My 5 Favorite Spots For Frozen Drinks In NYC

Frosty frozen drinks in all their forms are often rightfully associated with summertime, which seems to begin earlier and end later with every passing year. This supersized season gives the average imbiber more time to sip all those blended beauties wherever they're whirled into icy existence — but I am not the average imbiber. I order frozen drinks year-round in my search for the best of what used to be an unfairly maligned beverage category. I've also written plenty about the finest newcomers to the genre, and even reported on a New York City frozen drink machine shortage over the course of my nearly 20 years as a journalist in the city. I am intimately acquainted with the form, both personally and professionally.

Part of the appeal is that frozen drinks aren't the most convenient to create at home. I know how to make an exquisite martini, for example, and I can do so with few tools and near-zero clean-up. Frozens are a little tricker to pin down, and certainly messier. Any item I haven't quite perfected in my own kitchen is just going to be more attractive in a restaurant or bar. The five I've included here are the tastiest in town.

This Columbia Street Waterfront District destination has been a Sutherland-Namako brunch staple since before those two names were legally hyphenated. My now-husband Tom and I have been sipping Alma's frozen margaritas, alongside tacos, chilaquiles, and enchiladas, for 15 years. I typically order the machine-made refreshers in classic lime, but Alma has also been known to twirl up other fruity flavors.

Alma's frozen margaritas surpass their peers largely due to a fine texture that sips smoother than the chipped ice finish you might find elsewhere. The recipe also stops short of the cloying sweetness that turned folks off the whole notion of frozens for years. These aren't tart exactly, but they do stop short of that super-sugary quality that might otherwise stop you after one round. It's a great idea to start a Saturday buzzed on two or three of them. Come for the drinks, and stay for Alma's Instagram-worthy rooftop views.

Alma is located at 187 Columbia St, Brooklyn, New York 11231.

Clover Club is one of the best overall bars in New York City. A lot is hard to resist here, including the titular sour that shakes together gin, dry vermouth, raspberry, lemon, and egg whites. Clover Club has also given this brilliant combination the frozen treatment, absent the egg. Always innovating, other frozen recipes have also made their way onto the menu.

I've peeled myself off Clover Club's bustling Cobble Hill street on plenty of sweltering summer days that were saved by the esteemed locale's frigid drinks. Since they're made à la minute in blenders, I feel better ordering them on weekend afternoons than during prime dinnertime or later, when the bar and dining room are packed. The staff is made of top pros in the business who are all more than capable of handling the small appliance, even as orders pile up, so this is my own hangup — feel free to partake in Clover Club's superior frozens any time.

Clover Club is located at 210 Smith St, Brooklyn, New York 11201.

Frozen drinks were actually frowned upon for a long time. Plenty were just way too sweet, but a bit of misogyny is also to blame since they can often present as "girl drinks," replete with fun umbrellas and big, fruity garnishes you have to be a real crank to hate. That started to change coming out of the pandemic, when New York City's drinking dens started tinkering with the category (leading to that machine shortage I told you about).

That said, Oxomoco, a Mexican restaurant in Greenpoint, has been serving frozen drinks since it opened in 2018, well before frozen drinks were starting to get cool. Tom and I first visited around the same time. I still remember being mildly surprised that I could get one, with what ended up being one of the best steaks I'd ever had. These days at Oxomoco, go ahead and pair American wagyu bavette with a frozen paloma or nopalito; I think you'll remember them fondly, too.

Oxomoco is located at 128 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11222.

Every summer, droves of locals with little more outdoor space to their names than rickety old fire escapes pack onto the A train and the Rockaway Park shuttle to head to the beach. Industrious folks have ideal beach drink ingredients in tow, but plenty of us prefer not to schlep so much and play bartender on the sand. Connolly's has become as synonymous with summer as this vacation-adjacent slice of Queens thanks, in large part, to its famed frozen piña coladas; take it easy and buy a few of these instead.

The area around Beach 95th Street becomes saturated with Connolly's signature white cups and maraschino cherries mostly from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Irish bar also opens up for events, such as Saint Patrick's Day celebrations, Christmas parties, and Halloween fêtes, frequently, so one would be forgiven for thinking it's fully open all year. However, summer is still the quintessential time to visit. This, and maybe a nutcracker, New York City's favorite banned libation, makes for a real day at the beach indeed.

Connolly's is located at 155 Beach 95th St, Rockaway Beach, New York 11694.

The Tyger opened in 2020 just as frozen drinks were poised for a citywide boom, so it sure seems like its contribution to the category was destined for invention. The Tyger Strype cleverly fashions tequila, white tea, peach, lemon, activated charcoal, mango, honey, and cardamom into a frozen that layers these orange-and-black components into a tall glass to look like the tail of one ferocious cat.

I love to pair a frozen with spicy dishes, and The Tyger has plated a few with a bit of the glancing heat I seek. I have yet to run across anything with the fiery intensity that might require the icy tipples, but tolerances vary. Try The Tyger Strype with small plates, such as the Phnom Penh fried chicken with lime and white pepper dressing, and mains, such as the Isaan-style grilled sirloin steak with Thai herbs and roasted rice.

The Tyger is located at 1 Howard St, New York, New York 10013.