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Japanese City Pop Bar 56709 Opens in Long Island City
June 12, 2025, 10:24.46 pm ET

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In Long Island City, the team behind Gulp and 929 is dialing up the nostalgia with 56709—a new Japanese City Pop-inspired cocktail bar. Named after a lyric in Junko Ohashi’s 1984 hit “Telephone Number,” 56709 transforms the original 929 space into a retrofuturist dream, where neon glow, vintage posters, and throwback phones set the mood for a multisensory night out.

Led by partners Haoran Chen, William Guo, Jeff Liu, and Sean Yang, the bar draws from Japan’s Showa and Heisei eras, merging a love for anime, music, and street food with deeply personal cultural ties. Beverage Director Chaoyi Chen (Pawn Bar Taipei) curates a lineup of inventive cocktails—like Pika Pika with rum, tomato, mango, cheese, and soda (Pikachu’s ketchup love)—each named after a J-pop legend or beloved anime character, and layered with storytelling.

Plates from neighboring Gulp echo the cross-cultural spirit: miso butter sweet potatoes with meat floss, fried oysters with yuzu tartar sauce, and Shake Shake Fries, a nod to the McDonald's Taiwan-Hong Kong fast food craze.

Located at 4245 27th Street in Long Island City, 56709 is open Tuesday–Sunday. With high-concept drinks, nostalgic design, and a soundtrack of J-pop, it's poised to be LIC’s most transportive new bar this summer.


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