The price of cocktails in this town these days is enough to drive you to drink -if only you could afford it.
Since when did a cosmo go for $16?
A margarita for $14?
“It’s like Bill Clinton [with] Monica,” says Zagat Guide night-life editor Curt Gathje. “Bar owners are raising prices just because they can.”
At the open-air Pentop bar on the roof of the Peninsula hotel, a martini will set you back a staggering $19 – and that doesn’t include a tip.
“The Pentop is one of the worst culprits,” says veteran night-life expert Chris Hoffman, founder and CEO of Shecky’s Bar, Club and Lounge guide. “It’s a ‘screw you’ mentality. You want the outside space, you’re gonna pay for it.”
But the Peninsula insists the price is right.
“What you’re paying for is a fantastic cocktail with a fabulous Midtown view,” p.r. rep Tricia Rosentreter says. “We have one of the best views down Fifth Avenue. The cocktails are good, but you’re paying for atmosphere and the scene.”
However, the “fantastic” martini in question is made with Ketel One or Absolut – neither of which is exactly a break-the-bank liquor.
And the irony, says Hoffman, is that “for $7 in the Irish bar across the street, you can get a perfectly mixed drink made by a bartender who knows what he is doing, rather than someone who is paid to look good.”
Other places, it’s the company that costs you.
At any of nightclub owner Amy Sacco’s eternally hot spots – Cabanas, Bungalow 8, Lot 61 – the payoff for a heftily priced drink (try $14 for a small margarita) is that you’re rubbing elbows with a very hip crowd.
“We have become a city of such media/gossip/celebrity whores,” says Hoffman, “that people will pay $20 for a drink if they might see someone famous there.”
At Cabanas, atop the Maritime Hotel, 22-year-olds Sarah O’ Rourke and Lyndsay Elkins split a $12 screwdriver.
“We probably wouldn’t be sharing if they were $7,” said O’Rourke, “but considering where we are, it’s what you expect.”
Kristin Pisarcik, 23, said she had serious sticker shock.
“Un-be-lievable!” was how she described the $14 mojito that had been brought to her table. “Still, it’s not as bad as the Gansevoort hotel. That place is ridiculous!”
At the Gansevoort’s rooftop bar, in the heart of the trendy Meatpacking District, a round of three martinis costs an eye-watering $42.
Make that $50 after you’ve left a tip.
Then there are places like the always crowded Marquee nightclub, where most of the well-heeled clubgoers simply opt for $300-plus bottle service, which guarantees seating.
Those who don’t can expect to stand, and pay $12 per drink.
“I guess it’s fair,” said 23-year-old San Francisco transplant Vanessa Streiff, as she shelled out for her Jack Daniel’s and ginger ale.
Her friend Fabiann Gerald, 33, sipped a gin and tonic and admitted a preference for cocktailing in Williamsburg, where bars are considerably cheaper.
“This is too expensive. [Drinks] should be $7,” he said.
At the Meatpacking District’s popular P.M. nightclub, 22-year old Grace Benvenist was asked if $12 was a fair price for her gin and tonic. “No,” she admitted, “but it’s fine.”
Samuel Tamblyn, a 27-year-old Columbia student, had no objections to the cocktail offerings at the Time Warner Center’s hip Stone Rose bar, owned by Rande Gerber, which fall into the $13-$16 range.
“Service was excellent and it’s well-priced for what you get,” he said, visibly smitten with the model-esque bartender. “The view is fantastic!”
“I’ve never seen so many beautiful women in one place,” concurred his friend Benjamin Collins, 29, who still couldn’t help raising his eyebrows when given his tab.
Tamblyn and Collins split the $26 bill for their two mojitos, then tipped another $4 before heading down the street to the Mandarin Oriental’s even pricier MOBar – where the unparalleled view of Central Park adds up to a $16 cosmopolitan.
The stuffy Rainbow Room, atop Rockefeller Plaza, boats an equally impressive view – but Dallas salesman Al Roberts was still slightly aghast at the $16-$20 cocktail prices.
“I guess everything in New York is expensive, but this might be my first $10 bottled beer,” he said with a smirk.