Slow Sips — A Post Grad’s Guide to Upper West Side Cocktail Bars

By Mia Romanoff

After my last article on what to do in the neighborhood as a twenty-two- year-old on the Upper West Side, I was hung up on something my friend said to me when she told me to try The Owl’s Tail: “It’s basically the only cocktail bar on the Upper West Side.”

Though I laughed along, I assumed she was being hyperbolic. And then I thought about it. And then I googled it. And while not entirely true (as I soon discovered), my friend’s comment made me realize I never did venture outside of the TV lined sports bars I had grown to love.

I then decided that despite working Friday and Saturday nights, I was going to try to find the overlooked cocktail bars of the Upper West Side. Because if the drinks are going to be expensive, the taxi home might as well be cheap, and while I love a sports bar, why should I have to travel across the city to find a bar where my hinge date won’t be watching college football over my shoulder.

The first stop on my tour of Upper West Side cocktail bars was the charming Georgian wine bar, Sipsteria, on 98th and Amsterdam. Alongside the countertop bar, the room was full of light wood tables and rustic chairs. Though the potential was there, the ambiance was diminished by the slightly too bright lights. The gap between Sipsteria’s potential and the reality of my experience was further widened by the quietness of the room, but given it was a Tuesday at 9pm the fact that there were a few other tables is better than I can say for most of the neighborhood.

Sipsteria has a large natural wine list with a focus on Georgian wine, as well as a list of $18 signature cocktails. I started off with the Yuzuriya, which was a bit sweeter than I typically like, but it grew on me and by the end I had decided I was a fan. That being said, no matter how much fun I had saying “Yuzuriya”, a girl must aim for variety when trying out a new cocktail bar. This obligation for novelty led me to my favorite drink of the night, the Spring Elder, which is essentially an elderflower pisco sour. Though a sip of my friend’s Sauvignon Blanc was not incredibly inspiring, given the extensive list of natural wines I decided to abandon the cocktails for my last drink. I settled on a glass of Erekle’s Wine which had a fair bit of spice and was an intriguing entry point for my foray into Georgian wine.

The next night my journey took me farther uptown to Nobody Told Me on 107th and Amsterdam. Unlike Sipsteria, the dim bar was as bustling as you can find on a Wednesday night on the Upper West Side. While the bar did not have a TV, I did discover there was a projector showing the baseball game when my friend, in clear defiance of the joke I had written when coming up with this cocktail bar crawl, did indeed start watching the game over my shoulder.

Whether this is proof of the distractibility of the male species or if baseball is really more captivating than I could ever understand, I still could not say.

The social faux pas of my company aside, Nobody Told Me proved to be a solid week night spot with the gin-based, elderflower cocktail, Morningside ($17) being my favorite drink of the night. I also tried the White Negroni ($17), which was a bit too boozy for my tastes, though as you’ll discover later in the list very few things can compete with an elderflower cocktail in my book.

After recovering from my last mini mid-week bender, I kicked off Tuesday with a post-work trip to Scarlet Lounge on 83rd and Amsterdam. The space is tinged with red light and lined with cozy tables and window facing bar stools, making it a good spot if you’re looking for understated ambiance. The 1920s speakeasy motif extends to its drink list where there’s both signature cocktails and 1920s classics. Both the Golden Spice and the Clover Club ($20) were immaculate, managing to find the difficult line between sweet and boozy. Overall Scarlet Lounge is a great place to splurge when you want to escape into a world that is both classic and classy.

Emerging from the basement world of Scarlet Lounge, my friend and I stumbled onto the opening night of Velvet Cowboy on 85th and Amsterdam. The future hot-spot is the latest project by Jacob Hadjigeorgis’ Pickle Hospitality, owner of the Upper West Side staples Jacob’s Pickle, Tiki Chick, and Maison Pickle.

If I’m being honest, the best thing about the other bars on this list is their geographic convenience – Velvet Cowboy is the exception. More than just decent for the neighborhood, the bright, fringe-lined bar stools and giant disco ball give the room a kitschy flare yet manage to avoid making you feel like you’re at a theme park. The playlist sticks to mainstream country, with more than a few Zach Bryan songs playing in the hour or so we were there.

Despite the glitz and glam, Velvet Cowboy is not just a decked out room with a few good cocktails. The cocktail list is a mile long and chock full of creative combinations. Between my friend and I, we managed to try the Range Rickery ($15), Purple Pear Juice ($15), Aztec Negroni ($17), and the Dead Man Walking ($18). While I don’t have a burning desire to find out how vodka and cream taste side by side (The Malt), or to discover if buttered popcorn should be turned into a cocktail (Black & White Movie), I am dying to try the Wild West Side ($17) that uses Jacob’s Pickles’ spice blend.

That’s the great thing about a large drinks list – there’s something for everyone even if everything’s not for you.

While the Upper West Side may not be jam packed with trendy cocktail bars, it’s not the barren wasteland I originally believed it to be. Your bank account will take a hit, but no worse than if you were in the West Village. That’s the thing about cocktail bars: they don’t need to be your go to spot, but it’s nice to know they’re there when you want them.

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