East Harlem
Happy Hour

A $3 house draft, $5 wine and $6 margaritas, and the kitchen joins in with $5 mozzarella sticks, two empanadas for $6 and $10 cheeseburger sliders. Buckets run $20 for Bud or Rolling Rock. The Verdict: the cheapest round in East Harlem, and it isn’t close. The Local Move: six wings of the day plus any draft for $15. The Honest Caveat: the bar’s printed happy hour menu says Monday to Sunday, but the title of its happy hour page says Monday to Thursday, so Friday to Sunday is the shakier bet.

Happy hour seven days a week, and on Monday and Tuesday it runs from the 2pm opening to 11pm. The margarita is $12 off the clock, so the $8 glass is a real cut, and draughts that cost $8–9 drop to $6. The Verdict: the best all-round happy hour in the neighborhood, with a window long enough to forget about. The Local Move: a $30 margarita pitcher and the $11 meat-and-cheese board for a table. The Honest Caveat: the weekend window is only two hours, 4–6pm.

Five hours from the 3pm opening, with the biggest saving on wine: $16 a glass on the regular list, $9 here. Beer drops from $9 to $6. The cocktails barely move, $16 to $13 for a margarita. The Verdict: order wine or beer and eat full-price pernil ($22). The Honest Caveat: a 90-minute seating limit, no weekend window and nothing discounted to eat.

The cheapest cocktail on this page at $8, against $15–17 on the regular list, plus $4 bottled beer and cheap plates. Tuesday doubles up with $6 tacos and an $11 frozen Don Julio margarita all day. The Verdict: the best food-and-drink combo north of 116th. The Honest Caveat: three days a week only, and dine-in (to-go cocktails are $11).

The late shift: $5 drinks and $1 hot dogs every night from 9pm, at 97th and Lexington. There’s a pool table, darts and sports with the sound on for big games. The Verdict: the only late-night deal in East Harlem worth crossing for. The Honest Caveat: the bar posts the start but not an end time.

A real cocktail bar, so the discount is on a $19 list: Negroni, rye Old Fashioned, spicy margarita, daiquiri and gimlet at $15. Oysters drop from $20 to $16. The Verdict: the date-night pick, not the bargain. The Honest Caveat: one hour Monday to Wednesday, and $15 is still $15.

A three-hour weekday window at the bar and the hi-top tables, near 108th and Lexington. The Verdict: the earliest weekday start on Lexington. The Honest Caveat: the bar doesn’t publish what the happy hour costs.

The one price it does post is the good one: two micheladas for $15 on Thursday. Tuesday is taco night and Wednesday is burritos. The Verdict: go Thursday. The Honest Caveat: the Tuesday-to-Friday happy hour prices aren’t published.

All day on Tuesday and two hours the other weekdays. The Verdict: a Tuesday plan, if you’re on 2nd Ave anyway. The Honest Caveat: no posted prices, so we can’t rank it.

Golden Hour runs every day, 5–7pm, with the deal rotating daily, a few doors from Santiago’s Garden on 116th. The Verdict: one of only two daily windows in East Harlem. The Honest Caveat: no fixed price list.

A Friday afternoon window and a Saturday night one, the reverse of everyone else’s schedule, plus $1 wings on Wednesday. The Verdict: a weekend option on 1st Ave. The Honest Caveat: no posted drink prices.

Every day until 7pm, near 101st and Lexington. The Verdict: an early-dinner option at the south end of the neighborhood. The Honest Caveat: no start time and no prices posted.

No discount window, but the plates are $8–11 and the house drinks (a cachaça cocktail, a spicy mango margarita, a bourbon old fashioned with chocolate bitters) are the most interesting list in the neighborhood. The Verdict: the best cocktail room at the south end of East Harlem. Pay full price and enjoy it.

A family-owned cocktail bar on Park Ave near 97th St, open until 2am Monday to Saturday. The Verdict: the late drink when Lexington Publick is too loud. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour and no posted prices.