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Alphabet City has never shied away from the strange, but Oddball is leaning all the way in. The new cocktail bar opened last month on Avenue B, taking over the former Hi-Note space, and it’s betting that New Yorkers are more than ready for drinks that sound a little unhinged on paper and somehow perfectly balanced in the glass.
At the helm is beverage director Logan Rodriguez, who worked at Ilis and Smithereens, joined by partners LaTeisha Moore and Philip Reichenberger, plus R&D bartender Allen Oino, whose pedigree includes Maison Premiere and Raines Law Room. Together, they’ve built a debut menu called “Odd Couples,” a lineup of high-contrast cocktails that pair ingredients you wouldn’t expect ever to meet, let alone get along.
Here, a daiquiri that mixes blueberry, ricotta whey and horseradish distillate into something light, aromatic and surprisingly crushable. Elsewhere, the drinks menu leans into conceptual names and quietly nerdy techniques. There’s Moon Unit, an espresso martini riff infused with miso and hojicha tea. Negative Space reimagines a white Negroni with tomato vermouth and peanut notes. Future Perfect takes an anti-waste approach to a Manhattan, folding in spent coffee, marigold and passionberry pepper recovered from elsewhere on the menu.
“Two things that seem unlikely can suddenly make perfect sense when they hit the right balance,” Rodriguez explained. That idea runs through the entire program, including the bar’s commitment to small, offbeat producers. Expect spirits from Matchbook Distilling, waste-upcycling distillates from Acid Spirits and experimental botanical bottlings from Empirical, many with New York roots.
The space itself mirrors that playful tension. Designed by Danny Taylor, Oddball channels retro-futurism with a strong dose of ’70s cosmic nostalgia. Burl wood, volcanic stone, fluted metal and soft primary colors come together in a room that feels both cinematic and casual—more late-night East Village hangout than precious cocktail temple.
The compact food menu includes flaky flautas layered with cilantro butter, tuna carpaccio with satsuma mandarin vinaigrette, a creamy chicory-forward salad that's shockingly vegan and a peanut butter-and-jelly pie that somehow feels right at home in a cocktail bar setting. Everything is built for snacking, sipping and sharing.
Oddball officially opened on November 19 and it already feels like the kind of place the neighborhood will claim quickly. The drinks may be weird—but in the best, most East Village way possible.