"With charming original illustrations, this book celebrates fifty of the Big Apple’s storied taverns, legendary dives, and bars and the drink recipes that will inspire you to become a regular. For cocktail enthusiasts and those seeking the most real New York watering holes, this is a comprehensive guide to the city’s legendary bars, taverns, and dives across all five boroughs, featuring stories, insider tips, and delicious cocktail recipes."
—SAVEUR.COM/Alcademics
"If you are walking the city, in any of the boroughs, then this can be a perfect traveling companion. Need a break? Need a drink? Then visit the places New Yorkers love in Bars, Taverns, and Dives."
—CookingbytheBook.com
"His approachable writing can remind even the most hardened regulars why they find themselves darkening the same door night after night, and the bright, bold illustration style brings a soft, awestruck eye to common sights. It gives you access to a friendly bartender without leaving the house — but might also get you to hop the ferry to Staten Island and talk to whoever’s on the next stool. You’ll want this book, like your chosen local pub, to stick around."
—Alicia Kennedy, The Village Voice
"It's truly a celebration of gathering places and community made even more vibrant with Tebeau's original, charming illustrations."
— Edible Manhattan
"To say this book by artist/writer/bartender/pro-level bon vivant John Tebeau was a labor of love is the understatement of the year. This work is a pure passion project, born from a few of Tebeau’s impressively detailed illustrations of bars he has true affection for. It became a mission to illustrate favorite neighborhood haunts spanning all five boroughs and discuss what makes them so unique and beloved, why some regulars aren’t even local to those locals."
—The Alcohol Professor
"Within the pages of John Tebeau’s guide, Bars, Taverns and Dives New Yorkers Love...is a map to the five boroughs’ harder-to-find places—those known to locals and a few others. They are each accompanied by history and lore, plus firsthand accounts from longtime regulars and a valuable breakdown of when to go, where to sit and what to drink. The result is a charming portrait of the special places that make such a big city feel small."
—Punch Magazine
“The drinks world enjoys the attentions of a handful of artists who have made it their business to chronicle the bar scene in images. John Tebeau is one of the best of these. His illustrations simultaneously capture the soul of a saloon and make you want to go there—tonight, if possible. Moreover, his taste in taverns is sound. Many of the bars profiled here, drawn from all five boroughs, are not just New York treasures, but national ones. This book will remind you why you live, and drink, in Gotham.”
—Robert Simonson, New York Times drinks writer and author of A Proper Drink
“I’m glad to see that many of my favorite bars are included in this book (though I’m a little sorry to see it speaks of the majestic urinals at the Old Town). But I’m gladder to see that my very favorite one isn’t. Because although this book would be a great guidebook for tourists or newcomers, its real purpose isn’t just to direct you to the famous institutions or hidden gems that drinking pioneers have discovered for you; it’s to help you figure out how to find a bar of your own.”
—Tim Kreider, essayist for The New York Times, and author of We Learn Nothing and I Wrote This Book Because I Love You
“I could not stop grinning as I pored through John Tebeau’s delightful book. His beautiful bar illustrations jump off the page, pulse to the music, and spill joy all over the street. Outrageously fun bars and great music with vivid descriptions and fabulous cocktails. A field guide for sinners—I plan to visit every single one of them.”
—Jill DeGroff, artist and author of Lush Life
“I've never been able to look at one of John Tebeau’s fine, jaunty bar drawings without wanting to walk right in and order a drink. But it turns out he writes about bars just as lovingly, and amusingly, as he draws them.”
—David Wondrich, author of Imbibe
“John Tebeau is a professional barfly in the best possible sense—a man who understands the rhythms and nuances of these ‘great, good places’ as surely as a veteran baseball announcer calling his game. This is a fine guide to where to drink in New York and what to order there, but really it’s a spiritual guide to the things we truly go to bars for: succor, community and love.”
—Brett Martin, chief food critic for GQ, two-time James Beard Award winner, and author of Difficult Men
