The Legendary King Cole Bar - New York
One of Manhattan’s legendary watering holes for New Yorkers and travelers for nearly a hundred years is the King Cole Bar housed in the St Regis Hotel.
This classy, but cozy bar is dominated by the iconic Maxfield Parrish mural that has lorded over the mahogany bar since it’s inception.
Opened in 1932, it became a home to socialites because of John Jacob Astor IV, who was the richest man in the world at this time and whom had built the hotel. He died on the Titanic.
Astor personally commissioned Parrish for $5,000, to paint a mural for the bar and required to model King Cole after himself.
Painted in three 8×10 panels, the mural shows a jovial King Cole front and center, flanked by jesters, attendants in humor.
Parrish, famous for his luminous, glossy colors and neo-classical scenes, includes a cheeky urban legend here that the king is well… letting one rip since his mischievous grin and the varied reactions of his court. The painting today is worth over $12 million.
This place was a hidden haunt for Marlene Dietrich, Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe, Salvador Dali, John Lennon and Andy Warhol.
If these walls could talk you wouldn’t get a word in edgewise.
King Cole’s bar is also famous for the invention of the “Bloody Mary”. That name was wasn’t appropriate for the upscale clientele, so the drink was renamed the “Red Snapper”, apparently that name didn’t stand the test of time like the original, but the drink did.
If you’ve ever wondered about the history of the famed brunch libation that we know today, there you have it.
So when you sip a Bloody Mary under the vivid mural, you’re not just drinking– you’re soaking in a slice of history, an intersection of Astor family prestige, Parish’s artistic genius and a dash of humor that endured almost century.
Today with it’s amazing atmosphere where nostalgia and luxury collide, it is one of the most beautiful bars in New York. Very classy, very expensive one-of-a-kind spot for an exceptional experience.
Cocktails will run you around $30.
David Garland NY New York Jul 17, 2025 Back in Time Bars Inventions on Rt 1
Jul 17, 2025
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