Are These the 10 Best Bars in Brooklyn?
The Voice's Fork in the Road blog recently released a ranking of the 10 best bars in Brooklyn. Selections were based on "atmosphere, company, value, and the quality of the beverages," and Williamsburg's Spuyten Duyvil nabbed the top spot. The rest: 2. Montero's Bar and Grill (Brooklyn Heights); 3. Brooklyn Social (Carroll Gardens); 4. Sunny's Bar (Red Hook); 5. Tip Top Bar and Grill (Bed-Stuy); 6. The Brooklyn Inn (Boerum Hill); 7. Freddy's (Prospect Heights); 8. Smolen Bar and Grill (Greenwood Heights); 9. KeBeer Bar and Grill (Brighton Beach); and 10. Palace Cafe (Greenpoint). It's nice to see so many neighborhoods represented! What do you think of the list?
Our Ten Best: Brooklyn Bars [Fork in the Road]
Photo by kisluvkis.
84 Comments
By tscola on December 14, 2009 10:37 AM
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 10:43 AM
Freddy's of course. Brooklyn Inn, of course. Never been to any of the others.
By trokenmatt on December 14, 2009 10:45 AM
I think I miss Magnetic Field.
By ftgreenepark on December 14, 2009 10:47 AM
Freddy's is NOT that great of a bar.
Picking the best 10 bars in Brooklyn is super tough. Instead they should do the 10 biggest douche bars in Brooklyn. Or the 10 stinkiest bars.
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 10:49 AM
What!? What don't you like about Freddy's?
By Expert Textpert on December 14, 2009 10:51 AM
Sounds like a PLUSA pub crawl is in order to verify this list.
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 10:51 AM
A lot of these I've never been to, but I do love Spuyten Duyvil, and I'd rank it up there at the top as well.
By ftgreenepark on December 14, 2009 10:52 AM
It's too narrow by the bar...the bathroom is always smelly...the bands are sometimes decent but never exceeding decent...the service is OK and sometimes less than OK...I'm tired of those video montage thingies...and the people can be a little bland (ouch sorry).
By wasder on December 14, 2009 10:56 AM
Yeah, they probably need subcategories. I like alot of these bars, especially when I am in my "cozy old shoe" bar phase (Sunny's, Brooklyn Inn, Monteros, Freddies) but there ought to be a shout out to the fancier cocktail-y bars of my more mature years....
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 10:58 AM
You can't have a "best bars in brooklyn" list - there's way too many that are different from each other. agree with wasder, subcategories would be good.
union pool a runner up? barf.
By daveinbedstuy on December 14, 2009 10:59 AM
Is there a nice fancy cocktail bar in brooklyn????
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 11:00 AM
Yeah I'm more of a top 10 on Time Out NY list kinda guy. Probably doesn't say much, but I prefer the Weather Up, Cornelius, Clover Club kinda places...
By tybur6 on December 14, 2009 11:01 AM
Yeah, Freddy's is great. The Brooklyn Inn is great. The Brooklyn Social is always over-crowded frat boy type place. I've been to a couple of the others, but no opinion really.
I'm glad that obnoxious, overly hyped "Cover Club" on Smith Street isn't on the list.
By bowl of dicks on December 14, 2009 11:01 AM
(sadly) I have been to each on the list minus Brighton Beach. only one here that makes me all rolley eyed is the bklyn social. YAWN CITY.
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 11:02 AM
Botanica in Red Hook is great though.
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 11:04 AM
Everyone else's top 10?
By CGar on December 14, 2009 11:09 AM
Frightening that I've been to nearly half the top 10 and runners-up in the last 6 months alone.
By Butterfly on December 14, 2009 11:10 AM
quote:
Spuyten Duyvil,
are are those words pronounced?
*rob*
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 11:10 AM
Ask a specific question, get a specific answer...
It's too narrow by the bar...
Hmm, never noticed.
the bathroom is always smelly...
I'm male and the men's room smells like bleach and ice IMO.
the bands are sometimes decent but never exceeding decent...
The bands blow unless you're blind drunk. then they are ok. The spoken word events attract 15 people but I enjoy myself.
the service is OK and sometimes less than OK...
There's one bartender who sucks, the others are all ideal.
I'm tired of those video montage thingies...
I was there for comedy night and actually thought, "I've seen this one before." Nevertheless it is trippy and adds a nice gestalt effect of this-place-is-weird.
and the people can be a little bland (ouch sorry).
Douche central, at peak hours of 10-1. Other times, a lovely mix.
Ultimately anyway, the best bar is the one down the street from you - your local. Go there and spend some money!
By jdoo on December 14, 2009 11:10 AM
Brooklyn Social is douchebag central!
Angry Wades and PJ Hanleys are much better alternatives in the area!!!
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 11:11 AM
"I'm glad that obnoxious, overly hyped "Cover Club" on Smith Street isn't on the list."
It's a runner up. I agree with you though...loved it when it first opened, now...not so much. It's the service which is the problem. People are RUDE there.
Franklin Park made the runner up list, which is cool. I love that place.
By jdoo on December 14, 2009 11:12 AM
I really like Moe's in Fort Greene also
By etson on December 14, 2009 11:16 AM
"Is there a nice fancy cocktail bar in brooklyn????"
Weather Up! (not sure if it's necessarily fancy, but it's very cool).
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 11:25 AM
"but they do make you feel like you're in a bar that aspires to be in Manhattan."
What bar in Manhattan (besides Bowery Bar) has a ginormous outdoor area where you can sit, stand, gather a group of 30 people or just hang out all Sunday afternoon and smoke cigarettes and shoot the shit?
By Ahh beer on December 14, 2009 11:26 AM
Sample
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 11:34 AM
Surprised "Duff's" didn't make the list - frequently wins Best of NYC dive bar/rocker bar honors.
By CGar on December 14, 2009 11:37 AM
"It's the service which is the problem. People are RUDE there."
11217, I can't speak to everyone who works there, but there's one bartender/waitress, Frankie I think is her name, who is great. I'd only been to Clover Club 2-3 times, usually for a night cap, and hadn't been in for at least a month. And I'm sitting at the bar trying to remember the drink I'd last had that I really liked, but the menu changed. And Frankie looks at me - I didn't recognize her - and she says, "I waited on you when you and your friends sat at the table by the window. I broke a plate. And you really liked the 'Clover Club'". Couldn't believe she remembered me. Where's DeLepp?? DeLepp, was her name Frankie?? Anyways, she was great, and we ended up talking to her and having a few night caps until we closed the place.
By BSD on December 14, 2009 11:40 AM
weather up, sepia, pacific standard, soda bar, and any bar that may open with an apothecary theme.
By Jimmy Legs on December 14, 2009 11:41 AM
the article is kind of ridiculous, it doesn't give any explanation of why a given bar was chosen. seems like something written just to angry up the blogs.
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 11:42 AM
I'm glad to hear you've had a good experience there CGAR...I've had a couple moderately bad ones and one TERRIBLE experience there and will not be back. The latter was a friend's birthday party (in which she called ahead to say how many people were attending) to then be treated so poorly that the 40 of us left and went to another venue mid party. The birthday girl even attempted to talk to the manager, but they didn't want any part of it. They were fine to lose the business and they've lost mine permanently (along with everyone else who attended that party, I'm sure).
I like the concept, but they've gotten a little too big for their britches, if you ask me.
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 11:49 AM
11217 - did you guys pony up and rent out the back room?
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 11:49 AM
CGar, yes, she was very nice that time.
:)
By christopher on December 14, 2009 11:50 AM
Montero's!
Nice. I love that place. Best pool spot in Brooklyn.
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 11:54 AM
DH:
My friend called with the intention of doing that, but asked if it would be ok to not rent the back room, and just do regular bar, since people would be coming/going and there would never be a TON of people all at once, since the party was taking place over many hours.
Clover Club said that absolutely it would be "no problem at all."
It ended up being such a problem that we left.
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 11:54 AM
Bringing 40 people to Clover Club, that's asking for trouble.
By CGar on December 14, 2009 11:55 AM
Yeah, jester, same waitress was our bartender when DeLepp and I went for a night cap after Zombie Hut.
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 11:57 AM
Thing is, infinite...It was nearly dead when we were there. It was a Monday night...
Everyone who worked there (when I was there) was rude as HELL.
By jdoo on December 14, 2009 11:59 AM
re: clover club. I took a friend there and the first thing she said when we went in and heard the blaring brassy jazz music was, "does anyone here seriously like this music?". Pretty much sums that place up IMO.
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 12:01 PM
Hmm, sounds like it. They should just suck it up and take you and your friends' money.
By Kensingtonian on December 14, 2009 12:02 PM
11217, as CGar knows, I HATE Clover Club with all passion but for some damn reason, some of my friends love it and I end up there more often than I would like to (about 2-3 times). BTW, I loved Bogota, thanks for the reco.
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 12:05 PM
Yeah, to each his/her own Kens. Apparently GuyIncognito hates Spuyten Duyvil and I love it.
That's why there are so many bars...each attractive to different kinds of people.
Glad you liked Bogota...it's a great one!
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 12:12 PM
I think I miss Magnetic Field.
Posted by: trokenmatt at December 14, 2009 10:45 AM
I miss the bartender there, Nicole.
By Kensingtonian on December 14, 2009 12:12 PM
11217, I went there with a couple of PLUSAs and it was gooooood. We all agreed. The only downside was waiting for over an hour to be seated. I'll just make reservations next time.
By vanessa on December 14, 2009 12:17 PM
BoD, why the rolley-eyes to Bklyn Social?
some particular unpleasant memory perhaps?
By WTbound on December 14, 2009 12:19 PM
Barbes!
By tybur6 on December 14, 2009 12:22 PM
Rob... do you want to know how it's *supposed* to be pronounced or how people say it when referring to this bar?
Spuyten Duyvil - I think folks around here say Spayten Dayvil... anyone from the Bronx on here?
Anyway, the 'uy' or 'uij' vowel combination in Dutch is hard to explain. It's sort of like the ou in doubt combined with the ay in day. And you sort have to squeeze your mouth... it's not a vowel sound we have in English. The consonants are basically the same.
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 12:28 PM
I say, Spite-en Die-vil.
By pastoralia on December 14, 2009 12:29 PM
The Gate.
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 12:34 PM
That's how I say it as well, infinite...
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 12:34 PM
Roger that 11217.
By daveinbedstuy on December 14, 2009 12:35 PM
That's correct, jester.
By lesterhead on December 14, 2009 12:46 PM
Smolen?? Seriously? Not back in 2001 when I lived nearby.
By bowl of dicks on December 14, 2009 12:49 PM
my bk top ten:
1 brooklyn inn (30-somethings+ crowd)
2 barcade (.25 cent retro games)
3 franklin park (outdoor garden)
4 cha cha's (on the boardwalk)
5 henry street [st]ale House (fried pickles)
6 moe's (great music)
7 3 jolly pidgeons (to watch the game w oldtimers)
8 Feeny's (3$ guinness & Irish music)
9 Jakewalk (great wine/snack list)
10 The Leif Erikson (darts & 80's jukebox)
By Minard Lafever on December 14, 2009 12:50 PM
really?
I say "spoy-ten die-vil"
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 12:52 PM
bowl of dicks, we missed you at the Bell House holiday gathering.
By bowl of dicks on December 14, 2009 12:55 PM
IJ - I moved out of the nabe last summer...the Bell House is now a b*tch to go to :-( I do miss that place.
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 1:02 PM
Brooklyn Inn is great - I wish they had a better beer selection.
By bowl of dicks on December 14, 2009 1:03 PM
@ Vanessa - I believe bklyn social was the place I was repeatedly told to wait in until "the coast is clear"
*rolls eyes*
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 1:05 PM
I can't believe Excelsior didn't make the list.
By CGar on December 14, 2009 1:07 PM
Montero's is number 2, really? We should have a gathering there since we've been to every other bar on Atlantic Avenue in the Heights.
By vanessa on December 14, 2009 1:13 PM
BoD, you seem to really know your bars - which ones have the most comfortable floors to wake up on?
By bobbyj on December 14, 2009 1:33 PM
If Brooklyn Social is full of douch bags, then I wear the douche bag label with pride. And no, it is not a frat boy bar. for frat boys and meatheads go directly to Angry Wades or PJ Hanleys and drink yourself some Bud Light- Morons.
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 1:54 PM
The term "douche bag" is getting way too played out.
douche nozzle sounds better.
By DitmasSnark on December 14, 2009 2:02 PM
Surely the inclusion of Denny's Steak Pub as a runner-up was a joke.
By hokem on December 14, 2009 2:18 PM
Just what is it about listicles that gets people in such a tizzy?
By DeLepp on December 14, 2009 2:34 PM
c-gar & 11217, her name was frankie. Always enjoyed myself there but I think if 40 people showed up they wouldn't be prepared. Brooklyn Ale House wasn't happy with the plusas one night either.
By infinitejester on December 14, 2009 2:37 PM
I just noticed this article is from the Village Voice. Is that paper relevant in any way at all now?
By 11217 on December 14, 2009 2:41 PM
"Is that paper relevant in any way at all now?"
Negatron.
Haven't looked at it in 5 years.
By Boerum Hill on December 14, 2009 3:11 PM
Agree with a lot of the Top 10 list, but put me in the camp that dislikes Clover Club and all places like it the are characterized by (1) being unfriendly and (2) overpriced. They just are not neighborhood bars.
That plus Clover Hill displaced Johnny's Bootery which was an institution andjust about the only place in this part of Brooklyn where you could get good old fashioned children's shoes.
By bowl of dicks on December 14, 2009 3:11 PM
and if 11217 says so, it must be true.
By troll on December 14, 2009 3:15 PM
Ginger's!!
By KHuebbe on December 14, 2009 3:30 PM
The Tip Top is delightful.
By DitmasSnark on December 14, 2009 3:55 PM
Well, I'm glad to see that Sycamore made the runners-up list at least. They make a fine vodka gimlet, and the backyard is a great fair-weather hangout.
By martis on December 14, 2009 4:09 PM
"For fans of Beligan beers: A friend of mine is a brewmaster for Left Hand in Colorado and he said whenever they screw up a batch of beer they just call it Belgian style."
GuyIcognito - u are, hands down, an idiot. and your imaginary friend at Left Hand probably uses it way too much.
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 4:59 PM
Yeah - bc good belgian ale tastes like screwed up american microbrews. riiiight.
By Snarkypants on December 14, 2009 5:31 PM
I love Tip Top but I'm going to be very sad if I find it filled with people who think Spuyten Duyil is the best bar in Brooklyn next time I'm there.
By lifer on December 14, 2009 7:00 PM
Boerum,
I dont remember if Johnny's Bootery had 2 storefronts, but Rocketship kept the original awning which still says Johnny's Bootery, so the shop started there. I was getting my shoes there when I was a kid
By columbiatch on December 14, 2009 7:01 PM
Mr Biatch and I love Montero's and go there all the time - it's a great chill bar to grab a drink and they allow our dog to hang out there with us. There's really no other place in Brooklyn Heights that isn't douchebag central (like Henry Public and Floyd)
By dirty_hipster on December 14, 2009 9:19 PM
Biatch - not sure if I read your post right, but you think Henry Public and Floyd are douchebag central? Damn - don't venture north or south or brooklyn heights, you'll be horrified.
By bowl of dicks on December 14, 2009 11:06 PM
yes i agree that floyd's is douchebaggery. can't comment on henry public since i have not been.
In that immediate area, my shout out goes to Last Exit.
By slick on December 15, 2009 12:03 AM
1. barcade
2. barcade
3. barcade
4. barcade
5. barcade
6. barcade
7. barcade
8. barcade
9. great lakes
10. barcade
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Montero's? Seriously?