Best Bars

Hey,

I just moved to Clinton Hill from Williamsburg/Greenpoint. What are everyone's favorite hangouts? I'm looking for bar recommendations that span from dives to lounges to anything else.

Depending on where you live in Clinton Hill you have the following choices:

Rope on Myrtle
Sputnik on Taffe
BKNY On Fulton
Moe's over in Ft. Greene on Lafayette

There's a dive bar on DeKalb too next to Tillie's called Alias/Alibi?

I personally like Rope - it's closer to me so it's more my local and the people in there are a diverse and chill.

Hope this helps.

(And quit stealing my name idea. )

Rope is probably the best all-around bar, it's a little more docile than the Alibi, which can get rowdy between the pratt kids and the regulars (usually in a good way). the guys who run Sputnik have always been super nice to me but the bar itself is set up like a lounge. they invariably play really loud DJ music, which kind of defeats the purpose of draping yourself across a couch, when you have to lean over to hear what anyone is syaing.

Alibi and Rope have back yards, which are really nice to hang out in when it's nice out like it has been recently.

There's also Reign Lounge but it caters to a certain crowd.

http://www.reignlounge.com/

what do you mean "caters to a certain crowd"? what kind of crowd is that?

Reign seems to cater to the young black urban crowd.

I've gone by it late at night and have noticed the SUVs, the 4 wheelers, etc.

Not a bar for everyone and a bar that definitely has it's own scene. (IMHO)

GRAND 275 (the name hints at the address), between Greene and Lafayette. It has been open for a couple of years, and is very nice. Very Clinton Hill diverse crowd in all aspects with no attitude. People there are great, and I almost always end up meeting someone new and having great conversations.

Reign is ghetto. Quite a bit of police activity connected to that place.

If you like wines, give Stonehome on Lafayette and So Portland a try. It's tiny but warm and cozy. Wine is reasonably priced. I love it because they have a huge selection of sweet white wines, which is important to a non-red drinker.

Great cheese/meat plate selections and bartenders know their flights. I think they get their cakes from the Cakeman Raven (up the street on Fulton), so that's always a plus. Also, it has a great outdoor garden that insulates you from the city hubbub during the summer.

Anonymous wrote: Reign is ghetto. Quite a bit of police activity connected to that place.

'guest', do us a favor and sign in before call something 'ghetto'

thanks.

BrooklynJay you are funny...so aren't whites "a certain crowd" also..lol

thalia wrote: BrooklynJay you are funny...so aren't whites "a certain crowd" also..lol

I don't know why, but I assumed he meant it was a lesbian bar. :?

actually, I'm going to apologize because i've change my view of reign.

i managed to get a tour of the insides when they were closed. (they have this "off and on" happy hour on friday nights and it was "off" when we visited but the manager was nice enough to let us look around) it's really nice inside.

reigns got two floors with the second floor have a small dance floor and two stripper poles! (the highlight of the evening)

i guess there's a lot of music promoters who throw a lot of parties there and that's what brings in the "URBAN" crowd (urban is the pc term) but it's usually on a sat. night.

the manager seemed really into the neighborhood and is trying to make it more open to people who live in the area.

i'm hoping to go back when the happy hour is 'on' and see what it's like.

(i'm not sure but i do think they have a lesbian night. monday? tuesday? i'll double check)

Check out Luz on Vanderbilt & Myrtle - Antonio (bartender) makes great drinks!!

BTW, Reign caters only to an urban crowd. I have been there several times and though I can appreciate an urban crowd, I prefer when it consists of urban professionals because it creates a different vibe.

There is Five Spot. I like the food, and they have a nice space and live music.

http://www.fivespotsoulfood.com/

I haven't been to Five Spot in a quick second but they often have good live music there as well (and depending on what time you go, no or limited cover). The drinks were just ok but the jazz group I saw a while back was great.

If anyone knows of bars closer to Franklin/Bedford, please post! Thx.

Reign is cool, I don't go because there's a cover usually, the comments about police activity there are completely unfounded. Everyone is forgetting Franks Cocktail Lounge which is possibly the best bar around.

chefsgirl06 wrote: If you like wines, give Stonehome on Lafayette and So Portland a try. It's tiny but warm and cozy. Wine is reasonably priced. I love it because they have a huge selection of sweet white wines, which is important to a non-red drinker.

Great cheese/meat plate selections and bartenders know their flights. Also, it has a great outdoor garden that insulates you from the city hubbub during the summer.

Thanks for this, Chef's Girl...I walk by that place all the time and have always wondered about it, and I'm a retired 5-star chef from New Orleans, so it sounds like a good stop for me.

I also LOVE the Alibi, which is more or less in my nabe, or on my way home, anyway. Great locals, great pool leagues, great jukebox, a very nice patio that's open until midnight, and absolutely NO ATTITUDE from the barkeeps or most of the folks. Pratt folks are mostly there on Thursday nights, if you want to avoid any kind of college crowd, but most nights they are distinctly not out in force. No, the Alibi is what it is, a great, comfortable, totally dressed-down local watering hole, which is just what the folks that hang there need it to be.

I also have to put in a vote for Frank's on Fulton...have yet to spend a night in there, but it sure does look like your classic neighborhood cocktail lounge, with a nice crowd of Black folks and white folks just chillin' and enjoying each other's company.

Sputnik is also very nice as well, early in the evenings. Unfortunately, my friend who lived over there moved to SF, so I have less reason to go up there these days, but it is very comfortable, the owners are nice folks, and they have a nice selection of wines by the glass as well.

I would also like to note Restaurant Grand Dakar, on Grand St. off of Lafayette, roughly midway between the Classon Ave. and Clinton/Washington stops on the G-train...French-speaking Gambian Pierre owns the place, and while its really a restaurant more than a bar, there's a small, 6 or 8 seat bar in the front room, and the atmosphere is typically Big Sky, Huge Planet African, meaning that Time has a way of slowing down and dropping off when you are with Africans, and, as trumpeter Woody Shaw said, its "You, the Night, and the Music," though in Grand Dakar's case, its also "You, the Night, the Food, and the Music."

A very nice authentic African menu with $7 apps and $11 & $12 entrees, fresh fish that are not common throughout NYC, and more than the usual tagines and such. The menu contains some really inventive and tasty African creations.

Bon Nuit, and enjoy!

sorry, that was me that put up that last post, new user, forgot to log in properly.


-at

Another thing about Rope -- they have a monthly trivia night, with various prizes (ranging from cash, to a bar tab, to a free round of drinks). It's usually the first Tuesday of the month.

Has anyone been to the Navy Yard Cocktail Lounge at Washington and Flushing? It looks like it would have either a charming dive quality or a you're-gonna-get-cut quality. I'm afraid to go without reassurance that I won't have my kidneys stolen or something.

Dont Forget Outpost on Fulton St between Grand & Classon Aves. They have Dollar Beers on Mondays.

Anonymous wrote: I also LOVE the Alibi, which is more or less in my nabe, or on my way home, anyway. Great locals, great pool leagues, great jukebox, a very nice patio that's open until midnight, and absolutely NO ATTITUDE from the barkeeps or most of the folks. Pratt folks are mostly there on Thursday nights, if you want to avoid any kind of college crowd, but most nights they are distinctly not out in force. No, the Alibi is what it is, a great, comfortable, totally dressed-down local watering hole, which is just what the folks that hang there need it to be.

Hee - I was chatting with someone who recommended Alibi to me, and based on what he said about the jukebox alone I wanted to check it out. It sounds perfect.

jbran wrote: Has anyone been to the Navy Yard Cocktail Lounge at Washington and Flushing? It looks like it would have either a charming dive quality or a you're-gonna-get-cut quality. I'm afraid to go without reassurance that I won't have my kidneys stolen or something.

I totally get the feeling it's the latter. If anyone goes there and survives, let me know!

Anyone have any idea what has happened to Cellars on Vanderbilt and DeKalb. I've walked by it a few times over the course of the past few months and it's always closed. What gives?

someone said navy yard cocktai llounge is a strip club?!

http://ltjbukem.blogspot.com/2006/12/happy-new-year-wishes.html#comments

I'm pretty sure Cellars is closed for good, or at least indefinitely.

I'm psyched that the space where Liquors used to be finally has a "for inquiries call" sign up in the window! Someone better grab that place.

While it is new and not really my first bar of choice, Mullane's (Lafayette & S. Elliott) is decent and has good beers on tap. No one has mentioned the bar at June (Dekalb & Clermont) which is decent as well. It's good late night but there are a few black people there and I know there are a few people on here that are leery of the "urban" crowd so be careful!

BKgal... What is "urban" anyway? This is New York City... Everything is urban. Just say what you mean please... The PC talk is just annoying for anyone with half a brain. If the hip hop, bling, club scene is not for you that's fine. It's not for me some nights and I would qualify as "urban" by the definition given earlier.

Carlton, I love the screen name, but where's the avatar? Find a photo!

Hee - I was chatting with someone who recommended Alibi to me, and based on what he said about the jukebox alone I wanted to check it out. It sounds perfect.

the jukebox is a fraud now. the alibi was good back in the day before they sold out and got that computer box that replaced what used to be one of the best jukeboxes in brooklyn. i was there the other night, and they were playing stereolab, who i love, love LOVE... but i don't go to the alibi to hear a track off of aluminum tunes that i can barely hear that someone decided to pay for via satellite or however those things work. i wish that they'd never gotten rid of their original box:(

i will always heart the alibi though--as i realize that things do change. *sigh*

Subject: "The Alibi" is cool

The "Alibi" is a VERY COOL neighborhood bar!!!!! Nice and laid back....went there with some friends on New Year's eve. Good crowd and good staff...Nice neighborhood bar.