White-Jacketed Bartenders Mix Coupe Cocktails in the West Village
Sip shaken and stirred cocktails at a wood-paneled West Village bar backed by a glowing wall of bottles.
🍸 The Bar Behind the Bottles
Employees Only fills a narrow West Village room with warm light, a pressed-tin ceiling, and a back bar stacked with hundreds of bottles under a wide glass pendant lamp. Bartenders in white jackets work the counter fast, shaking coupe cocktails that arrive garnished with a single flower or a dark citrus wheel. Walk past the front bar and the wood-paneled back room opens into a proper dining space, where the bar doubles as a full sit-down restaurant serving crisp caper-strewn fish and composed salads. Regulars have logged a 4.2 rating across more than 3,200 reviews, and the space stays golden, loud, and dressed up. It sits at 510 Hudson Street in the West Village.
