APL

Forbidden Fruit

Drinking Strange Elixirs Beneath a Jungle Gym

None 3 Photos APL
We don’t want to alarm you, but this pertains to your cocktail.

And the Swedish Fish that’s about to be swimming in it.

Welcome to the off-kilter confines of APL (pronounced “apple”), a primary-colored romper room with avant-garde bottle service and a skylight-suspended jungle gym, opening on Cinco de Mayo.

Don’t let the candy-garnished cocktails and levitating playground apparatus fool you. This is a dyed-in-the-wool, pouring-till-4am lounge spot that’s more than deserving of its station in the heart of the LES.

It’s designed as an extension of the city street, so you won’t enter here so much as you’ll seamlessly transition from the sidewalk through a gaping floor-to-ceiling hole in the front. Once inside, you’ll do well to start with an East River (DonQ rum and aquatic gummy floater) from the black granite bar. It’ll be on your left, illuminated in LED lights and, in case you need a landmark, just below the dangling bronzed sneakers.

But don’t linger under the high-tops—when booths are upholstered like the interior of an Italian sports car and bottle service comes with its own secret-elixir-equipped mixologist (you appreciate a carafe that cultivates an air of mystery), well, that sounds like something you should be an active participant in.

Who says chasers need to be FDA-approved.

Vitals

APL
146 Orchard St
(between Stanton and Rivington)
New York, NY, 10002

Extras

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