Clover Club
Julie Reiner opened Flatiron Lounge in 2003. She taught a generation of New York bartenders on that floor: Phil Ward, Lynnette Marrero, Katie Stipe, Tonia Guffey, Giuseppe Gonzalez. She opened this Brooklyn room in 2008 and it outlived the first one by years.
Why go
The bar takes its name from a 19th-century Philadelphia drink. Tom Macy came up behind this counter. He is one of Reiner's partners now.
The room is furnished as a parlor, with vintage sofas, leather booths, a reclaimed mahogany bar and a fireplace that burns in winter. North America's 50 Best Bars had it at No.43 in 2022 and No.46 in 2023.
There is now a second room. The Saloon opened next door and connects through. It holds a 13-seat antique carved bar, a long drink rail and swinging doors. Some Clover Club drinks carry over to its list.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Clover Club itself, which is the drink on the sign.
- Avoid: assuming a Saloon reservation puts you in the parlor. Ask which room you are booking.
What locals & experts say
- Julie Reiner, to PUNCH in September 2019, on the years before Flatiron Lounge:
There were only a few people who cared about putting quality in a glass at that time. There weren't any high-end cocktail bars open yet.
1 - PUNCH, in its 2016 crawl through the revival's surviving bars: Flatiron Lounge did what a tiny cove like Milk & Honey could not, and brought craft cocktails to the masses.2
Good to know
- Getting in: the bar takes reservations. Weekend doors open earlier than weekday ones.
- Two rooms: 210 Smith Street holds the parlor, and the Saloon is the connected space next door.
Verdict
should-visit — An afternoon here beats an evening, because the fireplace and the vintage sofas are wasted on a quick drink.