Artsy yet chic cocktail lounge that’s underneath their main restaurant, Juku. The neon-lit staircase takes you down under stained glass ceilings, which are so gorgeous and unique and creates the most immersive ambiance. A great place to grab a bite of a-la-carte sushi or a Green tea martini with friends, family, or colleagues. The place has charm and character, which is so hard to come by in newer nyc cocktail lounges these days! Best Lychee martini in the city, too.
Davion Mendez
Had a good experience in this place with my kids. The food came rapidly and the customer service is just great. Prices are reasonable.
Ronald Roberts
Cosy and Great spot for unique cocktails with friendly and quick service. Waiters offered great suggestions for drinks. Will be back again for sure!
Rosa C.
The bartender, Chris, at Straylight is an artist, a true mixologist. We plopped down at the bar and first ordered a few drinks off the menu. Then as we drank our first round and chatted with him, we learned that he liked experimenting with infusing spirits with various things, like pea shoots and crimini mushrooms. For our next round, he made us all custom drinks based on our preferences and spirit of choice, and though not all the drinks went down easy, I loved the creativity and the depth behind all the drinks! He then let us try his crimini-infused whiskey which, as a mushroom lover, was incredible! We haven't been back since but Chris and Straylight have come up several times in conversation. We'll have to stop by again soon and discover some new flavor pairings!
Lily P.
I came here soon after opening and found the room empty. Slowly, a couple people came in over the hour but the area was still largely empty. Which I liked; I'm a little tired of super crowded cocktail bars with long lines. A good place for if you want a more relaxed and quiet bar for a weekday evening. I had the Smoke on the Water and loved the flavor of the mezcal. The fruity mixers were sweet but blended together nicely. Overall I would prefer more mezcal and less sweetness, but it was still a good drink. My friend had the Shiso DUMBO and I loved it. Presentation was right on the money with the big shiso leaf and adorable elephant pourer. The flavor was to die for; extremely smooth and refreshing. A little on the sweet side but not as sweet. For this drink too, I'd prefer a bit more gin and less sweet. But that's just me. Environment was cool and relaxing. The entrance was hard to find (door from outside is unmarked, had to look for "Juku"), but the entryway was super old-school trendy once you open the inside door.
Devin Lynch
I visited Straylight for the first time on 12/5/2019 on a whim. It took less than 5 minutes for me to decide that I would be returning - and often. Straylight is a special place with a unique cocktail menu, rare sake offerings, incredibly attentive staff, a mindfully constructed comfortable space, and intentionally created menus.
Tully Keren
Really cool place and the staff is amazing
Elizabeth Stumpf
Excellent, upscale experience. Drinks were fabulous and our bartender was fantastic!!
Jonathan Requillo
Really loved it
renje g.
One of my favorite bars in NYC The bartender was fabulous She made great drinks for us, based on our mood in energy Drinks were perfect This place fills up fast on a random Thursday, the line must be out the door on a weekend *I'd get there early as possible The vibe, music, atmosphere is all amazing for any occasion
Straylight wins points for revitalizing the tired speakeasy concept. Located off Chinatown's Columbus Park next to parent omakase restaurant Juku, it's accessed by descending down through a stairwell that resembles an abandoned cellphone store, with neon lights bouncing off empty walls and surreal infomercials playing on flatscreens. Inside is a sanctum somewhere between chapel and art deco, with a faux-stained glass ceiling adding warmth and color, a 70s tinged hideaway with plenty of details to catch the eye. It's remarkably lived-in for a fairly new bar. It feels like a room you might find hidden in Lisbon's sprawling, maximalist Pensao Amor, a bar located in an old boarding house, and you could imagine people weaving through the space, taking shots, meeting strangers. Instead, what we found was a hushed atmosphere on a Friday night and a list of expensive Japanese-inspired cocktails. The list is intriguing and goes beyond the usual additions of matcha and yuzu, with ingredients like sushi rice and daikon. First was the Field ($19), a mushroom-spiked old fashioned that was perfectly fine and only vaguely smelled of shiitake. Next was the Smoke on the Water ($16), which tasted like a typical tropical mezcal cocktail, and not like the kombucha we were hoping would shine through. Food was similarly disappointing-- chicken karaage was a few bites of average fried chicken ($14). Seared mentaiko ($13) was unbearably salty with nothing to offset it-- they should really serve this with bread or rice. Overall, prices here are just silly: most cocktails toe the $20 line. Our round of drinks and tiny snacks hit what we'll typically spend on a good-sized dinner. Raku does a delectable karaage for cheaper, and Bar Goto's cocktails have a similar Japanese influence with more tried-and-true execution and lower prices. Service was hard to track down and somewhat snooty. Bathrooms are located upstairs in Juku and I had a pretty long wait (though they are stylish as well). Straylight has to be one of the most attractive bars I've been to, but looks aren't everything. Maybe I hit it on an off-night.
Tams N.
Part of me never wants to write this review because this place is SOOOOOO GOOOD and I don't want anyone to find out about it. It took me four months after moving to NYC before I could find where my favorite cocktail bar and bartenders are...both can be found at this place. I've gone to all the "Number One" spots at all the published lists and weren't blown away by any of them until I came here. I'm a bit craft cocktails obsessed and am lucky enough to become friends and hang at Artesian in London and the Little Red Door in Paris (highly recommend both when you're traveling). This little gem, in the middle of nowhere in Chinatown, is my pick for New York. My requirements for a mind blowing cocktail: mixologists who are passionate on the verge of obsession about their craft without being snobby and an a** about it, bartenders who can carry a conversation with genuine warmth and connection and a welcoming vibe that makes you stay for hours spend lots of money on multiple rounds without even noticing it, a cozy atmosphere with laidback chill vibes and insanely good music (mostly 90s hip hop), and never having to wait in line for a table. Lastly and most important, they must have mind blowing, well balanced, thoroughly thought through creations where my palate is pleasantly surprised every time. I've been here three times now, and the staff is consistently warm, the drinks consistently insanely good, and the vibes and hospitality strong. Cannot recommend it enough - last night my nose and palate went through an incredible journey from bourbon to gin, nepitella water to molé. Also - sexy wall paper and magical stairwell vibes. Go now before this spot gets blown up somewhere and it's impossible to get in. Pro-tip: go off menu and give the bartender your desired spirit and flavor profile. They are masters at their craft so trust them with your palate and consider it a drink omakase experience ;)
Genesis K.
This building over all is a must! Straylight is located within a Omakase Izakaya Restaurant called Juku. 3 floors of just mind blowing excitement. So on the 3rd floor there's an Omakase 12 seater from what I hear it's $120 per person and it's within a 2 hr period of just you and your chef, I hear the Uni KiNG is there, head Sushi Boss Kazuo will be up there making your experience 10x worth your wild. Moving onto the middle level is the Izakaya floor which means Japanese street food but they've converted street food to elevated ART! Literally Chef Koji of the Izakaya floor, brings Japan tasting to a whole new ball park here in NYC. Let's just say the A5 Wagu Sashimi can speak for itself, and don't get me started on the Tea Smoke Duck over 5 day cured Duck yolk. Now moving onto the basement but let's not forget you have to get past the yoga Zombie 10 year challenge of a room. Literally feels like little Tokyo as you walk on down entering Straylight which is consider the speakeasy of the building. So unlike the bar upstairs that offers 6 pretty neat and may I say pretty creative drinks and a wide bar selection that is neatly placed from left to right of ones favorite poison. Straylight offers a Omakase Cocktail tasting!!!! Also has over 16 mind blowing cocktails of choice. An impressive bites menu for the after after party feel. Let me not forget the amount of positive vibes you get just stepping in. There's 2 bartenders down there with 2 totally different stories and 2 very different styles and it's amazing to WATCH! You have what you can call chemist in the bartending world. They hate being called mixologists because they believe they aren't douchey enough to be one. I love that! They make you feel at home, ask you on the experience throughout the other floors and then they begin to top it off with the mix of drinks. I love the menu but what I love most was the passion these two had with there job and there friendship, they would compete on drink making and man when I tell you the most beautiful drinks and most tasty drinks I've ever had experience. They would break the barriers and ask what's your poison of choice and if they are any allergies, from there the art is then created. Thank you guys. Keep up the good work. Positive vibes
Mya M.
Wow. Just wow. On so many levels. I'm an old school New Yorker that has seen all her favorite funky watering holes in the village dry up one after the other leaving bland boring yuck. What a creative, delightful, refreshing and super funky surprise Straylight is. Absolutely every detail is intentional and perfect. The bar is on the basement level, the main restaurant on the first, and a 12 seat bespoke sushi bar on the second. The decor on each level is completely different but cohesive, and a delivers some gallery worthy stimulation. I can't say enough good things about the edgy, FRIENDLY, DOWN TO EARTH, knowledgeable staff that created a really whimsical and delicious experience. Our cocktail waitress was the sushi chef/owners daughter and her suggestions about their flavor palette and pairings were spot on. The friend I went with said it best when she said the flavors were "layered in time" meaning you take a sip or a nibble and you have one experience and then a couple seconds later a second wave of something different hits you. Double drool emoji. Thanks so much Straylight for reminding me that NYC still has some creative soul.
Artsy yet chic cocktail lounge that’s underneath their main restaurant, Juku. The neon-lit staircase takes you down under stained glass ceilings, which are so gorgeous and unique and creates the most immersive ambiance. A great place to grab a bite of a-la-carte sushi or a Green tea martini with friends, family, or colleagues. The place has charm and character, which is so hard to come by in newer nyc cocktail lounges these days! Best Lychee martini in the city, too.
Had a good experience in this place with my kids. The food came rapidly and the customer service is just great. Prices are reasonable.
Cosy and Great spot for unique cocktails with friendly and quick service. Waiters offered great suggestions for drinks. Will be back again for sure!
The bartender, Chris, at Straylight is an artist, a true mixologist. We plopped down at the bar and first ordered a few drinks off the menu. Then as we drank our first round and chatted with him, we learned that he liked experimenting with infusing spirits with various things, like pea shoots and crimini mushrooms. For our next round, he made us all custom drinks based on our preferences and spirit of choice, and though not all the drinks went down easy, I loved the creativity and the depth behind all the drinks! He then let us try his crimini-infused whiskey which, as a mushroom lover, was incredible! We haven't been back since but Chris and Straylight have come up several times in conversation. We'll have to stop by again soon and discover some new flavor pairings!
I came here soon after opening and found the room empty. Slowly, a couple people came in over the hour but the area was still largely empty. Which I liked; I'm a little tired of super crowded cocktail bars with long lines. A good place for if you want a more relaxed and quiet bar for a weekday evening. I had the Smoke on the Water and loved the flavor of the mezcal. The fruity mixers were sweet but blended together nicely. Overall I would prefer more mezcal and less sweetness, but it was still a good drink. My friend had the Shiso DUMBO and I loved it. Presentation was right on the money with the big shiso leaf and adorable elephant pourer. The flavor was to die for; extremely smooth and refreshing. A little on the sweet side but not as sweet. For this drink too, I'd prefer a bit more gin and less sweet. But that's just me. Environment was cool and relaxing. The entrance was hard to find (door from outside is unmarked, had to look for "Juku"), but the entryway was super old-school trendy once you open the inside door.
I visited Straylight for the first time on 12/5/2019 on a whim. It took less than 5 minutes for me to decide that I would be returning - and often. Straylight is a special place with a unique cocktail menu, rare sake offerings, incredibly attentive staff, a mindfully constructed comfortable space, and intentionally created menus.
Really cool place and the staff is amazing
Excellent, upscale experience. Drinks were fabulous and our bartender was fantastic!!
Really loved it
One of my favorite bars in NYC The bartender was fabulous She made great drinks for us, based on our mood in energy Drinks were perfect This place fills up fast on a random Thursday, the line must be out the door on a weekend *I'd get there early as possible The vibe, music, atmosphere is all amazing for any occasion
Restaurantji Recommends
Straylight wins points for revitalizing the tired speakeasy concept. Located off Chinatown's Columbus Park next to parent omakase restaurant Juku, it's accessed by descending down through a stairwell that resembles an abandoned cellphone store, with neon lights bouncing off empty walls and surreal infomercials playing on flatscreens. Inside is a sanctum somewhere between chapel and art deco, with a faux-stained glass ceiling adding warmth and color, a 70s tinged hideaway with plenty of details to catch the eye. It's remarkably lived-in for a fairly new bar. It feels like a room you might find hidden in Lisbon's sprawling, maximalist Pensao Amor, a bar located in an old boarding house, and you could imagine people weaving through the space, taking shots, meeting strangers. Instead, what we found was a hushed atmosphere on a Friday night and a list of expensive Japanese-inspired cocktails. The list is intriguing and goes beyond the usual additions of matcha and yuzu, with ingredients like sushi rice and daikon. First was the Field ($19), a mushroom-spiked old fashioned that was perfectly fine and only vaguely smelled of shiitake. Next was the Smoke on the Water ($16), which tasted like a typical tropical mezcal cocktail, and not like the kombucha we were hoping would shine through. Food was similarly disappointing-- chicken karaage was a few bites of average fried chicken ($14). Seared mentaiko ($13) was unbearably salty with nothing to offset it-- they should really serve this with bread or rice. Overall, prices here are just silly: most cocktails toe the $20 line. Our round of drinks and tiny snacks hit what we'll typically spend on a good-sized dinner. Raku does a delectable karaage for cheaper, and Bar Goto's cocktails have a similar Japanese influence with more tried-and-true execution and lower prices. Service was hard to track down and somewhat snooty. Bathrooms are located upstairs in Juku and I had a pretty long wait (though they are stylish as well). Straylight has to be one of the most attractive bars I've been to, but looks aren't everything. Maybe I hit it on an off-night.
Part of me never wants to write this review because this place is SOOOOOO GOOOD and I don't want anyone to find out about it. It took me four months after moving to NYC before I could find where my favorite cocktail bar and bartenders are...both can be found at this place. I've gone to all the "Number One" spots at all the published lists and weren't blown away by any of them until I came here. I'm a bit craft cocktails obsessed and am lucky enough to become friends and hang at Artesian in London and the Little Red Door in Paris (highly recommend both when you're traveling). This little gem, in the middle of nowhere in Chinatown, is my pick for New York. My requirements for a mind blowing cocktail: mixologists who are passionate on the verge of obsession about their craft without being snobby and an a** about it, bartenders who can carry a conversation with genuine warmth and connection and a welcoming vibe that makes you stay for hours spend lots of money on multiple rounds without even noticing it, a cozy atmosphere with laidback chill vibes and insanely good music (mostly 90s hip hop), and never having to wait in line for a table. Lastly and most important, they must have mind blowing, well balanced, thoroughly thought through creations where my palate is pleasantly surprised every time. I've been here three times now, and the staff is consistently warm, the drinks consistently insanely good, and the vibes and hospitality strong. Cannot recommend it enough - last night my nose and palate went through an incredible journey from bourbon to gin, nepitella water to molé. Also - sexy wall paper and magical stairwell vibes. Go now before this spot gets blown up somewhere and it's impossible to get in. Pro-tip: go off menu and give the bartender your desired spirit and flavor profile. They are masters at their craft so trust them with your palate and consider it a drink omakase experience ;)
This building over all is a must! Straylight is located within a Omakase Izakaya Restaurant called Juku. 3 floors of just mind blowing excitement. So on the 3rd floor there's an Omakase 12 seater from what I hear it's $120 per person and it's within a 2 hr period of just you and your chef, I hear the Uni KiNG is there, head Sushi Boss Kazuo will be up there making your experience 10x worth your wild. Moving onto the middle level is the Izakaya floor which means Japanese street food but they've converted street food to elevated ART! Literally Chef Koji of the Izakaya floor, brings Japan tasting to a whole new ball park here in NYC. Let's just say the A5 Wagu Sashimi can speak for itself, and don't get me started on the Tea Smoke Duck over 5 day cured Duck yolk. Now moving onto the basement but let's not forget you have to get past the yoga Zombie 10 year challenge of a room. Literally feels like little Tokyo as you walk on down entering Straylight which is consider the speakeasy of the building. So unlike the bar upstairs that offers 6 pretty neat and may I say pretty creative drinks and a wide bar selection that is neatly placed from left to right of ones favorite poison. Straylight offers a Omakase Cocktail tasting!!!! Also has over 16 mind blowing cocktails of choice. An impressive bites menu for the after after party feel. Let me not forget the amount of positive vibes you get just stepping in. There's 2 bartenders down there with 2 totally different stories and 2 very different styles and it's amazing to WATCH! You have what you can call chemist in the bartending world. They hate being called mixologists because they believe they aren't douchey enough to be one. I love that! They make you feel at home, ask you on the experience throughout the other floors and then they begin to top it off with the mix of drinks. I love the menu but what I love most was the passion these two had with there job and there friendship, they would compete on drink making and man when I tell you the most beautiful drinks and most tasty drinks I've ever had experience. They would break the barriers and ask what's your poison of choice and if they are any allergies, from there the art is then created. Thank you guys. Keep up the good work. Positive vibes
Wow. Just wow. On so many levels. I'm an old school New Yorker that has seen all her favorite funky watering holes in the village dry up one after the other leaving bland boring yuck. What a creative, delightful, refreshing and super funky surprise Straylight is. Absolutely every detail is intentional and perfect. The bar is on the basement level, the main restaurant on the first, and a 12 seat bespoke sushi bar on the second. The decor on each level is completely different but cohesive, and a delivers some gallery worthy stimulation. I can't say enough good things about the edgy, FRIENDLY, DOWN TO EARTH, knowledgeable staff that created a really whimsical and delicious experience. Our cocktail waitress was the sushi chef/owners daughter and her suggestions about their flavor palette and pairings were spot on. The friend I went with said it best when she said the flavors were "layered in time" meaning you take a sip or a nibble and you have one experience and then a couple seconds later a second wave of something different hits you. Double drool emoji. Thanks so much Straylight for reminding me that NYC still has some creative soul.
Poor drinks, poor service