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Home > Nightlife & Music > Employees Only

Employees Only

Critic's Pick Critics' Pick

510 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014
nr. Christopher St.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-242-3021 Send to Phone

  • Reader Rating:

    6.2 out of 10

      |  

    6 Reviews | Write a Review

  • Scene: Brunch, Fireplace, Hot Spot, Outdoor Area, Private Party Space, Romantic, Singles Scene, Swank
Photo by Kate Attardo

Official Website

employeesonlynyc.com

Hours

Daily, 6pm-4am

Nearby Subway Stops

1 at Christopher St.-Sheridan Sq.; A, B, C, D, E, F, V at W. 4th St.-Washington Sq.

Payment Methods

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

Profile

The name of this railroad cocktail bar plays on the notion that the staff has more fun, and the clientele gets off on an insider's feel without the labor. Deco details of terraced lighting around the pressed-tin ceiling and overhead luggage racks in the elevated dining room are of a piece with the dapper service and drinks. Bartenders with anachronistic parted hair and handlebar mustaches, suited in white chef's jackets, prepare Golden Age renditions of the Negroni, Manhattan, and Americano, and shake and muddle fresh ingredients for the throat-tickling Ginger Smash, fragrant strawberry Fraise Sauvage, and the Hemingway Daiquiri, which has a smoothness that’s often missing from grapefruit-tinged cocktails. An abundance of single malts, tequilas, and even ryes gleam from the bar shelves, but a few bottled beers are available for diehards. Seating is scarce on the weekends, when a polished crowd with flickers of downtown style fills the room, and a pat eighties soundtrack throws the general conceit to the wind. Guests seeking a bit of escape can chance a tarot card reading in the small foyer.

Extra

Dishes like roasted organic chicken and sautéed oysters are served until midnight in the often-booked dining room, which is furnished with a wraparound banquette. There is also a special late-night menu, served from midnight to 4am. In winter the fireplace is lit and the back garden enclosed.

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6.2 "Mixed Reviews"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10
Write Your Own Review
66% Would you go back?
50% Would you take a date?
33% Would you go on business?

perfect west village cocktail spot

JoP from 10014 | Posted on 9/22/09

Overall Rating: 9 (Highly Recommended)

Well mixed inventive cocktails; funky music; friendly atmosphere. Good for dinner, better for an after dinner sharpner when you're just not ready to go home late. Can be very overcrowded.

My new favorite

darlingc from 10012 | Posted on 6/17/09

Overall Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)

Surprised by the other reviews, but it's clearly not for everyone. And why should it be? This is NYC, the customer is not always right and not everyone should get in easily. A speakeasy created for & by the service industry, if you happen to appreciate a dimlit, lowkey but stylish atmosphere with excellent food that's not trying too hard- this is the place. With a true top shelf, mustachioed barbacks and a last call ritual that includes Tom Waits & complimentary chicken soup passed out like communion, you never know who's gracing the next barstool. The crowd is as eclectic as the city itself, and unsurprisingly- pedestrians and wannabes might have more complaints than artists and jetsetters. Like everything in this city, best enjoyed during the week. My new favorite spot.

Read All 6 Reviews >>

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