Morningside Heights
Happy Hour

Seven and a half hours on weekdays, three on weekends and a second round from 11pm every night: $5 drafts (down from $8), $7 wells and house wine, and a 16oz frozen margarita for $8 that’s $12 off the clock. The Verdict: the best happy hour in Morningside Heights, and the only one you can use at noon and at midnight. The Local Move: Monday, when wings and tenders are half price 4–11pm. The Honest Caveat: the $14–$17 house cocktails and Guinness stay full price.

Every day, 4–7pm: $6 frozen margaritas, $6 house red or white ($9 normally), $6 wells and $9 flavored martinis, with cheese fries and hummus at $7 against $14. Drinks come back 10pm–close on weeknights. The Verdict: the cheapest cocktail around Columbia and the best food on any happy hour here. The Honest Caveat: the $6 margarita is a 12oz pour, not the menu’s 16oz, and it’s dine-in only.

Not a token beer: a third off everything on the bar menu, which takes a $9 Kronenbourg to $6, a $16 margarita to about $10.67 and a dozen oysters from $22 to about $14.67. The Verdict: the grown-up happy hour by Columbia, and the only one with oysters. The Honest Caveat: bar and lounge seats only, and brasserie prices are still brasserie prices after a third off.

One price, $8, for draft beer, wine and cocktails, seven days a week from 3pm. The Verdict: the every-day option on Amsterdam, best paired with a platter of injera. The Honest Caveat: the restaurant doesn’t say which drinks the $8 covers, and dine-in has a $25-per-guest minimum.

One night, half-price wine: a wide selection of bottles and glasses at 50% off every Tuesday from 5pm, on the same night as Tiki Tuesday. The Verdict: worth it for two splitting a bottle. The Honest Caveat: the bar doesn’t say which wines are in, and there’s no daily happy hour.

Ninety minutes at the start of dinner service, then pappardelle bolognese and live music in the cellar on Mondays. The Verdict: a pre-dinner drink, not a destination deal. The Honest Caveat: no prices posted.

Two hours, four afternoons, at a homemade-pasta trattoria with regional Italian wines. The Verdict: fine for an early glass before dinner. The Honest Caveat: no prices posted and no Friday.

A daily 90-minute window on select natural wines and small bites, with Georgian plates and jazz on Saturday nights. The Verdict: the wine drinker’s stop on Amsterdam. The Honest Caveat: the special prices aren’t posted.

No happy hour, and it doesn’t need one: house drafts at $7, cans at $6 and a $4 High Life all night, with 24 craft beers on rotation and jazz on Sundays. The Verdict: cheaper at 11pm than most happy hours at 5pm.

The dive on Amsterdam and 110th: pool, darts, a dim room and students and locals until 4am. The Verdict: go for the game of pool. The Honest Caveat: no prices posted anywhere.

A themed deal for every night instead of a happy hour: 2x1 on Mondays, $3 tacos on Tuesdays, karaoke and wing specials on Wednesdays. The Verdict: Monday’s the night. The Honest Caveat: the bar doesn’t say what the 2x1 covers.

A hand-painted family taverna off Broadway, with $9 Greek beers and $12 retsina by the glass. The Verdict: the long dinner near campus, at full price.

Five negronis ($15–$16) and house pastas, with every 12-inch pizza and the starred pastas at $16 at lunch and brunch. The Verdict: a lunch deal, not a happy hour. The Honest Caveat: the Happy Hour tab on its menu shows no times or prices.