NYC Neighborhood Help

Nearly every neighborhood in Manhattan will fit that bill (below a certain cutoff)... I would avoid midtown personally but even that fits the bill. I live on upper west side-- some great beer options, but the Lower East Side, East Village and West Villages have even more of that....plenty of others may have other advice...

 

This is a good starting point for any visit to NYC: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...bar-store-restaurant-and-brewery-list.200513/

 

I would suggest staying in the West Village or Upper West Side. You can sight see and drink in midtown during the day but it's nice to getaway from the craziness at night. West Village has a ton of great dinner and beer drinking places. I lived on the Upper West Side for years and it's great as well. When in midtown looking for good beer, Ginger Man, As Is, Pony Bar and Rattle & Hum are the places I would go. West Village you have Blind Tiger, Upright Brew House and many more. Enjoy your stay!

 

Staying in the Chelsea all the way down to east village area will allow you to walk to a ton of great restaurants as well as bars, whenever I'm in those two areas I can easily walk to another favorite bar of mine after leaving one.

 

If you find yourself doing the LES thing (Katzs, Russ and Daughters, etc.), keep in mind that Zum Schneider isn't too far away, and it's one of the few places you'll be able to get the very excellent Traunsteiner beers.

 

Yup, you got it. Those are great places to visit for a taste of Old New York.

 

Plenty, but not the best options. For drink: Broadway Dive, George McKeeley's, Dive Bar (to a much lesser extent), and the pub at Whole Foods Columbus Circle.

Jacob's Pickles, Dinosaur BBq are some good food and beer options.

 

There are so many restaurants within a 5-10 minute walk if you are on the upper west side (or nearly any neighborhood)... all cuisines, all price points, it may surprise you the density of places.... as far as beer places on the upper west side (beermenus.com is great) I like Broadway Dive, Jacob's Pickles, Beer Counter, Joe's, George Keelys, Dive Bar....

 

Definitely would not recommend the UWS. Your options aren't that great for food/bars and it's far from everything else (unless you plan to spend a lot of time in Central Park and Midtown West).

East Village is really concentrated with great restaurants and bars. Plus, you have easy access to Union Square, LES, Chelsea, Williamsburg and the West Village (most are walkable or easily accessible via subway). It's a good central location to get to a lot of good places.

 

UWS side does have Central Park to stroll in but wouldn't recommend for best restaurants and beer drinking.
If you like walking don't miss the High Line which runs from below 14th St up to the 30's on the west side. Great place to walk, sight see and hang out.

 

In terms of lodging I wouldn't recommend airbnb in NYC as it is still illegal for hosts to rent out their entire apartment/house which makes inventory low and pricey because the ones who list either aren't aware of that or they are aware but are charging a premium in case they get caught. Unless you are looking to stay in a shared apartment, then more inventory should be available. I've found whole apartment airbnb availability to be less of a value then a hotel in NYC.

 

As a non-New Yorker who wishes he could visit more often than he does, I'd recommend the LES/East Village. Oodles of food (pricy and non-pricy) options and bars. Avoid mid-town in August. High Line and Brooklyn Bridge are great walks. Though I personally would do so in the morning to avoid the crowds of tourists taking selfies. Was just up there Memorial Day weekend and I'd recommend Singlecut beers in addition to the Other Half stuff. If Singlecut's SSMS is still around, drink. Definitely drink.

 

Basically everything here. I lived in the East Village for 5 years -- it has the densest concentration of bars and restaurants (including tons of great beer, Good Beer and Proletariat being two of your best options for bottles and tap in NYC respectively). Plus it really has a lot of great energy. The downside to the EV is that it can get very loud and noisy on the weekends, and you want to make sure you don't stay too far east (Aves C & D) which have a lot of stuff happening but are far from public transit and can get a little seedy. Plus, depending on your budget there are some great hotels in the area, most prominently being the Bowery Hotel and the Standard. AirBnbs should be aplenty as well.

If you're looking for somewhere quiet, I would suggest West Village, which is really beautiful, near transit, and has great restaurants and bars. It is definitely more neighborhood-y, but still very cool.

LES has great bars, but isn't a particularly attractive neighborhood (besides NoLita (North of Little Italy)), and oftentimes feels like a giant hipster clubhouse. Also can feel very far from the "heart of it all" with its transit options being more limited.

DO NOT STAY NORTH OF 14th STREET. I REPEAT, DO NOT STAY N OF 14TH STREET.

 

TLDR:

Recommended hoods:
East Village
West Village
Union Square

 

I think that the West Village presents the same attractions as the UWS in this regard (near Washington Square Park and High Line) with better bars, restaurants, coffee, and shopping. Plus it's prettier and will feel like a suaver vacation IMHO.

Feel free to DM me for a more lengthy convo and happy to give recommendations.

 

Upper west side is not as bad as people may say and you definitely can find great eating for a day or two, after all it is only a few meals, but it is true that downtown has a great vibe... the other thing to consider given you are going to Brooklyn for Other Half and Coney Island is that lower east side is much much closer/faster to both of that (public transportation) as well as all the NY breweries. Google maps has great point to point directions using your choice of taxi, public transport, or walking in its tabs