First date spots in Midtown & Times Square
For a first date in Midtown & Times Square, start with drinks at The Ragtrader Bo Peep NYC or coffee at Culture Espresso, both a short walk from the subway. The area has 103 coffee spots, 234 bars and 802 restaurants in our map data, so there’s always somewhere to go next. The busiest stretch is around 5 Av (7 B D F M).
For drinks
Cocktail bars, wine bars and pubs on busy blocks — easy to find, easy to move on from.
For coffee
A low-key first date: short, daytime, no pressure.
For dinner
When you already know there’s a spark.
For a walk, then a stop
Walk and talk first, then sit down somewhere close by.
Meeting someone from another neighborhood?
Fair spots where you both travel about the same distance.
Questions
People also ask
What are good first date spots in Midtown & Times Square?
For drinks, The Ragtrader Bo Peep NYC (cocktail bar) or The Rum House (cocktail bar). For coffee, Culture Espresso or Corvo Coffee. For dinner, Bryant Park Grill. All of them are on blocks with other spots nearby, so the date can move on easily if it’s going well.
Where should we go for a first date drink in Midtown & Times Square?
The Ragtrader Bo Peep NYC is 3 min from 34 St-Herald Sq (B D F M N Q R W), with 85 other spots within a three-minute walk. The Rum House is 3 min from 49 St (N R W). Pick somewhere easy to talk in and easy to leave — that matters more on a first date than the drinks list.
Is Midtown & Times Square a good neighborhood for a first date?
Yes for most dates: it has 103 coffee spots, 234 bars and 802 restaurants in our data, with 143 of them within a six-minute walk of 5 Av (7 B D F M). For a walk first, Central Park is right there, and Contour is 4 min from it.
Where can we meet halfway if one of us lives in Midtown & Times Square?
There are fair-spot guides for Midtown & Times Square and Murray Hill & Kips Bay, Midtown South, Flatiron & Union Square, Chelsea & Hudson Yards, Upper West Side & Lincoln Square, Upper East Side, Lenox Hill & Roosevelt Island and Upper East Side & Carnegie Hill: each lists bars and coffee spots where both of you travel about the same distance. For anywhere else, use the free Meet Halfway tool.
Near Midtown & Times Square
How this list is made: spots are open, independent cafés, bars and restaurants, chosen for being close to the subway and on blocks with plenty of other places nearby. Nobody pays to be listed. Distances are straight-line and walking times are estimates, so check opening hours before you go. Updated 2026-10-13. Data: Places: Overture Maps Foundation (CDLA-Permissive-2.0); 2020 Neighborhood Tabulation Areas, NYC Department of City Planning (NYC Open Data); MTA Subway Stations (data.ny.gov); Parks Properties, NYC Parks (NYC Open Data).