Here’s a directory of the fine establishments featured in The Brokelyn Beer Book, our coupon book good for 25 beers at 25 bars for $25. The books are currently sold out, but we think these are great places even without coupons.
The Sackett • Sycamore • The Atlantic Chip Shop • Bar Great Harry • Bar Matchless • Bell House • Black Mountain Wine House • Black Rabbit • The Brazen Head • Brooklyn Bowl • Brooklyn Brewery • Brooklyn Ice House • B61 • Ceol • The Charleston • The Diamond • The Gate • High Dive • Manhattan Inn • No. 7 • Pacific Standard • Sidecar • Strong Place • Trophy Bar • Union Hall
THE SACKETT
www.thesackett.com
661 Sackett St. at Fourth Ave., Park Slope, 718-622-0437
What it is: Brokelyn’s unofficial hang epitomizes the two most overused word in the history of bar writeups: friendly and cozy.
Why we love it: The owners Michael and Ann are so cool you’ll want to become their third partner.
Who to bring: Boggle ringers—if you can beat Ann at Boggle, she’ll buy you a free drink. Since we announced this challenge in December, she’s never had to buy one.
What to order: Order in empanadas from Bogota Latin Bistro. They deliver to the bar.
Sackett fun fact: The Poor Man’s Punch is a Brokelyn-inspired cocktail of cranberry and pineapple juice and old rum left behind by the space’s previous tenants, a Latin American restaurant.
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SYCAMORE
www.sycamorebrooklyn.com
1118 Cortelyou Rd. between Stratford & Westminster, Ditmas Park, 347-240-5850
What it is: A bricky, woody destination bar that’s one of the biggest reasons under-30s are rediscovering the once-sleepy hamlet of Ditmas Park.
Why we love it: Intimate concert space downstairs, perfect garden in the back and the world’s nicest person selling flowers in front. (That’s her in the photo.)
Who to bring: All those people who have always wondered about this semi-rural neighborhood but never been.
What to order: Beef jerky, followed by another beer. Repeat.
Sycamore fun fact: The bar also has one of largest American whiskey selections in the five boroughs.
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THE ATLANTIC CHIPSHOP
www.chipshopnyc.com
129 Atlantic Ave., between Clinton & Henry, 718-855-7775
What it is: Classic Brit, from Spotted Dick to Old Speckled Hen to Beatles/Bowie posters to the propaganda slapped on the tables and walls.
Why we love it: Something about gloomy Brits and their greasy, caloric, hoppy habits make us very happy.
Who to bring: Football (re: soccer) fans, especially those of Arsenal, the house team. Friends who want to share fried macaroni, fish n’ chips, and a fried snickers with you, leaving all guilt aside.
What to order: Some of the 16 beers on tap rotate weekly, so ask the bartender if there’s something new and special. Otherwise?: A pint of Harp, fish n’ chips and a fried Twinkie.
ChipShop fun fact: The deep-fried Hostess Cherry Pie was banned from the menu because the actual pie has trans fats, but it is said that you can bring in whatever you want, and they will fry it for you.
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BAR GREAT HARRY
www.bargreatharry.com
280 Smith St. between Sackett & Degraw, Carroll Gardens, 718-222-1103
What it is: Hops heaven
Why we love it: 20 constantly rotating craft taps, one rotating hand-pump cask and 30+ bottles
Who to bring: Beer snobs who know a Sly Fox from a Flying Dog.
What to order: We couldn’t presume to decide for you, but the dub pies are cooked fresh per order.
Bar Great Harry fun fact: Every other Tuesday is Brewery Night, with $4 beers from the brewery of the day.
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BAR MATCHLESS
www.barmatchless.com
557 Manhattan Ave., Greenpoint, 718-383-5333
What it is: A great trifecta : large beer selection, stage in the back and a kitchen open until 3 a.m.
Why we love it: Places to get late-night, non-bodega food can be few and far between, but Matchless is the place to go. The foosball table and darts will keep you entertained, as will the great stage in the back featuring lots of local bands, and 16 taps of mostly craft brews provide plenty of options.
Who to bring: A date, music fans, foosball champions
What to order: Burgers, mac & cheese and seasonal beers.
Matchless fun fact: The bar is carved out of an old auto repair shop and still has a vintage sign outside. In warmer weather, they roll up an old garage door by the performance space.
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BELL HOUSE
www.thebellhouseny.com
149 7th St. between Second and Third Avenues, Gowanus, 718-643-6510
What it is: In the back, a great venue for rock shows and comedy fests, in the front room, comfy couches and 12 taps.
Why we love it: It’s that rare event space that even feels inviting when there’s nothing going on.
Who to bring: An old friend you haven’t seen in eight years—or a new friend you want to see more of.
What to order: Dub pies and Kentucky beer cheese. When you’re done with your beer, trade up to a cocktail.
Bell House fun fact: Whoever wrote the drink descriptions is a genius. The bourbon-and-ginger-ale Tighten Up cocktail is “Like a wedding vow whispered only to you under a willow tree … by a stranger … holding a Louisville Slugger.”
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BLACK MOUNTAIN WINEHOUSE
www.blackmountainwinehouse.com
415 Union St. between Smith St. & Hoyt St., Gowanus, 718-522-4340
What it is: Rustic, country-inn vibe with a big cozy fireplace and Adirondack porch chairs and a rotating daily menu of wines, beer and little plates.
Why we love it: One block away from Smith Street makes it the perfect blend of accessible yet tucked-away, which adds to the perfect log-cabin atmosphere.
Who to bring: A date you want to close the deal with. If this place doesn’t put him or her in the mood, it’s hopeless.
What to order: Wild mushroom and truffle oil mac and cheese, cold cut plate, or white bean crostini (all food $10)
Black Mountain fun fact: There’s no sign or awning—just look for the stack of firewood out front.
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BLACK RABBIT
blackrabbitbar.com
91 Greenpoint Ave., Greenpoint, 718-349-1595
What is it: This Greenpoint establishment resonates like a 19th-century ballad to the ideal bar.
Why we love it: Century-old retro look elevates drinking to a matter of casual sophistication. Private booths with saloon-style swinging doors and service-call button are a classy touch.
Who to bring: Anyone who might like cheese flavored with beer or smoked fish.
What to order: The choice of beer and cocktails is as solid as the gorgeous cherrywood bar, and the cheese oozing, beer tinged, smoked fish flavored menu is inventive and eclectic.
Black Rabbit fun fact: A trivia challenge is held every Tuesday night. Also, Janeane Garofalo is friends with the owners.
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THE BRAZEN HEAD
www.brazenheadbrooklyn.com
228 Atlantic Ave. between Court & Boerum Place, 718-488-0430
What it is: Locals’ pub with a heavy emphasis on craft brews and cask beers.
Why we love it: The bartenders are knowledgeable about beer and can describe the rotating selections. But they won’t look at you funny if you decide instead to order a $2 PBR. Plus, there’s free bagels on Sundays, free wings on Mondays and a cheese plate on Thursdays, not to mention tri-annual cask festivals featuring 25 cask beers.
Who to bring: Beer junkies; dart champions; anyone you actually want to a have a conversation with instead of being drowned out by drunkards.
What to order: Try one of the cask beers or ask the bartender for a recommendation from the drafts. The bar typically keeps at least one beer at the $4 level, usually Checker Cab or Yuengling.
Brazen Head fun fact: In addition to attracting a crowd from nearby Brooklyn Law School, The Brazen Head is the unofficial official bar for Trader Joe’s employees.
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BROOKLYN BOWL
www.brooklynbowl.com
61 Wythe Ave. between N. 11th and N. 12th Sts., Williamsburg, 718-963-3369
What it is: A 16-lane bowling alley, 600-capacity concert venue, hopping bar scene featuring all-local beers
Why we love it: Whatever’s going on here—from ?uestlove to Q-tip, Citizen Cope to Gaslight Anthem—it always feels like the place to be.
Who to bring: Birthday celebrants. Kids’ bowling birthday parties were never like this.
What to order: Blue Ribbon menu features a gut-busting “Bucket List”: must-eat fried chicken, fun french-bread pizzas and cheesy apps, all washed down with the nutella chocolate shake with a shot of the finest bourbon.
Brooklyn Bowl fun fact: Brooklyn Bowl is in the 23,000-square-foot former home of Hecla Iron Works factory, built in 1882. It’s the first ever L.E.E.D. certified bowling alley.
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BROOKLYN BREWERY
www.brooklynbrewery.com
79 N. 11th St. at Berry, Williamsburg, 718-486-7422
What it is: You need to ask?
Why we love it: Pizza at Grimaldi’s, fried calamari at Randazzo’s, pupusas at the Red Hook ball fields, beer at Brooklyn Brewery.
Who to bring: Brooklyn fetishists from out of town, aspiring brewmasters who would enjoy the free brewery tours.
What to order: They only serve one thing here, but you can bring in pizza.
Brooklyn Brewery fun fact: Brooklyn Brewery founder Steve Hindy learned to brew his own beer when he was an Associated Press reporter stationed in the Middle East, because the Muslim culture did not permit access to alcohol.
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BROOKLYN ICE HOUSE
318 Van Brunt St. between Pioneer & King, Red Hook, 718-222-1865
What is it: Red Hook’s Brooklyn Ice House is a neon lit beacon of hope on an otherwise “where the f am I?” stretch of Van Brunt Street.
Why we love it: People always asking what there is to do in Red Hook.
Who to bring: What might look like a strictly neighborhood dive, is in fact, a well cared for and tended establishment with a come-one-come-all atmosphere fit for locals and out-of-neighborhooders alike. Anyone with wheels (getting out to Red Hook can be tough!) or a beer connoisseur.
What to order: Two pulled pork sandwiches for $5 and onion rings. Absolutely delicious.
Ice House fun fact: The bar has 60-plus beers, categorized by country for your convenience.
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B61
187 Columbia St. at Degraw St., Red Hook, 718-643-5400
What it is: A locals bar under a great restaurant with a laid-back vibe
Why we love it: It overlooks the Manhattan skyline across the water, and the free pool table and eclectic jukebox keep you entertained. Great selection of beers on its 12 tap lines that usually start at $4 each. It’s the perfect place to linger if you’re waiting for a table from upstairs Alma restaurant.
Who to bring: People who wonder what all the Red Hook buzz is all about.
What to order: Try a seasonal brew while they last; we’re fans of the Smuttynose Winter Ale.
B61 fun fact: The bar is named for the bus that comes right by the waterfront, which means its name is also directions on how to get there.
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CEOL
www.ceolpub.com
191 Smith St. between Baltic & Warren, Cobble Hill 347-643-9911
What it is: Ceol, which means Music in Gaelic, is an Irish pub, through and through, from the bartenders to the beer to the food to the green paint.
Why we love it: The accents on the bartenders (and most of the clientele); the fact that “one more round” is never the last.
Who to bring: Friends who can relax and get lost at a pub for an entire afternoon, or til the wee hours…
What to order: Shepherd’s pie, fries with bacon and cheddar with one of 15 beers on draft
Ceol fun fact: The owners, Loretta and Samantha, hail from Dublin and fashioned the place after Loretta’s pa’s pub in Ireland and her experience working with Smithwicks Brewery.
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THE CHARLESTON
174 Bedford Ave. between N. 7th and N. 8th Sts., Williamsburg, 718-782-8717
What it is: About as rough and tumble as a bar with gorgeous handmade tables and black-shuttered windows overlooking Bedford Avenue can be.
Why we love it: It’s the cheap-o haven that doesn’t feel like a cheap-o haven. Drinks come with a whole personal pizza.
Who to bring: People watchers, those friends who love to try to eat until they puke, a friendly partner to facilitate sharing a table with strangers on a weekend night.
What to order: Beer and pizza. Period. Make sure there’s parmesan and red pepper at hand.
Charleston fun fact: It’s one of the longest-standing bars in Williamsburg.
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THE DIAMOND
thediamondbrooklyn.com
43 Franklin St. between Quay and Calyer, Greenpoint, 718-383-5030
What it is: A shiny, beer-centric bar with shuffleboard, rubber-ring quoits (a version of horseshoes) and a bi-level garden.
Why we love it: Owner Dave Pollack is a beer snob—some seriously rarified brews flow from his taps—but not an actual one. His bartenders couldn’t be nicer either.
Who to bring: Bill Cosby. The bar occasionally features ugly sweater contests.
What to order: Salami and cheese platter, $3 chili on Monday nights.
Diamond fun fact: Michael Landon is the bar’s official mascot.
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THE GATE
www.thegatebrooklyn.blogspot.com
321 Fifth Ave. at 3rd St., Park Slope, 718-768-4329
What it is: An old-world tavern that celebrates beer and your love of it.
Why we love it: The Gate has a sprawling selection of drafts and bottles where you can size up the debate over hops vs. malts. They also carry lots of specialty craft brews and unique casks. The porch scene is one of the finest in Park Slope, and spotting people out there is a sure sign spring is on the way.
Who to bring: The bar advertises a welcome to “young, old, feathered or furred.”
What to order: The selections change all the time, but try a specialty Sierra Nevada or Dogfish Head brew that you won’t find many other places.
The Gate fun fact: The bar’s name is Edgar Allan Poe inspired, and a Poe poem is scrawled on a board in the window that contains this line: “What care I how time advances/ I am drinking ale today.”
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HIGH DIVE
www.highdivebrooklyn.com
243 Fifth Ave. between Carroll & President, Park Slope, 718-788-0401
What it is: A lively, smart-looking spot in prime Slope carved out of a former “dive” bar location.
Why we love it: The beer selection is great, with 15 on tap and nearly 30 in bottles. But there’s cheap Miller High Lifes if you need to go that route, and free popcorn (Old Bay optional). The jukebox is solid and the back porch is a well-decorated place to chill.
Who to bring: Your digital friends (free WiFi all the time); Talking Heads fans (see below).
What to order: Three words: Kelso. Chocolate. Lager. Mmmmmm.
High Dive fun fact: After his free concert in Prospect Park last summer, David Byrne went to High Dive for the after party. He rode his bike there.
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MANHATTAN INN
632 Manhattan Ave. between Nassau Ave. and Bedford Ave., North Williamsburg/Greenpoint, 718-383-0885
What it is: A down-played funky or re-mixed elegant bar/restaurant—take your pick. Easy to miss between Polish clothing stores and butchers. A baby grand piano sets the tone.
Why we love it: The charmingly nostalgic schoolroom decor makes us feel cozy, not scolded.
Who to bring: Friends you want to catch up with, first dates, piano enthusiasts, lovers of #2 pencils.
What to order: Chicken wings or pork belly sandwich with one of the mostly-craft-brew beers.
Manhattan Inn fun fact: Chef Justin Farmer, who draws influence from Korea to Russia, gets his herbs from Rooftop Farms.
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NO. 7
no7restaurant.com
7 Greene Ave. at Fulton St., Fort Greene, 718-522-6370
What is it: A sophisticated yet unpretentious bar and restaurant.
Why we love it: No.7 is literally the hidden Fort Greene gem. Modestly located behind the subway entrance on Greene Avenue, this joint is the sensorially stimulating brainchild of French Culinary Institute graduates Tyler Kord and Gabriel Llanos. Marble topped bar, vaulted ceiling and white tiled floor makes you feel far more refined than you actually are, but what’s wrong with that.
Who to bring: A sweetheart, current or future. A person who likes a quiet and relaxed setting, good beer and inspired food.
What to order: We’ve never tried cinnamon raisin shrimp toast, but we’re curious.
No. 7 fun fact: Bon Appetit magazine named this place a top new restaurant in America.
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PACIFIC STANDARD
www.pacificstandardbrooklyn.com
82 4th Ave., between Bergen & St. Marks, Park Slope, 718-858-1951
What it is: Diversion-heavy bar, heavy on the West Coast microbrews and cask ales, also host to trivia nights, poetry readings and other special events.
Why we love it: Impressively curated selection of beers without astronomical prices. Plus they have a library in the back, a pinball machine and an ample supply of board games to prevent you from ever getting bored. Have you tried drunk Battleship?
Who to bring: Your smartest friends for Sunday trivia night, sports fans (big screen in the back for games), people who like to savor beer more than chug it.
What to order: Beers on tap rotate frequently, but our favorites right now include the Rogue Dead Guy Ale, which you can use to taunt your Battleship opponent.
Pacific Standard fun fact: The bar has become somewhat of a gathering ground for California ex-pats, which there are quite a few of around here.
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SIDECAR
www.sidecarbrooklyn.com
560 5th Ave. at between 15th and 16th Sts., South Slope, 718-369-0077
What it is: A restaurant, brunch spot and bar with six tap lines dedicated to local craft brews.
Why we love it: Tin ceiling, bricks and wooden booths epitomize a hardy Brooklyn vibe, while the tightly edited menu manages to hit every craving.
Who to bring: Everyone from dates to your bocce team.
What to order: Fried chicken and cheeseburgers.
Sidecar fun fact: When brothers John and Bart DeCoursy, the owners, were transforming the building from a children’s clothing store into a restaurant, they removed several layers of wallpaper and sheet rock to find a sign reading “DR. TUCKER’S 59 CURES COUGHS, COLDS. FOR ALL PAIN.” Dr. Tucker’s 59 was a popular elixir during the late 1800’s but was eventually outlawed in the early 1900’s because its main ingredient was cocaine. The mural is still intact.
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STRONG PLACE
Opening soon. Open
270 Court St. at Kane, Cobble Hill
What it is: A gastro-pub featuring 24 tap beers, new American fare and a raw bar.
Why we love it: From the chef and owner of Bocca Lupo. If it’s any bit as tasty, atmospheric, and dependable, we’ll soon be hooked. Also, expect an amazing back yard (which should open in September).
Who to bring: Your future in-laws, foodie dates.
What to order: Crispy Duck Leg Confit, Grilled Lamb Burger with Feta, Fried Ipswich Clams.
Strong Place fun fact: For many years, the space was a bookstore called Shakespeare’s Sister.
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TROPHY BAR
www.trophybar.blogspot.com
351 Broadway between Rodney St. and Keap St., Williamsburg, 347-227-8515
Why we love it: The friendly bartenders, the backyard garden, and the regular hosts of DJs and dance parties on the weekends.
Who to bring: First and second dates if it’s a weeknight. On the weekend, bring only those you aren’t embarrassed to dance like a fool in front of.
What to order: Mix things up and get one of their signature cocktails like the Best in Show or Runner up.
Trophy Bar fun fact: This bar is the work of the team from Stay Gold Gallery, and we hear something about Asia Dog on the back patio in the summer.
UNION HALL
702 Union St., Park Slope, 718-638-4400
What it is: A reconstituted 5,000-square-foot warehouse turned bar/library/bocce court/music, performance, educational venue. Basically, a total Renaissance bar.
Why we love it: Union Hall is like the phenomenal older sibling who happens to be good at everything. Join the bocce league, read a book in a plush chair by the fireplace, see music, learn science, laugh at a comedy show or simply drink and nosh.
Who to bring: Everyone from dates to co-workers. Multi-nooked space is conducive to an intimate night out or a raucous good time.
What to order: A basket of corndogs.
Union Hall fun fact: A cabinet downstairs contains an ostrich egg and stuffed bird.
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Special thanks to our designers The Heads of State and Team Brokelyn bar experts Tim Donnelly, Beth Hoyt, Etan Marciano, Anna Jacobson, Nina Koske and Jonathan Berk.