These are beer veterans, beer aficionados, beer heroes. That is not the attitude you’ll encounter in this East Williamsburg store and drinking spot.
The title of this bar is deceptive, because it suggests a sort of everyman attitude toward beer. The indoor space is extra cozy, but it’s the gorgeous garden out back that will have you hooked–basic or not. Delicious, fairly priced cocktails (around $10) and a generous food menu ensure that once you’ve got a group here, they won’t want to leave. According to the owners, the bar’s concept emerges from a desire for a return to the “public house” feeling a place where the community at large could gather to feel at home in a public space. Though “basic” has come to take on a negative quality denoting lack of intricacy, this bar is anything but. Notable: They are dead serious about beer and team up with breweries on occasion to make small batches exclusively available at Barcade for limited runs. For the less playful patron, a large and rotating selection of American craft beers on tap make Barcade a premiere Brooklyn destination for inventive new brews. The low ceilings and subtle, zinc bar give this place an intimate feel that makes you want to spend hours and hours lost down here before coming up for air.Īs its name suggests, this cavernous craft beer bar on Union Street is home to beloved arcade games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong that are perfectly suited for the extended adolescence that characterizes much of this neighborhood. It’s the new basement addition that’s really worth checking out for serious drinkers, though, a more secluded place to sip on a cocktail without the distractions of food and aesthetics. The gorgeous upstairs is a restaurant built on 20th century elegance, complete with mahogany bar and tin ceilings. Rye is an unassuming restaurant on the outskirts of Williamsburg’s southern tip. And if that doesn’t pique your interest, then maybe the excellent Thai-inspired food and cocktail menu will. Baby’s has quickly earned a reputation for booking all the best, rising bands to come through New York, which guarantees a clutch of media and music industry types are usually hanging around.
If you come on a particularly packed show night, it can be hard to snag a table in the bustling front room, and even harder to snag a viewpoint in the venue where you can actually see the band - but the crowd is bound to be worth the struggle. There’s a lot going on in this music venue/bar/restaurant, but everything happening is bound to be good. It’s a dive, but it’s an interesting one. Plus, there’s a karaoke room in the back, a pool table in the front, and tables outside for Williamsburg people-watching. Or five.Ģ) Alligator Lounge: 600 Metropolitan AvenueĪlligator Lounge is a great place to go if you skipped dinner and went straight to drinking, because they offer complimentary mini pizzas with every beer. Our advice though? You really can’t go wrong with a Miller High Life. Plus, not only do they have a wide range of bottles and cans available in bucket deals, there’s also an always-changing variety of craft beers for the more fancy among us. Since there are enough televisions to accommodate any (make that all) of your teams, no matter what your sport of choice-football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, golf, rugby, college basketball, college football (the owner is a native Ohioan, so you’ll hear many O-H! I-O! Chants on Saturdays in the fall)-you’re covered.
Perched a few steps above Grand Street, in a space that used to occupy a pool hall, 4th Down and its many, many TVs are an ideal home for the sports fans of east Williamsburg. To be honest, it was really hard narrowing it down. From dives to dramatically beautiful cocktail dens, here are the 50 bars in Williamsburg we love best.