East Village, Manhattan · bar
You walk into Crif Dogs on St. Marks, step into the phone booth, and pick up the receiver. The back wall swings open into one of the bars that launched the entire modern speakeasy movement. Inside it's leather booths, dark wood, and room for maybe four dozen people — intimate by design, not accident — where the cocktails are inventive without being precious and yes, you can order a Crif Dog through the wall. Nearly two decades in and the trick still lands.