No photo of this bar survives from the 2008 site.

Freemans

191 Chrystie St. · end of Freeman's Alley
Lower East Side, Manhattan

In 2026

Still pouring

Checked October 17, 2026.

Show on the map Directions See the 2008 page

Overview

By Chris Lukic

This restaurant and bar at the end of Freeman's alley serves expertly crafted cocktails under the watchful gaze of countless wall-mounted animals. Like the mise-en-scène from a Wes Anderson movie, it's so self-conciously unhip that it's the hottest thing going.

History

Still at the end of the alley

Freemans began in the fall of 2004, when its founders happened on a cozy space at the end of an unused alley¹. It's still there, at 2 Freeman Alley, off Rivington Street between Chrystie and the Bowery¹. In 2009 we called it so self-consciously unhip that it was the hottest thing going; 21 years in, its press kit goes with "a model for reshaping New York's culinary landscape"².

Sources

Researched October 2026.

What's nearby

The Box under 0.1 mi Still pouring
Kush Lounge under 0.1 mi A different business is licensed at this address: Outer Heaven
Katra under 0.1 mi A different business is licensed at this address: Maison Nur
Loreley under 0.1 mi Still pouring
Stanton Public under 0.1 mi A different business is licensed at this address: Bonnie Vee
Mangiami 0.1 mi Closed; now Forsythia
R Bar 0.1 mi Closed
Crash Mansion 0.1 mi A different business is licensed at this address: Ainslie, Ainslie Bowery, Cosmo
BLVD 0.1 mi Closed; now The Ainslie
The Monday Room 0.1 mi Closed; now Dante Elizabeth Street