Local Edition

Standing inconspicously in the Financial District is Local Edition, an underground mixology bar. Walking on Market where it intersects Kearny, you would never guess that there was a bar there. Don’t walk too fast because you’ll miss it. The entrance is a single door with a large antique watch clock hanging beside it.

Walk through the door into a hallway laced with red curtains, pass the security, down a few flight of stairs, and into the first grand room. As soon as you walk in you will notice that this bar mimics the newspaper printing days of the 50s and 60s. The walls are decorated with cased newspaper articles and typewriters. Edison lights and antique chandeliers hang from the ceiling. A vintage projector is reeling an image of the bar’s logo onto a set of velvet curtains. The ambiance, although old school, is timeless and real.

The bar is quite large, so you shouldn’t have any problem catching a bartender. The male bartenders are dapper in their decade attire: button up, suspenders, slick comb-over. I even recall one adorning a handlebar mustache and a flat cap. Regardless of what they’re wearing, these bartenders know how to make their drinks. The cocktail list is large and appeals to those who enjoy hard liquor and to those, like me, who like their cocktail not so hard.

I requested something sweet and not strong, yet had substantial liquor. My bartender recommended a Barbarella, a gin cocktail with lemon, conintreau, strawberry, salt and pepper, and absinthe. The drink was sweet, tart and refreshing. It tasted similar to a Moscow Mule (which is right up my alley because I LOVE moscow mules).

If you’re not a fan of intimate settings and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with your peers, you’ll enjoy this bar. Local Edition has plenty of standing and sitting space, even on crowded nights. So come by, bring a few friends and be prepared to enjoy superb ambiance, classy drinks and good conversation.

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