Welcome

Pull up a seat in the lounge or join us seven days for brunch, lunch, dinner or cocktails. Onieals offers casual but elegant cuisine and unique cocktails to satisfy a variety of tastes and preferences. The perfect meeting place for friend’s shopping in Nolita, Soho & Chinatown, business lunches, after work drinks or fun on the weekend, Onieals is the spot to go.

History

Set in a neighborhood that for more than a hundred years was the knife’s edge of wealth, corruption, poverty and crime – Onieals Soho is a distinctive blend of yesterday and today’s modern sophistication.

Onieals is located directly opposite the old Police Headquarters that held legendary criminals from 1909 – 1973. Strangely, the Onieals building operated as a center for pleasurable crimes in such close proximity. Its former occupants include a brothel, a speakeasy and a gambling parlor. In the early part of the 20th century, the system was so corrupt that a tunnel was dug to connect the two buildings so that uniformed NYPD officers and officials could step across the street for some cheer undetected.

The tunnel, which ended up coming in very handy during Prohibition, is still visible in Onieals and is used today as the wine cellar. In 1987, the headquarters was sold, turned into residential apartments and the tunnel was filled. The Police Building Apartments, commissioned as an NYC landmark, now house some well-known names including Steffi Graf, Winona Ryder and Christi Turlington.

Sex and the City

Onieals is well known for its part on the Sex and the City television series. You may remember that Miranda’s once boy-toy Steve partnered with Carrie’s ex-boyfriend Aidan to open the bar SCOUT. Onieals Soho serves as the backdrop for the casually hip New York bar. In fact, the Onieals window sign was inadvertently filmed in the episodes featuring SCOUT. If you look closely, you will see the Onieals sign making an appearance on TV.