There’s no MetroCard necessary to visit these subterranean watering holes.
New York City’s subway system is home to a select group of underground cocktail bars — which have been transformed into glamorous rendezvous spots where straphangers can trade the dirt of the transit system for some dirty martinis.
The list of the Big Apple’s metro taverns includes the Manhattan haunts Nothing Really Matters, La Noxe and Nōksu — along with Brooklyn’s La Boudoir, which boasts access to the oldest metro tunnel in the world.
The owners of the below-ground hot spots cited the history and hustle of New York City as a major inspiration for their businesses.
“The people that enter your doors want to be there and they have to seek it out. The journey’s half the fun, especially in New York,” explained Adrien Gallow, the owner of Nothing Really Matters.
“It’s also the romance of finding the spot, having it be super cool. It’s almost like your secret.”
Head down below and explore these subway bars.
Nothing Really Matters
Beneath the hustle and bustle of Times Square lies Nothing Really Matters — a cocktail bar that not only welcomes the chaos of the city but invites it.
For Gallo, that meant fostering an environment in the tourist hotspot that appeals to the hordes of white-collar types that might otherwise rush home after a long day of work in Midtown.
“I really wanted to bring a New York bar for New Yorkers in Times Square, because there isn’t one, really,” Gallo told The Post.
“I wanted to create an oasis for them to escape after work … It’s an escape from your daily grind that everyone associates the subway with.”
The dark and swanky saloon sits just down the stairs from the entrance to the West 50th Street and Broadway No. 1 train station, where beloved dive Siberia Bar once called home. However, it offers a completely different — and more “refined” — vibe, Gallo said.
Gallo looked to the New York City streets that lie above his bar for inspiration but also incorporated styles from Toyko and Buenos Aires, and even from his favorite — and notably neon — movie, “Blade Runner.”
“I wanted to capture how light reflects on certain surfaces inside of the subway station here,” Gallo said.
Although Nothing Really Matters is not necessarily hard to find, and its doors open right up to the crowd of passing commuters, Gallo purposefully neglected to hang any signage above the haunt or at the street level.
“It’s almost like your secret. People love secrets — they love to hold them close to their chests, but they also like to whisper them to the people that they love the most or want to impress the most. And maybe that’s us,” explained Gallo.
Plus, Gallo pointed out, the weather never changes underground.
Signature cocktail: New York Sour
Although the cocktail selection at Nothing Really Matters changes seasonally, the bourbon-based drink with lemon juice, simple syrup and a red wine floater stands out as an all-time staple.
La Noxe
Tucked away behind an unassuming door in the 7th Avenue and 28th Street subway staircase, La Noxe can easily be missed by the thousands of passing straphangers charging to the 1 train each day — and that’s just the way founder Jey Perie likes it.
Although it doesn’t consider itself a speakeasy, the tiny and dimly lit haunt accommodates only a few chic barflies at a time.
“I don’t like big clubs, I like small cozy environments where you can have quality drinks and be surrounded by like 20 to 50 people instead of like 500,” said Perie.
“I wanted to create almost like a living room. A house party experience.”
The exclusive 600-square-foot underground space is heavily inspired by old New York — and takes full advantage of the juxtaposition of lying outside the grimy transit hub.
“We have that kind of dichotomy of the rush, the toughness of the subway and the commute. And here we have fancy cocktails in a very elegant environment,” said Perie.
One of Perie’s favorite details is the thick glass bricks that allow patrons to watch the footsteps of unwitting commuters passing by: “We know they’re there. They don’t know we’re here.”
Despite being so close to the transit hub — which has become synonymous with crime in recent years — La Noxe has transformed into somewhat of a haven from the chaos, especially for women.
As much as 75% of the clientele are female, Perie estimates, noting that the staff takes extra measures to keep creeps out of the bar.
Signature cocktail: More Passion, More Problems
A vodka-based drink with passion fruit liqueur, lemon and orange zest, the More Passion, More Problems has been the most popular drink since La Noxe first opened its subway doors.
Nōksu
The sleek and elegant 12-seat chef’s counter restaurant occupies what was once a modest barbershop in the 34th Street Herald Square subway station — and has just velvet curtains and a password-safe door separating itself from the grimy path down to the 1-train.
“We’re trying to transport every diner from thinking, ‘Hey, I’m walking down the New York City subway,’ and once they open the curtains, they’re just like, ‘Whoa, we’re in a different world!’” co-owner Bobby Kwak explained, adding that he wished the hotspot had a selfie booth to capture diners’ expressions.
When Kwak opened the restaurant last September, he knew he wanted to fuse the charm of the Big Apple with Korean culture — name Nōksu riffs on the venue’s subterranean location, and is Korean for “of the earth.”
“Nothing else represents New York City than a very hustling and bustling subway with all the different types of people of many different cultures and nationalities wanting to just get to their destination at the same time,” Kwak said.
But don’t worry, Kwak added: the restaurant is padded with extra soundproofing and the passcode door also riffraff from strolling in during dinner service.
The hole-in-the-wall is so small that guests can watch their meals and drinks being concocted right before their eyes — an intimacy that is a staple of Nōksu’s allure.
“We try to make guests feel like they’re invited to a friend’s dinner party: the way we address and engage with them. We treat them like they’re our friends,” he said.
Signature cocktail: Bae Bae
The pisco with Asian pear prosecco cocktail has been the most popular on the menu since day one.
Bonus: La Boudoir
The underground Brooklyn Heights craft cocktail lounge may not be accessible by an active subway, but La Boudoir boasts a back room connected to the storied Atlantic Avenue tunnel — the abandoned Long Island Rail Road line that is said to be the oldest subway tunnel in the world.
“You can feel the history in there,” La Boudoir owner Patricia Ageheim noted.
The eerie cove still has the tunnel’s original stonework, and even has an old manhole-type latch on its ceiling that transit workers used to transport coal — though the opening on the street side has long been paved over.
A second room, believed to have been used for storage, has been renovated to serve as the speakeasy’s bathroom.
Ageheim, who also owns the upstairs restaurant Chez Moi, had long heard rumors of the tunnel lying below her restaurant before she broke down the walls in 2016 and found the nook.
“It was like finding Narnia,” Ageheim recalled. “It was with no intentions. It was like, ‘Well, we just have to see what’s in there because how cool is that?’ But then when we saw it — and it’s a beautiful room — we were like, ‘This is our bar! We’ll do a speakeasy down here.’”
Serendipitously, the dark and sultry ambiance the rooms exuded matched the exact vibe Ageheim envisioned for a cocktail lounge reimagined as Marie Antioniette’s bedroom.
The watering hole is also as exclusive as the royal’s bedroom — patrons enter La Boudoir via a hidden door behind a bookshelf in Chez Moi.
“Marie Antoinette had a boudoir where only certain people were invited,” Ageheim explained, adding that the historical element made the environment that much more enjoyable.
“I thought it was really cool to go with something inspired by this young woman who was brought to a country where she didn’t know anyone. It’s not that I support probably the lifestyle and how they treated their people, but she’s kind of an icon and in many ways.”
Signature cocktail: La Cellar
Described as a “celery paloma,” La Cellar uses blanco tequila, elderflower liqueur, lime and celery in four ways: as syrup, spicy bitters, salt and as a garnish.
