Famous NYC Dive Bar Milady’s Reopens As a Cocktail Bar

"A longtime corner bar has been reinvented as a dim, cocktail-focused spot that deliberately trades the old dive-bar fixtures — the pool table and CD jukebox have been removed in favor of more seating — for a vintage-leaning cocktail program. Helmed by Julie Reiner with partners Christine Williams and Susan Fedroff and a list developed alongside beverage director Natasha Mesa, the menu emphasizes classic martinis and nostalgic yet carefully updated drinks, most notably a $17 Big Apple Martini (a fully realized appletini made with gin, vodka, and apple brandy, a recipe that the lead bartender helped popularize in 2000). The space leans into faux-nostalgia with Napster-era playlist choices and dark, Instagram-unfriendly lighting; it’s presented as a serious, independent cocktail bar rather than a lifestyle-chain outpost, though it also offers pricier contemporary items like a $19 Hawaiian iced tea." - Jason Diamond, Christian Rodriguez