Forget dinner and drinks. Lower Manhattan’s new favorite plan is drinks and games. Whether you’re craving craft beer over retro arcade classics, a round of bocce with fizzy cocktails, or a full-on soccer match followed by wine and pizza, these neighborhood spots have plenty to offer gamers and imbibers alike. So put your phone away, grab your most competitive friends, and let the games begin. Just remember the house rule: next round’s on whoever loses.
Socceroof
At Socceroof Wall Street, happy hour comes with a side of cardio. At this 20,000-square-foot indoor soccer and sports facility, you can book a field with friends, join a league or jump into a pickup game, then head to the on-site bar to toast your wins — or at least how much fun you had trying. The bar has a laid-back feel, with leather barstools, comfortable armchairs, and shelves of soccer books and memorabilia. On tap and behind the bar, you’ll find cold beer, wine, and cocktails, plus pizza, empanadas and snacks to refuel after a match. If you’re there earlier in the day, grab a coffee and a croissant from their local bakery partner.
Not much of a soccer player? Take a seat in the big-screen watch party space, where a wall of TVs streams the latest games. (28 Liberty St.)
Recreation Bar
Inside the Moxy NYC Downtown, you’ll find Recreation Bar, an inviting, living room-style cocktail lounge with retro touches, where the games are as much of a draw as the drinks. Challenge friends to skee-ball, shuffleboard, Connect 4, foosball, or a tabletop arcade game, or shoot some hoops in the Half-Court — the bar’s indoor basketball court, which also hosts workout classes like EDM-infused fitness sessions.
The cocktail menu is just as playful. Sip a savory Snapped, made with snap pea-infused gin, dill, and garlic, or the 8-Bit, made with chili-infused tequila, mezcal, and passionfruit. Pair your drinks with bar bites like mini chopped cheeses (a Harlem-born bodega classic), lobster rolls, and sushi pizzettas. The menu changes seasonally, so you can always expect something new. For a unique drinking experience, “Disco Ball It” and share any draft cocktail with up to six friends in a disco ball punchbowl.
Recreation also has a packed calendar worth planning your visit around. Along with weekday happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m., weekends bring one of Lower Manhattan’s best boozy brunches. Dig into dishes like coconut tres leches French toast and a breakfast scallion pancake quesadilla while sipping a drink from the extensive menu. For something Instagrammable, opt for a martini tree: a tiered stand holding eight coupe glasses, filled with your choice of two cocktails.
Saturdays get extra lively with Drag Bingo Brunch from 2 to 4 p.m., while Sundays often have watch parties of hit TV shows and sports games. (26 Ann St.)
Lawn Club
Located a lively cobblestone stretch of Fulton Street in the Seaport, Lawn Club brings the backyard indoors with turf “lawns” and loads of games to choose from — not to mention a full food and drink menu. Book a lawn and work your way through classics like bocce, croquet, cornhole and Kan Jam, or try a house original like Putting Darts, a mash-up of mini golf, cornhole and darts. There’s also Lawn Pong, a supersized take on beer pong, and Putting Pool, played with golf balls and putters on turf-covered pool tables.
Drinks are fresh and fruity for a backyard BBQ vibe, with cocktails like the Mowjito made with rum, kiwi, mint and lime, and the Spicy Game Changer with tequila, pineapple, and habanero agave.
You can also opt for wine and beer, including local picks like Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner and Montauk Wave Chaser IPA that pair perfectly with shareables like cheesesteak egg rolls, mini pizza bagels and soft pretzel nuggets with cheese sauce.
Playing with a big group? Most cocktails can be made Team Sized (seven servings), and the Power Tower, a tiered platter with three shareables of your choice plus truffle fries, which feeds up to eight. Add six mini Miller High Life bottles on ice to round it out, or grab two friends for the Shotmaker, Lawn Club’s croquet-mallet take on a shotski. (1 Fulton St.)
Barcade
Step back in time at this retro arcade-meets-craft beer bar. Barcade FiDi is packed with video games from the late ’70s through the early ’90s, so you can relive childhood favorites like Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Tetris and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Pinball fans can try their luck on themed machines like Ghostbusters, The Addams Family, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and even Dolly Parton.
Between games, grab a pint from their lineup of American craft beers, with top-rated brewers like Allagash, Alewife, Bell’s and Southern Tier typically on draft. They even have some excellent mocktails featuring house-made fruit shrubs. Hungry? The menu features pub favorites like wings, burgers (pro tip: add cheese curds), sandwiches and salads. For a deal, swing by on Mondays for $1 hand-cut fries or Saturdays for $1 wings. Note that while Barcade is usually 21+, Sundays from 12 to 5 p.m. are Family Day, so you can bring the kids for a round of Frogger.
Feel good about your outing, too: Barcade locations are certified green by the Green Restaurant Association for their environmentally responsible operations. (10 Cortlandt St.)
Clinton Hall FiDi
Board games and beer are a winning combo at Clinton Hall FiDi, a beer hall with plenty to play. Grab a game from the wall and sit at a communal table for a round of Connect 4, Giant Jenga or Cards Against Humanity. Or you can head out to the covered and heated beer garden, a lively space strung with chandeliers and lights that features foosball and lawn games of its own. It’s also a go-to spot on game days, when multiple screens and full sound make it feel like you’re in the stands.
Feeling extra competitive? Take on the CH Challenge: a 20-ounce bacon cheeseburger piled high with barbecue chicken tenders and onion rings, served on a bed of fries with a 16-ounce beer. Finish it all in 25 minutes and your meal is free. If speed-eating isn’t your thing, the menu’s standout is the Famous Doughnut Grilled Cheese, which dangles over a pot of tomato soup for dunking. Wash it all down with one of more than 20 beers on tap or a cocktail like a pineapple jalapeño margarita or a frozen piña colada.
To imbibe on a budget, visit during their weekday happy hour from 12 to 6 p.m., when you can score $5 house wine, beers, shots, wings and mozzarella sticks. On weekends, bottomless brunch starts at $19.99 for 90 minutes of mimosas, bellinis and other drinks (with an entrée), and the menu keeps the theme going with “CH-enga” French toast sticks. Other highlights include breakfast nachos and a smoked salmon Benedict on mini bagels. (90 Washington St.)
Five Iron Golf FiDi
Located on lively Stone Street, Five Iron Golf FiDi brings the driving range indoors. Practice your swing on one of their nine high-tech golf simulators before teeing off at famous courses like Pebble Beach, or keep things light with games like Streets of Neon, a glowing mini-golf course, or Bullseye, where golf meets darts. Not a golfer? They also offer other games like pool and Golden Tee, plus multi-sport simulators for playing hockey, soccer and bowling.
Between rounds of golf, order rounds of drinks (plus food from their full menu) straight to your bay. (22 Stone St.)
Jessie Festa is a New York-based content creator, photographer, and tour guide. She is the founder of NYC Photo Journeys, which offers photo tours and shoots in the city’s most interesting and scenic locations.
main photo: courtesy Lawn Club
