Mayahuel

This place is something special!
We came here for a small goodbye party of 4, and two of us started off at the bar. The menu for drinks is sooo long! I got lost in it lol
I’m sure anyone would be able to find something they like. When everyone got there, we got a table on a second floor. At first I was surprised how tiny the place was, and was wondering how it’s going to look like with all tables filled up. But it wasn’t bad at all. We ordered several appetizers– all tasty — and more drinks. For 4 people the check was surprisingly small.
Will definitely bring more friends over!

For the prices this place is a joke! Super expensive for a joke in the wall place, which explains why it’s soo slow for dinner. Drinks are delicious and fish tacos are incredible but with their prices, you will not need or want to go back to try anything else.

Excellent Mezcaleria. Great service and warm welcoming interior. The food is also very good, but this place is all about the drinks.

Great food and even better drinks. Unfortunately the service could be a little better, during my first visit there were long waits between plates and during my second visit there was a mix up with my order :-/

Drinks were too sweet.

Huge cocktail menu with variety of Mexican liquors. This place is a must for Mezcal fan! The staff is super nice and helpful to explain all menu. Warm smokey salsa and guacamole is fantastic appetizer to star with. I will definitely go back.

Like a well-​kept secret, tucked away. Blink and you’ll pass it on the sidewalk — ex-​Death and Co Philip Ward’s mezcal-​tequila mecca. The perfect date spot or a dark rendezvous.
Mezcal at its best. Tequila flights ftw.
— Oaxacan Old Fashioned — classic with a kick. Mezcal, Reposado tequila, agave nectar, and Angostura bitters. Can’t go wrong
— Green Gloves — bartender’s choice when I mentioned I enjoy chartreuse and like drinks with a kick. Jalapeño-​infused blanco tequila, green chartreuse, celery, lime and smoked salt — not for the faint of heart, but flavors worked immensely well together — intense on intense ;)
— Blackfriar Cobbler — Mezcal, Sloe Gin, fresh blackberry purée, lemon, sugar. A beautiful gin crush muddled with fresh blackberries ftw. Sweet to taste, easy on the eyes
Highly recommend.

After reading Laura A’s review, I put Mayahuel on my list of essential places to try. It took me a long time to find the right circumstances and finally the stars aligned. It’s a small place with fun décor, an extensive cocktail menu and a good selection of food. The service excelled with constant water refills, clearing of empty plates, re-​orders and recommendations. I characterize it as a great place for tequila and mezcal cocktails and good food.
We found our way upstairs to a small table in a cozy room. For FOOD we shared a quesadilla and an order of tacos. Not too big and not too spicy.
Given a choice between tequila and mezcal, I favor the smoky aroma of mezcal. For DRINKS, I had a Oaxacan Old Fashioned and Lip Spin #2. The old fashioned was strong and not fruity as the traditional muddled orange. I liked but between the two, I preferred the Lip Spin #2 which has Manhattan attributes. For the record, I will usually favor a Manhattan over an Old Fashioned.
The DECOR is kind of crazy, random and fun. The music was quite good but did not dominate the atmosphere.
I wish I had not waited so long to enjoy Mayahuel. And read Laura’s review…

Have been here many times throughout the years and have always enjoyed myself.
They also have one of my fav drinks, the oaxacan old fashioned. It’s an old fashioned with tequila and its fucking FANTASTIC. Smooth and tasty. Liquid goddamn gold in your mouth. Honestly, the reason I’m writing this review is because I’m having a stressful day and I’m just thinking to myself, man I could go for a drink, actually I know exactly the specific drink I could go for and yup, its the OOF. I just coined that. You should totally incorporate that. 3 of those will make you go oof =p.
Oh and the michelada here is also one of the best I’ve ever had. Problem is there’s 2 versions I think and I always forget which is the one I like.
Place is tiny but usually you can get a spot here with no wait which is nice. Originally was recommended this place by Death & Co, so you know they’re in good company. Décor here is pretty cool too.
Can’t really comment on the food. The croquettes are really good but I also tried a bite of someone’s quesadilla here once and it was yucko. Overall though, I haven’t really tested out the food.
Great tequila selections and they’re knowledgeable about it too. If you sit at the bar drinking for awhile and the place isn’t busy, you can get a lot of info from the bartenders on tequila types.
Anyways, not every drink here is great, but the selection is very nice and there’s a couple complete home run cocktails here and that combined with the atmosphere = one of my all time preferred cocktail bars.

LOVE!!! LOVE THIS PLACE!!!
I just happened to be in the area when this place opened the other day (Thursday). I had bookmarked it on Unilocal and on a whim decided to go on in for a bit, I didn’t recall that this is a speakeasy type place. So there was this guy standing in front of the door, but I couldn’t figure out that he was the doorman/​worked there so I was kind of awkwardly casing the joint until the guy decided to put me out of my misery and invite me in. He even took me directly to my seat at the bar, super nice!
The bartender gave us a friendly greeting as we reviewed the menu. The menu was enticing, for my drink I wanted to try a specialty cocktail, named «I Love Lamp». Unfortunately they were out of the banana liquor, so I «settled» for another one, it was the first on on the menu. The bartender asked me about my preferences and we arrived at that one. My boyfriend went for a drink that was sort of like an old fashioned. Right as we were about to order our snack, the bartender enthusiastically told me the banana liquor just arrived and I could get my cocktail! Yay! It was delicious.
We shared the tacos, which were tasty. I wish I could have explored the menu more.
Unfortunately we were trying to watch a hockey game at 7pm so we had to jet out but we asked (I think the manager?), Justin, about where a good bar nearby to catch it was. He was really thoughtful about it, considering it is March Madness. He recommended a dive bar about 2 blocks over which ended up being solid. Then we talked about hockey for a bit. He was great, I saw him interact with the other guests and made everyone feel comfortable! As we were closing out the bartender mentioned she overheard our hockey talk and we chatted about it too. I don’t remember her name, but she had short brown hair. She was wonderful!
Overall, great drinks and the service is refreshingly outstanding. I am already planning my next visit!

After hearing about this place through many people I decided to give it a try. The outside of the restaurant is cool but it is hidden you can’t see the name on the top and it kind of looks like a speakeasy. After going inside the top floor was completely closed for the night due to a private event. All the tables downstairs were unfortunately taken so we decided to sit at the bar. The servers are great and they really know what they’re doing. I told them I wanted a vodka based spicy drink, and they were actually able to come up with the best concoction I’ve ever had. All the drinks at this place I imagine are great.
This place was fun for a date. It’s a dark candle lit environment where the drinks are amazing. But the food for vegetarians is mediocre. We ordered the queso fundido and the black bean soup. I was actually impressed with both of these items but they were literally the only things we could really order that didn’t have meat them.
Towards the end of our meal the ceiling right on top of me started dripping with wine from the upstairs party, through the cracks. That was kind of a buzz kill to the night. They took off 10% of the total bill, which I was a little disappointed about because they didn’t comp our drinks, especially because I got Rose in my eyeball…
After that incident along with the fact that there wasn’t too much food for me to eat I probably would not go back here for the food. I would probably go back here if I wanted a cocktail or two. But I would not sit at the bar especially if there’s a party upstairs.

As far as the food goes, it wasn’t bad. The fish tacos were too dry, mediocre at best. Although, the pork chilaquiles were good.
The $ 15 margarita couldn’t have been smaller and the ice cubes couldn’t have been larger. Again, mediocre at best. Huge rip off.
My biggest problem was that we were THE ONLY 2 people in the restaurant, so we both tried to sit on he bench and pull 2 small tables together, when the waiter walked over and pulled them apart and told us there are reservations. Not only did we finish our entire meals with maybe only 2 other tables coming in, but after I told him I would move he came back and literally picked up my glasses and belongings off the table to put them on he other to try to make me move faster. He was rude and it was completely unnecessary as NO ONE was in the restaurant. I won’t be back because of the waiter alone.

4.5÷5
Absolutely loved it here. The décor is super cool, colonial era Mexican design (think intricate tiles and dark wood) and the service is impeccable and so friendly.
Came with 3 friends on a Friday night and we ordered several of their cocktails. We were instantly greeted with water glasses, and both waiters we had throughout the night were helpful, friendly, and efficient. They know what they’re doing with the service here, bravo Mayahuel.
Though I didn’t fall in love with any of the cocktails, there was such a wide variety that I’m sure I’ll find something next time, and there will be a next time. My friend, who is from Mexico City, told me that his michelada was super authentic and among the best he’s had. The Vida Rosa I ordered was not overly sweet and really tasty, but just not super complex, and I felt the same about the Suzie’s Cue. Both were good, but they needed a bit more oomph in my opinion. There is no shortage of mezcal options, so if you like mezcal (which I don’t) you’ll have a whole lot more to choose from with the drinks here.
The best part about Mayahuel is the interior. It’s so cozy yet still feels cool and novel, and it’s really just gorgeous. It’s also so relaxed and lowkey inside, which is such a change of pace from other East Village spots on a Friday night, something I really appreciated. This is because they manage their numbers at the door, and only let you in if a table is available, which means it doesn’t get overly packed with people. The music is also played at a moderate volume, so you can easily to talk to your date or friends.
Overall, I can’t wait to be back again with more friends for a night of conversation and good drinks. It’s as pricey as any other similar cocktail bar in the area, but the service and ambience make it super worth it!

Truly an excellent venue for an event. Came here for a friend’s bday and we had the entire upstairs to ourselves.
On the menu was porkbelly tacos, chicken tacos, plantains, shrimp, chips w/​salsa and guac and some of the most addicting delicious churros with chocolate sauce I could ever imagine. I had like 15 of them, no joke. Usually I have a lot to complain about at these events because waiters are often terrible about bringing drinks and food in a timely manner and being attentive to the entire group. Mayahuel was the exception. We had one waitress and two food runners. They were on point. The waitress would ask about my next drink perfectly on time, every time when I had about ¼ of my drink remaining.
Every food item was always present on the table and if something sat for too long it was promptly replaced.
Drinks were delicious too. I never made it past the tequila & mezcal old fashioned. Picture a smokey old fashioned. Quite delightful. I definitely want to come back here.

Delicious, exorbitantly priced cocktails. I visited some folks in Maryland a few days later, and was greatly saddened by how much cheaper everything is outside of NYC. Mayahuel is tucked away at the same intersection as Mighty Quinn’s: It’s small and candle-​lit, with nooks and crannies on the first floor, and tables for bigger groups upstairs. I got the November drink with cinnamon and green apples and a bit of spice, and the Blackfriar Cobbler with mescal, sloe gin, and cane sugar. The November drink was the best if you like your drinks sweet and spicy.
Didn’t get to try any food, as I was too stuffed from Mighty Quinn’s and was looking forward to the Zaro’s chocolate chip cookie squirreled away in my bag, but the guac seemed like a popular choice. The waitress was very sweet and offered up suggestions, beginning with explaining what mezcal is.
All in all, a nice, cozy spot in the East Village to while away an evening … though, be careful, the drinks really do add up. 4 cocktails plus tip was around $ 70.
NEXT TIME: In Limbo (pineapple infused mezcal and strawberry); Watermelon Sugar (mezcal, watermelon, and spiced salt); Loop Tonic (tequila with celery bitters)

Cool space and really good cocktails, I had something with mexcal in it that was really good, we sat up stairs kinda funky, but I liked the vibe here.

AMAZING cocktails. They also asked my preference and customize the cocktail for you.
After the boring drinking menu in most bars and restaurants that are identical to each other, this might be the one you will really like in a long time.

I had some of the most interesting drinks and one of the most interesting evenings ever in my life here. If you have an interest/​curiosity about good cocktails and an open mind with an adventurous palate, come here.
First, I was there on a Sunday night a little late, so it was quiet and there was space at the bar. I’d absolutely recommend sitting at the bar because you can watch the bartender make the drinks and also pick up all sorts of knowledge about the various flavors.
Second, order different drinks, don’t stick with the same. Give the bartender an idea of what you like and want and let him create something original.
Third, give yourself a few hours. The cadence and vibe here is not «slam a shot and leave.» Taste the drinks, smell the smells, and learn about the ingredients, This is one of my favorite bars in the world… and I’ve been to a few…

This is another one of New York’s hidden gems. I found out about it from someone here on Unilocal that recommended it to me and came one night with some girlfriends. We had trouble finding it at first, but eventually figured it out.
It’s a small bar, but doesn’t seem to get very crowded, probably because it’s so hard to find! It’s dimly lit and super sexy so I highly recommend coming here with a date rather than friends. I didn’t care much for the food, but the drinks were excellent!

I was delighted and slightly disappointed with this place at the same time.
Appetizers:
Starting off with the appetizer and tequila flight. The app I chose was the Fundido Queso, a rich creamy blend of cheeses with tortilla chips which I was delighted with. The Tequila flight we chose was good as well. They come in mini glasses of 3’s with a side of tomato juice to cool you down. They have a nice selection of Tequila’s to choose from. If your with one other person you will both get a good 3 sips each out of every cup. So we are talking about 9 sips each total so if you like Tequila I highly recommend.
Entrees:
So after some amazing Queso dip and Tequila shots I was really excited to try the entrees. This is where my slight bit of disappointment set in. My hanger steak was not very tasty. The texture and temperature was perfect but nowhere near the amount of flavor I would have liked. The side was a tomato and onion salad which was watery and odd. The tostones were descent but too salty. I sampled the fish tacos as well and the fish had a very blackened charred taste to it. Not good either. At this point I grabbed a Margarita which was really good at least!
Dessert:
I selected the Churros which were amazing I must say. Soft, sweet and cinnamony!
Overall I’d do apps and drinks here and skip over the entrée!

Cerveza cocktails. El Jimador’s Shifty. Best cocktail in NYC.
Do you really need to know anything else?