Death & Company

On our lists of the best speakeasies and cocktail bars in New York.

David Kaplan and Ravi DeRossi opened this East Village cocktail bar on New Year's Eve 2006, and it became one of the rooms credited with starting the craft-cocktail boom — the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned was invented right here. The space stays dim and gothic, with candles, a low ceiling, and a marble-topped bar that bounces the light back. Death & Co takes a limited number of reservations but mostly seats first-come, first-served, with two-hour tables capped at eight people. A short food menu of oysters, fried chicken, and arancini backs up the cocktail list.