Where to Get the Best Old-Fashioneds in NYC

The Old-Fashioned revival is in full swing, which means drinkers have no excuse to settle for 'good enough.' Here, Robert Simonson takes us on a tour of the city's finest versions of the classic whiskey cocktail.

Robert Simonson

All photos by Liz Barclay (@liz_barclay)

In 1890, the New York Sun printed a small item about the “latest drink of the habitués of Madison Square.” The trendy cocktail was something called the Old-Fashioned, which the newspaper described as “very soothing and graceful to the palate.”

This little wonder of a libation wasn’t actually very new at all. It was just the good old Whiskey Cocktail—that is, whiskey, bitters, sugar, water, and a twist—reclaimed by its devotees and shed of all the liqueurs and other frippery that over-inventive bartenders had been throwing at it. Thus returned to its pristine form, folks began to call it the Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail, and, in time, just the Old-Fashioned.

Truth be told, New York was a little late to the party on this particular fad. Chicago papers had been full of mentions of the popular tipple for nearly a decade before the Sun got around to it. In fact, the first cocktail book to include a recipe for the drink, published in 1888, was written by Chicago barman Theodore Proulx.

Finding a properly wrought Old-Fashioned isn’t nearly as hard as it was just five years ago.

But that’s not to say that New Yorkers were wanting for a decent Old-Fashioned. Col. Jim Gray, a waistcoated braggart who manned the bar at the famed Fifth Avenue Hotel for 30 years beginning in 1880, was particularly renowned for his way with the cocktail. (The Colonel also claimed he invented the drink, but it’s likely no one but the Colonel himself believed that boast.)

Whatever the prospect may have been for 19th-century Old-Fashioned lovers, they are decidedly bountiful for their modern counterparts. Thanks to the ever-expanding knowledge and reach of the bartender community, finding a properly wrought Old-Fashioned isn’t nearly as hard as it was just five years ago. Still, some bars do it better than others. In my research for The Old-Fashioned, my new book-length study of the iconic drink, I uncovered many of the five boroughs’ finest renditions of the cocktail. Here are the standard-bearers you ought to know. Tell them the Colonel sent you.

Robert Simonson writes about bars, spirits, and cocktails for The New York Times. His book, The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail, is now available from Ten Speed Press.

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The Usual

For a beautiful, soulful, as-it-should-be whiskey Old-Fashioned—we’re talking whiskey (bourbon or rye, take your pick), bitters, sugar, ice, orange twist, and NO FRUIT—there are, gratefully, many options. You won’t go wrong—and won’t have to instruct the bartender in the slightest—at Pegu Club in Soho; Lantern’s Keep in Midtown; Clover Club in Cobble Hill; and Dutch Kills in Long Island City. You’ll get an admirably dry version of the drink at the latter. Pegu Club, 77 W Houston St (212-473-7348, peguclub.com) Lantern's Keep, 49 W 44th St (212-453-4287, iroquoisny.com/lanternskeep) Clover Club, 210 Smith St, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn (718-855-7939, cloverclubny.com) Dutch Kills, 27-24 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, Queens (718-383-2724, dutchkillsbar.com)
Old-School Atmosphere to Go with the Old-School Drink

Regrettably, retro mixology techniques have so far failed to reach New York’s classic restaurants. Some of the worst Old-Fashioneds (cheap ice, fire-engine-red cherries, etc.) are served at our best and oldest steakhouses and fine-dining establishments. A surprising exception is Gallaghers, the 52nd Street steakhouse that was recently revamped by restaurateur Dean Poll, who hired Dominic Venegas to fashion a new cocktail menu. For the time being, the career bartenders there are executing the generous “52nd Street Old Fashioned” (made with respectable Heaven Hill 4 Year Old) flawlessly. Gallaghers, 228 W 52nd St (212-586-5000, gallaghersnysteakhouse.com)
Benton’s Old-Fashioned

The Old Fashioned’s return to form has spun off a few laudable modern riffs, Don Lee’s fat-washed wonder being among the top two (for the other, keep reading). Lee created the drink in 2007, lending the drink a bacon-like flavor by mixing the whiskey with fat from bacon made by famed Tennessee meat curer Allan Benton, freezing it, and then scraping away the now solid fat. Two East Village bars now dispense it in spotless fashion: PDT, where it was born; and Golden Cadillac, where Lee currently holds sway. PDT, 113 St Marks Pl (212-614-0386, pdtnyc.com) Golden Cadillac, 13 1st Ave (212-995-5151, goldencadillacnyc.com)
Oaxaca Old-Fashioned

This is the second of those top two variations, a mezcal-tequila expression created by Phil Ward. Ward, now widely known as a wizard with agave spirits, was just starting to play around with them when he created the drink at Death & Co. in 2007. His subbing of tequila and mezcal for whiskey gives the classic cocktail an earthy, smokey character. To nab a good example of this one, you have the choice of bellying up to Death & Co., Mayahuel (Ward’s tequila-mezcal bar), or Long Island Bar on Friday night, when Ward is behind the stick. Death & Co., 433 E 6th St (212-388-0882, deathandcompany.com) Mayahuel, 304 E 6th St (212-253-5888, mayahuelny.com) Long Island Bar, 110 Atlantic Ave, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn (718-625-8908, thelongislandbar.com)
Prime Meats Old-Fashioned

Bartender Damon Boelte’s pear bitters-spattered creation remains one of the best reinterpretations of the drink in town. The bitters are made with the fruit plucked from a tree that grows in the Carroll Gardens restaurant’s backyard. They deliver a bright, unusual accent to the whiskey quite apart from the usual Angostura notes. Prime Meats, 465 Court St, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (718-254-0327, frankspm.com)
Honey-Nut Old-Fashioned

L.A. bartender Marcos Tello’s breakfast cereal reimaging of the drink has been on the cocktail menu of the Upper East Side’s JBird since it opened, and is deservedly popular. The ingredients include honey syrup, and bourbon that's been fat-washed with peanuts. It tastes as advertised. If you've got a sweet-tooth, or you missed breakfast, here’s your drink. JBird, 339 E 75th St (212-288-8033, jbirdny.com)
Fruited Old-Fashioned

If you must have a fruited Old-Fashioned—the kind where a cherry and orange slice are muddled along with the sugar at the bottom of the glass—head to Butterfly, the vaguely Badger-State-themed Tribeca restaurant. There, barkeep Eben Freeman has created a classy, deconstructed version of the Wisconsin-style Brandy Old-Fashioned that would make even a purist smile. A little. Butterfly, 225 W Broadway (646-692-4943, thebutterflynyc.com)
Happy Hour Old-Fashioned

Rye, the atmospheric Williamsburg restaurant, makes inexpensive Old-Fashioneds the heart of its happy hour, which runs Monday to Friday from 5:30-7pm. Made with Old Overholt Rye, they’re not delicate, but they’re solid. And they’re $5. So shut up and drink—then settle yourself with a $5 cheeseburger before going for round two. Rye, 247 S 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-218-8047, ryerestaurant.com)

Where to Get the Best Old-Fashioneds in NYC

The Usual

Old-School Atmosphere to Go with the Old-School Drink

Benton’s Old-Fashioned

Oaxaca Old-Fashioned

Prime Meats Old-Fashioned

Honey-Nut Old-Fashioned

Fruited Old-Fashioned

Happy Hour Old-Fashioned

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