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East Williamsburg has no shortage of cocktail bars, but few are built around the idea that Japanese and Latin cultures have more in common than you might think.
Now open at 160 Havemeyer Street, dokidoki is a new standing-room cocktail bar that draws inspiration from Japan's tachinomi: casual bars where patrons gather over drinks without lingering at tables. But dokidoki goes for extra credit by weaving in Latin American flavors, music and hospitality to create a neighborhood hangout that swaps booze-heavy cocktails for lighter drinks designed to keep the good times going.
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The bar is the first collaboration between veteran bartenders A-K Hada and Christian Suzuki-Orellana, better known as Suzu. Between them, the pair have worked at some of the country's most respected cocktail destinations, including PDT and Existing Conditions in New York, while Suzu also built a following in San Francisco before appearing as a semifinalist on Netflix's Drink Masters.
The name "dokidoki" is a Japanese expression for the sound of a fast-beating heart, and that's exactly the atmosphere the owners are hoping to cultivate. Rather than focusing on hushed cocktail-bar etiquette, the space leans into lively playlists, standing-room mingling and an easygoing approach to drinking.
The menu reflects that adrenalized philosophy. Nearly every cocktail clocks in at a lower alcohol content than your typical martini or Manhattan, relying on ingredients like shochu, sake, vermouth and fortified wines to build flavor without overwhelming potency. Standouts include the Tropi Hai, made with barley shochu, roasted barley tea, grapefruit and tamarind; the coffee-forward Shibuya Cafecito; and the tropical Ichiki Tini. Every signature cocktail is priced at $16, and there are also nonalcoholic options alongside rotating pours of sake, wine and alcohol-free beer.
As for food, chef Daniel Maysonet created a compact menu that filters Puerto Rican and Salvadoran flavors through Japanese techniques. There's crispy pork belly brightened with yuzu kosho and tamarind, as well as a cod katsu sando layered with shredded cabbage and sesame tartare on pillowy shokupan bread.
Open daily from 4pm to midnight, dokidoki is walk-in only, reinforcing its casual spirit to offer something refreshingly different: a place where Japanese drinking traditions meet Latin rhythms, lower-proof cocktails keep the conversation flowing and standing around is part of the experience.