Midtown Happy Hour: Upstairs Bar at The Hotel

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe the site should have a happy hour column. Every Friday we post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap. For this week’s recommendation we’re back to Profiled Midtown Lunch’er Kate.

Midtown Happy Hour: Upstairs Bar at The Hotel

This week we travel to the second floor of a hotel to find one of the more intimate bars I’ve seen. It’s the Upstairs Bar in The Hotel at Times Square, dubbed ‘the biggest little bar’ on their inconspicuous sandwich board outside the main entrance. It was initially that sandwich board that attracted me, boasting a happy hour that included $3 drafts, $5 cosmos, and $5 house wine. So yesterday after work and before dinner I ventured up a curved set of black marble steps to this tiny midtown oasis.

Midtown Happy Hour: Upstairs Bar at The Hotel

Honestly I didn’t know what to expect, and I was very happy with what I found. The bar is a seriously small affair, though the back part of the room boasts double height floor to ceiling mirrors and a vaulted skylight, which helps the space grow a little. There are hanging plants, small colored lights, and all the tables are lit with votives. At 6pm I was the only customer, but the lovely bartender Tejal told me that things tend to get busy and often stay busy until the wee hours. The bar itself was small but stocked and the wine and beer selection was fair. The two beers on tap are Bud Light and Budweiser’s American Ale, and there are two house wines that are part of the happy hour special. They have Parducci which is an organic California merlot, and Castillo de Molina which is a Pinot Noir from Chile, of which Tejal was kind enough to pour me a glass. It was a really nice mellow wine, and you can’t beat the price at $5.

Midtown Happy Hour: Upstairs Bar at The Hotel

Overall impression here was great, it was intimate, low lit, quiet and comfortable. Also there was something really appealing about the fact that it was semi hidden on the second floor of a hotel. The happy hour is on the shorter side, 5-7pm, but this is definitely the kind of place that I would hang out long past the deal’s end. Highly recommended.

Upstairs Bar at The Hotel in Times Square, 59 West 46th Street (btw. 5+6th)

Post and photos by Kath Schruth

3 Comments

  • Do any of these bars exhibit a heavy drinking party animal atmosphere? lol

  • It looks like a fraternity dining room. Not very cozy

  • looks nice but something’s missing. maybe it’s people in the bar to drink with? I always feel a lil weird when I’m the only one around. Keep it up Kath

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