Hidden Hot Spots in New York

A small gold sign leads through the lobby to this hidden treasure of sake and sashimi in midtown.

The beautiful, the hip and the well-informed know the way to this hunter-chic eatery is at the end of a dead-end alley of the same name.

This basement taqueria is one of of the most talked-about secret restaurant/bars in the city, though finding it doesn't necessarily mean you'll get in.

Just about everyone in midtown has searched out this unassuming burger joint--and they can't help but find their way back.

Hidden away in a boutique in Chelsea Market, this secret spot makes a lamb burger that's one of the best in the city and serves brunch all day.

There's no sign on the wood-paneled exterior of this romantic Japanese restaurant--look for the hostess at the red rope.

Cocktail aficionados pass through a Japanese restaurant to get to this hidden mixing mecca in the East Village--and happily wait for the privilege.

The very definition of a hidden hot spot, this gilded speakeasy's entrance is through a gate marked "Lower East Side Toy Company," but you may find some playthings there nonetheless.

You'll have to dig up the phone number, search out the doorway and adhere to strict house rules to get at Sasha Petraske's super-secret cocktail lounge.

Keep walking past the shelves of this specialty food shop, and you'll stumble upon Brooklyn's coziest wine and oyster bar, thoughtfully hidden from the teeming masses.

Don't be fooled by the fake Avenue A address--the entrance to this rum-centric cocktail bar is in the back of the Cuban sandwich shop, Carteles, on Sixth Street.

At the back of a tidy East Village barbershop, a sliding door reveals large, parquet-floored speakeasy with Victorian couches and booths where DJs spin for the in-the-know.

How do you hide a 2,200-square-foot club in the Meatpacking District? Beneath the star-studded restaurant, Abe & Arthur's, of the same owners. Bring that Amex black card.

Stumble upon the door bearing 147 ? with an attitude that says you own the joint, take the freight elevator down, make two lefts, then a right and you'll find this underground den of cool.