Fish Market
111 South St (FiDi)
Go-to order: Vodka soda and lime, or any draft beer
Excuse me while I reveal Condé Nast Traveler’s current happy hour spot, but credit where credit is due. Our offices in the Financial District can make it difficult to find a cheap boozer nearby (shocking that the finance suits don’t want the same sticky-floor establishments that media workers are drawn to), but thanks to a former Traveler teammate Sebastian Modak, we found our way to Fish Market a few years ago, and it has become the de facto destination for holiday parties, going-away parties, and random Thursdays since. The drinks are cheap (don’t ask for non-alcoholic anything, they don’t have it), free shots of Jameson are offered on the half-hour (and yes, the bartender will take one with every table), and the bar food is Malaysian, thanks to the owner’s mother’s recipes, meaning you can soak up your poor choices with tasty stuffed eggplant, shrimp dumplings, and scallion pancakes. They recently fixed the front door so there is an actual handle on it, but I kind of miss having to lift the bottom with my shoe, then reach up over the top to pull it open. —Megan Spurrell
Anchored Inn
57 Waterbury St (Bushwick/East Williamsburg)
Go-to order: Miller High Life and the Carmen Fries
The Anchored Inn’s theme song could be “Yo-ho-ho, a pint of Guinness, and a damp, graffitied toilet with no mirror”. This nautical-themed watering hole is the kind of dive you want: great beer selection, amazing bar food, pool, hot people, and outdoor picnic tables that hit year-round. On any given beautiful day, you’re walking into Anchored’s first, refined barroom, and sitting down for loaded “Carmen fries” that come dripping in Oaxacan cheese, bacon, chipotle mayo, and more. You want to take it further? No problem whatsoever, just pop into the next room where they’ve got punk rock going with two big pool tables, arcade games, and a genuinely cool crowd. “A place to get fed and get drunk” is what Anchored Inn calls itself. That rocks. What more could you want in life? —Bridget Knowles
