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The 5 Best 1920's-Style Bars In NYC

If you like to dress up in vintage clothes, listen to swinging jazz and sip on old-school cocktails, NYC is full of roaring 20's-style bars to help you get your swank on. Here are the best bars in the city to party like a flapper. By Selena Ricks-Good.

The Back Room

Girls Dressed As Flappers At 1920's Party
(file photo credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

102 Norfolk St.
New York, NY
(212) 228-5098

Drink booze out of teacups like they did during Prohibition at this hidden bar housed in what was an actual 1920s speakeasy. Head down a set of stairs and through an alleyway and up a set of metal stairs to a scene full of Victorian glamour. Tin ceilings, velvet wallpaper and plush furniture set a romantic vibe, but the scene is usually relaxed. Friends of the owner know about the "real" back room, a VIP lounge accessed through a trick bookcase.

The Dove Parlour

Flappers
(file photo credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

228 Thompson St.
New York, NY
(212) 254-1435
thedoveparlour.com

With a scene that is just so dah-ling, you can't help but feel sophisticated when you come here to get sloshed on Sidecars and Champagne cocktails. Just below street level from the boisterous Greenwich Village, The Dove is decked out in red velvet wallpaper,  ornate gold moldings and a candle-lit fireplace. Jazz is the soundtrack for the early evening, but once latenight arrives, expect it to switch to indie rock.

Auction House

Fireplace
(file photo/Clipart)

300 E. 89th St.
New York, NY
(212) 427-4458

See Also: The 6 Best NYC Bars With Fireplaces

A hidden gem on the Upper East Side, Auction House offers an unpretentious vibe in a neighborhood full of preppy sports pubs. Cozy up on antique velvet furniture underneath sparkling chandeliers and oversized paintings of Renaissance nudes. The lighting is dim, the crowd is low-key and the drinks are affordable (most are under $7). College kids, take note: the bar doesn't allow patrons under 25.

Bathtub Gin

Bathtub Gin
Credit: Facebook.com/Bathtub Gin

132 9th Ave.
New York, NY
(646) 559-1671
bathtubginnyc.com

See Also: The 3 Best Bars In The Financial District

A new speakeasy behind Stone Street Coffee Shop, Bathtub Gin offers a clandestine scene on the outskirts of the Meatpacking District. Enter the coffee shop and look for a red light above a false wall leading to a '20s style lounge complete with a clawfoot copper tub and waitresses in flapper garb. The cocktail menu is heavy on gin, such as the Sloe Gin Flip and the Raspberry Gin Fizz, and if you're hungry, you can also order from a traditional pub food menu.

clover_room
The Clover Room bar in New York City. (credit: cloverclubny.com)

Clover Club

210 Smith St.
Brooklyn, NY
(718) 855-7939
cloverclubny.com

See Also: NYC's Best Jazz Clubs

Ragtime pipes through the speakers at this classic cocktail joint while live jazz acts perform on Wednesday nights. Choose from a sprawling menu of tipples including brambles, swizzles, flips and more. The main room is handsome enough, but if the back lounge isn't booked for a private event, head there for an elegant scene featuring a fireplace. An upscale bar food menu complements the drinks.

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Selena Ricks-Good writes about drinks and produces events as The Dizzy Fizz.

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