Rochester, NYCocktails

The Daily Refresher on Alexander Street won Best Cocktail Bar in CITY Magazine's 2025 readers' poll, a category distinct from the poll's dive-bar and wine-bar winners. The Cuban-themed room is known for carrying one of the largest whiskey selections in the city. Order a classic cocktail, or ask the bar to steer you through the whiskey list.

Martine on South Avenue is Chuck Cerankosky's first solo cocktail bar and his seventh hospitality venture. CITY Magazine's feature on the opening detailed a batched and draft cocktail program built for volume without cutting quality, with cocktail service running late, to 2 a.m. It is a South Wedge room made for a nightcap. Order one of the draft cocktails.

Roux is a family-owned French bistro in the Park Avenue district with an active cocktail program. CITY Magazine's feature on the city's coziest cocktails singled out its seasonal Alpine Divide, a house signature. Come for a drink at the bar before dinner, and order the Alpine Divide when it is on the seasonal list.

Grace and Disgrace is an intimate, reservation-only cocktail lounge in the Neighborhood of the Arts. In CITY Magazine's coziest-cocktails feature, the reviewer described its Duck Fat-Washed Old Fashioned as a whole Christmas dinner in a glass. It remains a fixture of the city's cocktail calendar, including the Rochester Cocktail Revival. Book ahead and order the Duck Fat-Washed Old Fashioned.

The Eastman sits below Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters downtown, named for Jefferson Eastman, who built the 1890 building it occupies. It was a top-ten honoree for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar in the Central Region at the 2024 Spirited Awards, a national bar-industry recognition, and the program has since expanded to a second city. Find the alley entrance and settle in for a considered cocktail.