Arthouse Bar is in the lobby of the Arthouse Hotel at Broadway and 77th Street on the Upper West Side. The design lifts its references from 1920s Harlem speakeasies: restored fireplace, original artwork on the walls, live music some nights ranging from jazz to salsa. It's a hotel bar, which means it's not hidden and never pretends to be.

What it offers instead is a well-run cocktail program in a room that's been put together with real care, which is rarer in hotel lobbies than it should be. The music programming gives it more personality than most of its neighbors in the genre.

Good for a drink before or after the Museum of Natural History, or just because you want something with more atmosphere than a standard bar on Amsterdam Avenue.