Bongo

The popular Chelsea seafood and cocktail lounge's second (and much larger) location on the West Side Highway is significantly closer to the fresh ocean breezes—or whatever kind of delicious air is blowing in from the Hudson. Bongo 2.0 offers the same menu of lobster rolls (once deemed by "The New Yorker" to be the best in the city) and ocean fare, plus a generous raw bar presenting more than a dozen varieties of oysters, clams and shrimp. (Coming months will also see a big and New England-y fried food selection.) The booze menu has also expanded, with plenty of whiskeys, Scotches, wines and sakes joining Bongo's dozens of summery cocktails—like the Rumsicle, made with 7Up, orange juice and Cruzan vanilla rum. Bongo's décor is snazzy and mod maritime, with a healthy dash of ‘70s chic: Blue rooms and red rooms, all dappled with mosaics and sexily low-slung furniture, are uniformly washed in light as the sun sets behind Jersey. The bar and kitchen are open until 4 a.m., however, in case any West Siders find themselves hungering for fried oysters and chowder closer to sunrise.

See more: West Village restaurants, West Village bars, American new england restaurants, Oyster restaurants, Seafood restaurants