Tile Bar: $5 Drinks Every Day at an East Village Dive Since 1984
Tile Bar has one of the longest happy hours in the East Village and one of the simplest: $5 drinks every day, Monday to Thursday 5–8pm, Friday from 4pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 3pm. That’s 26 hours of $5 drinks a week, at 115 First Avenue, in a bar that has been pouring since 1984.
The verdict: this is the deal for people who want a cold beer and a shot and don’t need a speech about it. The bar sums itself up as “We serve beer, ice cold. We have shots, not spirits,” and it means it: no espresso martinis, no neon quotes, and a room the bar says it has left unaltered for nearly 40 years. The catch is that it doesn’t say which drinks the $5 covers, so don’t walk in expecting a $5 Negroni.
The Happy Hour
- Monday to Thursday: 5–8pm
- Friday: 4–8pm
- Saturday and Sunday: 3–8pm
Everything on it is $5. The weekend start at 3pm is the one to know: it’s a cheap way to open a Saturday before the East Village fills up.
The Bar
Tile Bar opened in 1984 and spent years without a name on the door. Regulars called it WCOU Bar, after the neon clock on the back wall, then Tile Bar, after the tiles at the entrance, and the bar eventually gave in and put up a sign. It’s first come, first served, it doesn’t do private events, and it’s busiest on weekends. In the warmer months there’s outdoor seating, where dogs are welcome; they’re not allowed inside.
Who It’s For
| Occasion | Why It Works |
|---|---|
| A cheap start to the night | $5 drinks from 3pm on weekends |
| A beer and a shot | It’s what the bar does |
| Skipping the scene | No espresso martinis, by the bar’s own rules |
For the rest of the neighborhood, see our East Village happy hour guide, or the East Village bar crawl if you want to keep going. Citywide, Tile Bar’s kind of room is in our best dive bars in NYC and cheap bars in NYC guides.