Outings

Best places to watch the Olympics and drink on the cheap

May the beers be ever in your favor.

WTF is Modern Pentathalon? We’re about to find out: The Olympics opening ceremonies are on Friday where the Queen herself will open the games and 4.8 billion people around the world will tune in to see what Kate Middleton is wearing. The ceremony starts at 9pm GMT, which means 4pm in New York, however NBC plans to delay the airing of the ceremony until 7:30pm EST (ratings, duh). NBC will stream all 302 events in real time online and via mobile apps but only to cable or satellite subscribers, so we brokesters are SOL yet again (unless you borrow someone’s access code, of course). No matter, here’s a list of bars where you can drink international brews while cheering on Brooklyn’s local Olympians.

One Stop Beer Shop
134 Kingsland Ave, Greenpoint
This beer shop-bar hybrid is having an Olympic Opening Ceremony party on Friday from noon through close. Don’t forget your speedo, swim cap and bong for the Gold Medal Costume Contest. Gold gets a free growler, silver and bronze get prizes too. Drink specials include: 2 for 1 on Captain Lawrence’s Liquid Gold and Brooklyn Brewery’s Gold Standard Beer, discount on all drafts (50+ on tap) until 8pm, $6 “beer cocktails” until 8pm. Warning: endorsed by Time Out NY so it’s probably wise to get there on the early side if you don’t want to stand all night.

The view inside the new Greenwood Park, via Yelp.

Greenwood Park
555 Seventh Ave. (near 19th St.), Greenwood Heights
Because the weather is insanely gorgeous every single day, watch the games al fresco at this gigantic new beer garden down in South Slope/Greenwood Heights. Daily happy hour 12-7pm with $3 drafts and $4 well drinks and a reasonably priced menu of upscale bar food plus several flat-screen TVs. The bar also has bocce courts to keep you occupied during the boring events (looking at you Field Hockey).

4th Down Sports Bar
170 N. 4th St., Williamsburg
At $12/5 (including High Life and PBR), 4th Down has the cheapest beer buckets around. Plus a huge projection screen and a whole mess of TVs positioned for unobstructed viewing from any seat in the house, this is a great spot to cheer on Team USA with other sporting enthusiasts.

Woodwork
583 Vanderbilt Ave. (at Dean St.), Prospect Heights
Watch Olympic futbol football soccer and the rest of the London games with Brooklyn’s resident contingent of hooligans at this self-described “sexy soccer bar” with 3 Panasonic 50″ HDTVs. Woodwork offers many cheap drink specials, including Choose Your Own Adventure (any well shot + $3 beer for $6) and a Fuck-It-Bucket (6 random beers for $15). During Olympics viewing the favorite choice is the “USA” (Miller High Life + shot of Evan Williams green label whiskey for $6).

Full Circle Bar
318 Grand St., Williamsburg
If the sportsmanship inspires you to do something active while day drinking, stop by Full Circle on Sunday, July 29, to compete in the HOLEympics. Teams of 2-5 will compete in five hole-some games: Skee-Ball, Cornhole, KanJam, Basketball and Target Tops (spin a dreidel into a hole). It’s $10 to sign up (with all proceeds going to the Brooklyn Special Olympics). Games start at 3pm with a FREE BEER happy hour during registration from 2-3. RSVP with your team name and roster on Facebook. The bar will be showing the actual Olympics on TV too.

Mulholland’s
312 Grand St., Williamsburg
For a bro-tosterone vibe, catch Olympics coverage on 12 HDTVs as well as the bar’s huge flatscreen in its backyard. Word is their wings are the best around.

Gowanus Yacht Club
323 Smith St. (at President Street), Carroll Gardens
We hear everyone’s favorite outdoor dive is bringing in a TV for your outdoor drinking/Women’s Handball watching pleasure. As always, $10 Duff pitchers until 7 and 2 for $5 crap cans all night long and $1 oysters.

This place is so freaking British it’s practically an embassy. Photo via Clay Williams.

Chip Shop
129 Atlantic Ave. (b/t Henry and Clinton St.), Boerum Hill
Play Royals Where’s Waldo at traditionally English events: archery, equestrian, fencing, polo, and of course football, over a plate of chips or a hearty English breakfast. All-day happy hour gets you $4 Carlsberg drafts and 20 percent off your bill if you drink and eat at the bar. (Hint: here’s where gossip mongers say Will, Kate and Harry will be.)

Black Horse Pub
568 Fifth Ave (at 16th Street), Park Slope
For a taste of the hooligan spirit spewing from every pub into the streets of London, pop in to this casual Brit-run pub for a $4 pint of Stella and a plate of bangers & mash or English breakfast all day for $12. Black Horse will be showing the Opening Ceremony (on both English and NBC time) and all the pre-game coverage as well as all events on its seven TVs.

So what is Modern Pentathalon? Check out this events cheat sheet from Time Out.

Know of any other watering-holes for Olympic viewing? Let us know in the comments.

5 Comments

  1. I wonder if Greenwood Park will be the thing that will get people to start becoming familiar with the neighborhood name Greenwood Heights. I always got blank stares upon using it before.

Leave a Reply