Please Don't Tell
The house old-fashioned is bourbon fat-washed with bacon, then maple syrup and Angostura. You reach it through a phone booth inside a hot dog shop.
Why go
Fat-washing is lab work, and here it comes as the house old-fashioned. Jim Meehan opened the place behind Crif Dogs and wrote The PDT Cocktail Book out of the list; PUNCH, in November 2014, credited the room's reach to the book as much as to the drinks (PUNCH). Five years after PDT opened, Dave Arnold put the machinery on the counter at Booker and Dax and then codified it in Liquid Intelligence, and PUNCH now describes his clarification, liquid nitrogen and force-carbonation as standard kit at top-tier bars (PUNCH). Jeff Bell owns it now, having barbacked here from 2010 (PUNCH, August 2025).
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Benton's Old-Fashioned.
- Order: the Mezcal Mule for the other direction, mezcal with ginger beer, lime, passionfruit, agave and cucumber.
- Order: the tater-tot and waffle-fry basket, and a dog. The Crif Dogs counter is the kitchen and you order through from the bar.
- Avoid: turning up on spec.
What locals & experts say
- Katherine Lewin, The Infatuation (12 October 2017):
A lot of bars claim to be 'speakeasies.' And while none of them actually warrant that title - alcohol has been legal for a long time, guys - Please Don't Tell is about as close as you can get to experiencing the real thing.
4 - Jeff Bell, now the owner, told PUNCH in August 2025 that watching Euclides Lopez run the service bar was mesmerizing and that nothing ever fazed him.1
Good to know
- Timing: evenings and late.
- Booking: reserve, and PUNCH's instruction is to call the same day.
- Who is pouring: Euclides Lopez ran the service bar Tuesday through Friday from 2008 until July 2025 and has opened his own room, Mixteca, in the West Village.
Verdict
should-visit — Sit at the bar and test them on anything carrying a wash or an infusion. Go on a night you would rather listen than talk.