Le Dive West Village

A stripped-down French wine bar on a quiet Village corner where the bottles do the talking and the crowd spills onto the sidewalk by nine.

Le Dive keeps it simple: a tight list of low-intervention wines, a few sharp little plates, and bentwood chairs that fill up fast with regulars who know to just show up. The anchovy toast and a bottle of something skin-contact is the move, ideally taken slow, at a table angled toward the street.

Best for: A no-reservations glass of something unusual with friends