New York City doesn’t need a case made for it as a Champagne destination. The city has more world-class restaurants, more legendary hotel bars and more dedicated Champagne spots than almost anywhere else on earth. The question isn’t whether you can find exceptional Champagne here — it’s knowing where to start.
We’ve been building our New York City Champagne City Guide across the five boroughs, and we’re always adding new discoveries.
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Table of contents
- The great hotel bars
- French bistros and Champagne bars
- The Michelin tier
- Frequently asked questions
- Explore the New York City City Guide
The great hotel bars
New York’s hotel bar culture is one of the city’s great gifts to the world of drinks, and Champagne belongs in it completely.
Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle on the Upper East Side is one of the most beautiful rooms in Manhattan — walls painted by Ludwig Bemelmans (the author of the Madeline books), live jazz most evenings, and a Champagne list that matches the surroundings. It’s the kind of place that makes you understand why New York has always been a Champagne city. King Cole Bar at the St. Regis, beneath the famous Maxfield Parrish mural, carries that same sense of occasion — a glass of Champagne there feels like participating in something that has been going on for a very long time.
The Palm Court at The Plaza is another institution worth knowing: afternoon Champagne in one of New York’s most iconic rooms, with Central Park just outside. The Bar Room at The Modern — inside MoMA — offers a very different version of the same idea, where art and a well-chosen glass of Champagne share the afternoon.
French bistros and Champagne bars
New York’s French bistro scene — particularly in SoHo and the East Village — is one of the most satisfying places to drink Champagne in the city.
Raoul’s in SoHo is the archetype: a dimly lit, genuinely French bistro that has been pouring Champagne to New Yorkers since 1975. It feels like somewhere you stumbled into rather than planned, and the Champagne list is exactly right for the atmosphere. King champagne bar, also in SoHo, is more explicitly focused — a dedicated Champagne bar where the selection is the point. Le Veau d’Or on the Upper East Side is a classic French restaurant that has been through several reinventions and remains one of the city’s most atmospheric places to drink well. Lucien in the East Village brings a similar sensibility to a neighbourhood that has its own very New York energy.
These are the spots for a long evening with a bottle open on the table — unhurried, convivial and very much the city at its best.
The Michelin tier
For anyone who takes Champagne seriously, New York’s top restaurants offer some of the most carefully considered pairings in the world.
Per Se — Thomas Keller’s three-Michelin-star restaurant overlooking Columbus Circle — has a wine programme that is among the finest in the country, and the Champagne selection reflects that. Le Bernardin, arguably the best seafood restaurant in America, is a natural home for Champagne: the precision of the cooking and the elegance of a great Blanc de Blancs are made for each other. Eleven Madison Park, Daniel Humm’s plant-based tasting menu in the Flatiron, approaches Champagne pairing with the same creativity it brings to everything else on the table. Daniel on the Upper East Side is a more classically French fine dining experience, with a Champagne list that honours that tradition.
Marea, on Central Park South, bridges the gap between the hotel bar world and the fine dining tier — outstanding Italian seafood with a wine list built around exactly the kind of Champagne that works with it.
Frequently asked questions
Our New York City City Guide maps venues across Manhattan and beyond — from iconic hotel bars and dedicated Champagne spots to Michelin-starred restaurants and neighbourhood bistros. Use the map to find what’s near you.
Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle and King Cole Bar at the St. Regis are two of the most celebrated hotel bars in the world, and both serve Champagne in rooms that feel genuinely historic. For dedicated Champagne bars, King champagne bar in SoHo is the most focused option. At the fine dining level, Per Se, Le Bernardin and Eleven Madison Park have Champagne lists that belong among the best in North America.
It depends on the mood. The Upper East Side has the classic hotel bars and French institutions. SoHo and the East Village have the bistro and wine bar scene. Midtown has the grand hotel dining rooms and the proximity to theatre that makes Champagne feel like the right call before curtain. There’s no single answer — which is one of the things that makes New York worth exploring with a glass in hand.
Explore the New York City City Guide
Our New York City City Guide brings together the best Champagne venues across the city — hotel bars, dedicated Champagne spots, French bistros and Michelin-starred restaurants — all on the map.
Start exploring New York City here
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