Traveling to NY on Wed, but have fallen down on the job and need to sort out some place to do dinner on Friday night for anniversary. What I would like is the best place we (2) can go and eat in the lounge/bar, without having a reservation. Not a problem to go on the early side to get a table. We’ve done Eleven Madison Park, and would be happy to go back, but would be nice to try something different. Maybe this isn’t wine talk, but I need quick help, and wanted maximum exposure 
Thanks!
Gramercy Tavern
Colicchio & Sons
Two places I visited last time in town (both with bar seating) that had nice lists:
Boulud Sud
Maialino
Walking in to any good New York City restaurant with the hope of scoring a couple of seats is one of the toughest proposition to do on any Friday night. I’m sure you have your reasons for not making advance arrangement, but as of now, if you peruse Opentable, both Maialino and Locanda Verde, both near the top tier of local Italian restaurants have available tables at around 7 on Friday.
You can also try Babbo if you get there at about the time they open for dinner at 5:30 pm.
One nice lounge/bar that we like is The Bar Room at the Modern in the Museum of Modern Art. You may luck out and have a couple of bar seats available, but don’t count on it.
All these recommendations are casual places that don’t scream anniversary celebration. Bu the top tier celebratory ones would, imo, be close to impossible to secure a table for 2 for a Friday dinner.
Good luck.
Ramon, thanks. I can still look at reservations right now, just that I hadn’t done anything yet.
the bar at ai fiori.
Eating in the Bar/Lounge area of the three stars is my favorite way to go.
Daniel - Very nice lounge area. Service is very good and the menu is quite good and you can order almost anything from the main menu. Only downside is the tables are a little small.
Per Se - Really nice area in front (the lounge) with a beautiful view of Central Park. You can order the whole menu. Tables are also small. But the view of Central Park makes up for this. Winelist has crazy markups.
Blue Hill - Downtown. Another excellent option but you do have to get there very early as the bar is small.
Lincoln and Ai Fiori both have 7pm tables available.
Babbo tweets out openings every day - usually 4 tops, but sometimes 2.
Del Posto and La Grenouille both have times available.
Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill might work for you. Ate there a couple of years ago and had a really nice quail appetizer and a lamb entree with a Cameron Pinot.
The Bar Room at the Modern would be my vote.
Nougatine at Jean Georges.
Heck, it was tough enough to reserve in advance for this Thursday night…and that was 2 weeks ago. Apart from the booked solid 11 Mad, NoMad and Modern, the Lincoln and AiFiori were on my list. We’ve opted to try corkage at Novita.
RT
One option, since you say you can do early, is to get on line at Babbo by 5 (earlier is better). Eating at the bar there is a lot of fun. My wife and I have done it multiple times.
Another vote for Maialino, my favorite ‘trattoria’ restaurant in NYC
Also, Maialino, like all the Meyer restaurants, is extremely BYOB friendly. Love the place.
I love La Grenouille—the last of the dinosaurs,
but wd recommend Craft.
Katz’s
I echo Maialino,del Posto and would add Felidias
Le Bernardin…what a fabulous place…has a lounge now for walking in. Not cheap, but wow, the quality. Although a limited/small bites type menu.