8. King Cole Bar/St. Regis Hotel, Midtown

One of the most astounding parts about the St. Regis’ King Cole Bar is the mural for which it’s named– a 30-by-8-foot artistic representation of the old nursery rhyme created by Maxfield Parrish. However, the mural only hints at the kind of boozy grandeur that makes up the bar’s history, inspired many a bizarre myth and occasionally used as literary fantasy. For example, as Cabe writes, John Cheever claims he was conceived at the Saint Regis and James Bond in Live and Let Die uses the King Cole Bar to rendez-vous with a contact.

However, perhaps the most lasting of The King Cole Bar’s lineage is its claimed invention of the Bloody Mary. All the way from Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, bartender Fernand Petiot brought the drink to New York City. This version, entitled “Red Snapper: The Original Bloody Mary,” is also Cabe’s pick for the King Cole Bar signature cocktail.