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Photograph: Courtesy of Grand Banks

The best boat bars in NYC for water-top sips and snacks

Make like the captain and gather your crew on these beautiful vessels

Amber Sutherland-Namako
Written by
Amber Sutherland-Namako
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Like New York City’s best waterfront restaurants, our area’s finest water-top spots are an easier, breezy way to bottle a few drops of the yachting lifestyle without the high price and pesky barnacles that stow away on an actual watercraft. Mostly only open seasonally, they’re peak spring and summer destinations with the warm weather menus to match, all with a side of the sea. There are also a relative few across the five boroughs’ greater eating and drinking landscape but those selected here will rise the tide for all your going out plans right now. 

The best boat bars in NYC

  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Brooklyn Heights
  • price 2 of 4
  • Recommended

Docked near the southern end of Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pilot’s as romantic as postcards between sweethearts, impromptu slow dances and amicable prenups. The 147-foot, 1920s schooner looks out on the East River and lower Manhattan skyline, beckoning guests with the cheery yellow and white over its long, U-shaped bar. Oysters, $69 caviar service, seafood-forward entrées and cocktails, wine and beer are all on the menu. 

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Attractions
  • Sightseeing
  • Financial District
  • Recommended

The Staten Island Ferry is a marvel of public transportation. It operates around the clock, every 15-30 minutes, for free. Although nobody should sail for entertainment alone during rush hour, I always recommend it as a quick jaunt with drinks and beautiful views to tourists and locals alike at other times. Though on-board concessions are still suspended, vendors on either side of the expedition sell beer and wine to bring along. And, whether you call it home, or you’re just along for the ride, Staten Island has some of NYC’s best pizza places and group dining options.

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  • Bars
  • Dive bars
  • Midtown
  • price 2 of 4

In 1929, this very structure was constructed as a lightship—like a lighthouse with one obvious difference. It was stationed off the coast of North Carolina until 1965. It was eventually abandoned and even sank before it was raised once more and repurposed as the Frying Pan as we know it in 1989. Its 2023 menu includes all the expected boat bar bites and plenty of sips to pair them with. 

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  • Bars
  • Manhattan
  • price 2 of 4

Although its technical address is in New Jersey, who is to say what truly lies where, once water whirls beneath? Still maps, I guess. The Manhattan Yacht Club's "floating clubhouse" can be reached by rail, road and ferry, in any case. Seatings are timed and advance tickets are recommened, as the space's capacity is a firm 149. Guests are welcome to pack picnics, but drinks must be purchased on board. 

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