What it is
Death & Co is a cocktail bar in New York’s East Village. Its own site says it opened on New Year’s Eve 2006/07. Other sources round that differently: Punch says 2006, VinePair says 2007, and Wikipedia says January 2007. They are all describing roughly the same weekend.
The founders depend on who is telling it. VinePair, in a March 12, 2026 piece, names David Kaplan and Alex Day as the founders. Punch calls Kaplan “one of the founders” and says he was 24 when he opened the bar. Wikipedia lists Kaplan and Ravi DeRossi as owners. Kaplan is now CEO of Gin & Luck, the hospitality group that runs all the Death & Co locations, per Punch.
The bar was one of the places that helped lead the craft-cocktail movement, as Wikipedia puts it. Punch quotes the writer Robert Simonson describing the original as “a darkened, quasi-speakeasy-ish cove of mixological art, simultaneously serious and fun,” with a low ceiling, candlelight, and a marble bar top. It has since added bars in Los Angeles, Denver, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, plus one in Melbourne, according to Wikipedia.
The books
Death & Co is also known for two books by Alex Day, Nick Fauchald, and David Kaplan. The first is Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails, published in 2014. The second is Cocktail Codex, published by Ten Speed in 2018, which Publishers Weekly calls a follow-up to the 2014 book. It organizes drinks around six root cocktails: the old-fashioned, martini, daiquiri, sidecar, whisky highball, and flip.
Getting in, as of November 2026
Everything here comes from the bar’s New York page unless noted.
- Hours. Sunday through Wednesday, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
- Reservations. “We offer limited reservations and primarily operate on a first come, first served basis.” The page says it can take parties of up to 8.
- Walk-ins. The site says “walk-ins always welcome.”
- No standing. The page says no standing room is offered and that all visits are limited to two hours.
- The door. The site gives no entrance instructions or street address. Wikipedia lists 433 East 6th Street. An August 28, 2026 piece in The Manual describes a “discreet wooden door on East 6th Street” and says lines “still appear nightly.” That is one writer’s report, not a policy, and he mentions booking through Resy while the bar’s own site points to SevenRooms. Check the bar’s site before you go.
Drinks it is known for
The menu changes, so some of these may not be on it. The menu on the bar’s site in November 2026 was organized into sections such as Light & Playful, Elegant & Timeless, and Zero Proof, and the High Plains Drifter, a tequila and mezcal drink with apple and green Chartreuse, was on it.
Oaxaca Old-Fashioned.Punch credits bartender Phil Ward with creating it at Death & Co in 2007: 1½ oz reposado tequila, ½ oz mezcal, two dashes of Angostura bitters, a bar spoon of agave syrup, and a flamed orange twist. Ward says Kaplan named it. Kaplan says he believes he suggested the name, but that “the drink really named itself.”
Naked and Famous.Joaquín Simó created it in 2011 at Death & Co. It is equal parts mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and fresh lime juice, a blend of ideas from the Last Word and the Paper Plane. The recipe is on page 185 of the 2014 book, and the International Bartenders Association added it to its official list in 2020.
Neither was on that menu, so ask before you plan around them.
