said: The restaurant is equipped with extra soundproofing and a passcode door also prevents strolling in during dinner service.
The hole in the wall is so small that guests can watch their food and drinks being made right before their eyes – an intimacy that is a key part of Naxu’s charm.
“We try to make guests feel as if they’ve been invited to a friend’s dinner party: from the way we address them to the way we engage with them. We treat them like they are our friends,” he said.
Signature Cocktail:bay bay
The Pisco with Asian Pear Prosecco cocktail has been a hit on the menu since day one.
Bonus: La Boudoir
The underground Brooklyn Heights craft cocktail lounge may not be accessible by the active subway, but La Boudoir has a back room that connects to the storied Atlantic Avenue Tunnel – an abandoned Long Island Rail Road line, said to be the world’s oldest subway tunnel . ,
“You can feel the history there,” said Patricia Edgeheim, owner of La Boudoir.
Awesome Bay still has the tunnel’s original stonework, and even has an old manhole-type hatch on its roof that transit workers used to transport coal – although the roadside opening is long gone. Is over.
A second room, believed to have been used for storage, has been renovated for use as the speakeasy’s bathroom.
Agehem, who also owns the upstairs restaurant Chez Moi, had long heard rumors of a tunnel beneath his restaurant before tearing down the walls and finding the corner in 2016.
“It was like discovering Narnia,” Edgeheim recalled. “It was without any intention. It was like, ‘Okay, we just have to see what’s out there because how good is that?’ But then when we saw it – and it’s a beautiful room – we said, ‘This is our bar! “We’ll do a speakeasy down here.”
Surprisingly, the dark and sultry atmosphere emanating from the rooms matches the exact vibe that Edgeheim envisioned for the cocktail lounge, which was repurposed as Marie Antionette’s bedroom.
The Watering Hole is just as exclusive as the royal bedroom – patrons enter La Boudoir through a door hidden behind a bookshelf in the Chez Moi.
“Marie Antoinette had a boudoir where only a few people were invited,” Edgeheim explains, adding that the historical element made the atmosphere more intriguing.
“I thought it would be really cool to go with something inspired by this young woman who was brought up in a country where she didn’t know anyone. Not that I probably support her lifestyle and the way she treats her people, but she’s kind of an icon in many ways.”
Signature Cocktail: La Cellar
Described as a “celery paloma”, La Cellar uses blanco tequila, elderflower liqueur, lemon and celery in four ways: as syrup, spicy bitters, salt and as a garnish.
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