Best Happy Hours in NYC

Right now, your safest bets are the bars whose window is basically “we’re open.” John Doe Craft Bar in NoMad runs happy hour 11am–8pm every day, with $1 oysters the entire time. Lily’s in Astoria runs happy hour all day, every day — doors at noon on weekdays, 10am on weekends. Ray’s in Greenpoint is all day Sunday through Tuesday, then until 8pm Wednesday through Saturday. If it’s already past 8pm, the deal has moved late: Little Rebel in the East Village reopens its happy hour from 10pm Monday to Thursday (until midnight Monday, 2am Tuesday–Thursday), and Rivercrest on Ditmars runs 10pm to close Monday to Thursday. Our happy hour right now page shows everything running across the city at this exact minute, nearest first.

4pm to 7pm on weekdays is the default, and most of the city sticks to it. The useful part is the exceptions. Earliest real start: John Doe in NoMad opens the deal at 11am, seven days a week, and Saar Indian Bistro near Times Square runs 1:30–4:30pm on weekdays at the bar — a lunch deal wearing a happy hour name tag. Latest: Little Rebel and Rivercrest both run a second window from 10pm, Monday to Thursday, and Harry’s Side Bar on Stone Street opens a 10–11pm window nightly. We publish the exact window for every venue, because showing up at 7:01 is how a $12 cocktail becomes a $19 one.

For pure value, John Doe Craft Bar (253 5th Ave, NoMad): $1 oysters across a nine-hour window, 11am–8pm, seven days. Nothing else in Manhattan matches that ratio of hours to price. For the steepest cut, Down the Hatch in the West Village takes half off every drink, Mon–Fri 2–7pm, and keeps $5 Michelob Ultra and Tecate going from open until 4am daily. For a room actually worth sitting in, The Rabbit Hole in Astoria: $4 shots, $5 beers, $6 wines, $7 cocktails, Mon–Fri 5–8pm. The verdict: John Doe if you want the most drinking hours per dollar, Down the Hatch if you want the biggest discount, The Rabbit Hole if you want both and don’t mind the N/W. Prices and times current as of October 28, 2026.

Astoria, and it isn’t close. The Rabbit Hole on Broadway does $4 shots, $5 beers, $6 wines and $7 cocktails, Mon–Fri 5–8pm. Lily’s on 33rd St runs happy hour all day, every day. Rivercrest on Ditmars pours $6 drafts until 7pm on weekdays, then does it again from 10pm Monday to Thursday. The Ditty does $5 beer and $7 wine, Mon–Fri 4–7pm. That is four bars under $8 a drink inside a fifteen-minute walk. In Manhattan, the cheapest honest option is a Hell’s Kitchen dive: Rudy’s Bar and Grill hands you a free hot dog with any purchase and pours a $6 Jim Beam-and-a-Blonde, with no time window at all. Skip it: Times Square, where the signs are loudest and the math is worst.

Yes, but fewer than you would expect — most bars treat Saturday as a full-price day because the room fills anyway. The ones that don’t: Lily’s in Astoria (all day, every day, doors 10am both weekend mornings), Ray’s in Greenpoint (all day Sunday, noon to 8pm Saturday), John Doe in NoMad ($1 oysters, 11am–8pm daily), Cellar 36 in Two Bridges ($1 oysters and $20 carafes, 5–7pm daily), Down the Hatch in the West Village ($5 cans and bottles Saturday noon–7pm; half-price wings Sunday noon–6pm), and Boxers in Chelsea (happy hour 1–9pm Sunday, free pool). The full weekend picture is in the Saturday guide and the Sunday guide.

Start with where you are standing, not with a citywide list. We organize every deal by borough and neighborhood — 5 boroughs and more than 50 neighborhood guides — so pick your area from the neighborhood picker at the top of this page and you get the verified windows and prices for bars within walking distance. The honest caveat: the “near me” results Google shows you are ranked by proximity and ad budget, not by whether the deal is any good. A bar four blocks further doing $5 drafts beats the one next door taking $2 off a $19 cocktail.

A short list, and worth knowing by name. Lily’s (Astoria) runs happy hour all day, every day. Ray’s (Greenpoint) is all day Sunday through Tuesday. Boxers in Chelsea runs happy hour all night Mondays from 5pm. Rudy’s in Hell’s Kitchen doesn’t bother with a window — the free hot dog comes with any purchase from the moment it opens. In Manhattan proper, John Doe’s 11am–8pm is the closest thing to all day.

Monday, counterintuitively. It is the night the city gives up and the good bars fight hardest for you: Roxy Bar in Tribeca runs $2 oysters, $5 drafts and $10 martinis all night; and Lucky’s in Bed-Stuy pours $7 classic cocktails from 4pm to midnight. Friday is the worst value in the week — the room fills itself, so windows shrink. Full guides by day: Monday · Tuesday · Wednesday · Thursday · Friday · Saturday · Sunday.

Four windows worth planning around. Little Rebel (East Village) reopens from 10pm Monday to Thursday with $10 espresso martinis, old fashioneds and wines and $6 Rebel Lager. Rivercrest (Astoria) runs 10pm to close Monday to Thursday: $6 drafts and $2 off its tap cocktails. Harry’s Side Bar on Stone Street opens a 10–11pm window nightly with $12 cocktails and half-price dips. Down the Hatch runs $3 hot dogs from midnight to 4am. Most “late-night happy hour” lists are just bars that close late — these four actually discount after dark. More in the late-night happy hour guide.

Dollar oysters are the benchmark, and a handful of places still genuinely charge a dollar: Bar Belly (up to a dozen each, daily until 7pm), Grey Lady (Sunday to Friday) and The Ten Bells (daily until 7pm) on the Lower East Side, Cellar 36 in Two Bridges, Lighthouse BK in Williamsburg (5–6pm daily), Sélune in Bed-Stuy (weekdays, at the bar) and John Doe in NoMad through its full 11am–8pm window. Outside oysters, the best food-per-dollar in the city is still Alligator Lounge in Williamsburg: a free personal pizza with every drink, every day. Rudy’s free hot dog remains undefeated. More: the full $1 oyster happy hour guide.

Mostly no — but the exceptions are real, and every one of them is on a side street. Ignore the $5-shot signs on Seventh Ave. Go here instead: The Alderman does $1.50 oysters (six minimum), $10 classic cocktails and martinis and $10 wine daily 3–7pm in the Bar Room. The Mean Fiddler pours $5 beer cans and $10 margaritas Mon–Fri noon to 7pm, seven straight hours. Saar Indian Bistro runs $4 beer and $5 margaritas Mon–Fri 1:30–4:30pm at the bar. For altitude, Magic Hour actually discounts ($6 beer, $8 wine, $10 spritzes, weekdays 5–6:30pm) while Bar 54 discounts nothing. Full breakdown: Times Square happy hour guide.