Botanica Bar

Address: 47 E Houston St
Zipcode: 10012
Phone Number: 212.343.7251

In the Caribbean, a botanica is a shop that peddles voodoo-influenced wares. This dark, underground bar certainly tries to live up to its namesake, with flickering votive candles and religious iconography behind the bar. “We do like our Virgin Mary” says bartender Mark Connell. The similarities, however, end there. On the islands, locals lift their spirits with magic herbal brews. Here at this basement dive in NoLita, they do it with cheap pints of Bud, followed by hot dogs and fries. With its mismatched linoleum tables and back lounge of lumpy sofas, Botanica has long been the stomping grounds of NYU students and sideburned twenty-somethings, whose wallets are grateful for the late-night happy hours, Friday and Saturdays 2-4 a.m., and the rest of the week 1-3 a.m. DJs spin most nights of the week: Saturday is reggae, Wednesday old 45s, and Friday hip-hop.