Bar Bonobo: $10 Mini Martinis in a ’70s Italian Disco Bar on Eighth Avenue
Bar Bonobo’s happy hour runs weekdays from 3 to 6pm at 184 8th Avenue in Chelsea. Mini martinis are $10, including the Cold A$$ Martini, the Hot N’ Dirty and a Cosmopolitan, and you can do martini flights to taste through the list. It’s the cheap way into a bar that draws weekend lines on Eighth Avenue.
The verdict: go at 4pm, not 11pm. Bonobo is a martini bar dressed as a 1970s Italian disco, and after dark it acts like one, with a DJ, a reservation list and a line on Fridays and Saturdays. The 3–6pm window gets you the same room and the same martini menu in a smaller glass, at a price Chelsea rarely offers. The honest caveat: after dark this is a scene, with a reservation list and a line on weekends, so the 3–6pm window is the only version of Bonobo that’s actually relaxed. The minis are also the smart way to work out which martini you like before you pay full price for it.
The Happy Hour
Weekdays, 3 to 6pm. The bar has billed it as Tini Service: $10 mini martinis, with the Cold A$$ Martini, the Hot N’ Dirty and a Cosmopolitan on the list, plus a few more, and flights if you can’t pick one. Time Out’s listing for the bar and the Stoop happy-hour app both show $10 minis from 3 to 6pm, with Stoop listing it five days a week, and an October 2026 review confirms the martini-flight special is still running. Full-size martinis and cocktails cost what you’d expect in Chelsea, which is the whole case for coming early. For more martini deals around town, see our best martinis in NYC guide.
The Room
Founder Elaine Marlow opened Bonobo in 2024 with 1970s Italian disco as the brief, and the room follows it. It’s a narrow space with a retro bar and green velvet stools down one side, banquettes and high-tops down the other, and a red-lit private room at the back. Time Out’s listing says the furniture and tiles came from Italy. There’s food, mostly small plates and shareable dishes, but the martini section of the menu is the point.
It runs late: until 4am every night, opening at 3pm Tuesday through Saturday and at noon on Sunday and Monday, per its Google listing. Book on Resy for weekends, and check the dress code on the bar’s site before you go. It books private events, too — up to 125 standing or 20 seated, per its Tagvenue listing. The rest of the neighborhood’s windows are in our Chelsea happy hour guide.
Who Bar Bonobo Is For
| Occasion | Why It Works |
|---|---|
| Martinis after work, for less | $10 minis, weekdays 3–6pm |
| A first date that needs a backdrop | Velvet stools, banquettes and a ’70s Italian room |
| The last drink of the night | Open until 4am, seven nights |
| A birthday party | Private events for up to 125 standing |