The Portrait Bar

Tucked behind the lobby of a luxury hotel on 28th Street that’s also home to Café Carmellini, The Portrait Bar looks like the tastefully cluttered drawing room of a Victorian mansion. It’s not a very big place, but they cram a lot of couches, rugs, and armchairs inside, and there is, appropriately, an impressive number of portraits on the walls. As long as you've convinced yourself that spending $22 on a cocktail is, in fact, a sensible thing to do, you can have a very nice time hanging with a date, a friend, or some out-of-towners at this Nomad bar. The drinks have ingredients like bay leaf and sesame oil-washed gin, and the snacks are great, particularly the dry-aged burger ($26, sans fries). Be sure to make a reservation.