BYOB?! Yes, BYOB!

A couple favorites from former New Yorkers moved to the Sooner state...

Employees Only
Though smack in the middle of a busy stretch of Hudson Street in the West Village, Employees Only (510 Hudson St.; 212-242-3021) can be tough to find. Only a large letter “E” atop a small letter “o,” a formation that looks rather like a key, marks it. Open the door and you may see a fortune teller reading cards; push apart the curtains behind her, and you’ve stepped back to a time of speakeasies and Prohibition. The skilled bartenders, many of whom sport old-fashioned handlebar mustaches, mix a mean cocktail; highly recommended are the Amelia, vodka and elderflower liqueur shaken with pureed blackberries and fresh lemon juice, and the Mata Hari, Courvoisier shaken with chai-infused vermouth and fresh pomegranate juice, each $13. Employees Only also serves a small dinner and brunch menu, which you can enjoy in the covered back garden. Though the bar gets a little crowded on weekends, it’s usually fairly mellow during the week.

Vintage New York
It’s easy to find places to drink in Manhattan, but sometimes it’s hard to find a nightspot mellow enough to enjoy a quiet conversation. Vintage New York (482 Broome St.; 212-226-9463) is a spacious, two-level wine bar where not only can you chat, but you can also nibble on tasty local delicacies while enjoying a glass of New York State red. In fact, all of the wines and foods served at Vintage are solely from New York producers, whether Long Island, the Hudson Valley, or the Finger Lakes. You can also purchase the wines you enjoyed at the adjoining retail store, or sample more from the tasting room bar. A second retail store and tasting room (no wine bar) is located on the Upper West Side (2492 Broadway; 212-721-9999).

The Spotted Pig
Blame consulting chef Mario Batali and talented toque April Bloomfield for the inevitable wait at this still-hopping West Village gastropub. The burger is a must-order: A top-secret blend of ground beef is grilled rare (unless otherwise requested), covered with a heap of Roquefort cheese and plated under a tower of rosemary- and garlic-kissed shoestring fries. What better to wash that down with than the Pig’s proprietary cask-drawn ale? The best treat, however, comes last: spiced ginger cake with a dollop of whipped cream.

Tartine
Brittany-born owner Thierry Rochard’s prototypical Gallic café still draws lines after 18 years. The inevitable wait and tight space are worth enduring for the crisp, salty frites; the BYOB policy with no corkage fee adds to the bohemian allure. Staples like an earthy steak au poivre and cheesy, decadent croque-monsieur dominate the short menu. An entrée of “spicy chicken” smothered in a white wine sauce deviates from the Franco format, but the tude from the couldn’t-be-bothered servers doesn’t.