* Mugs Ale House

image c/o Flickr
125 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211
at N. 10th St.
PHONE: 718.384.8494
HOURS: Mon-Fri, 2pm-4am; Sat-Sun, 11am-4am
CARDS: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
GAMES: none
HAPPY HOUR: Daily, 2pm-7pm; $.50 off drafts and well liquors
DIRECTIONS: From Bedford Ave. L - Walk north on Bedford for three blocks. Mugs will be on your right.
MAP: Click Here
SUBWAY: L Trian to Bedford Ave
WEBSITE: www.mugsalehouse.com
CITY SEARCH SAYS: Mug's serves up imported beers and pub-grub plates to an after-work neighborhood crowd. Between the tin ceiling and tile floors, the densely decorated tavern lines its dark wood walls with vintage beer steins and coasters intertwined with string lights. Tap brews include Southampton Double White Ale and other locals, and bites like Williams-burgers are dished out at the bar as well as the date-accommodating back room.
From New York Magazine
If you could somehow transport to North Williamsburg one of those hearty Cheers-like Irish pubs in Boston that attract slumming college kids, you'd have an approximation of this oak-filled tavern and restaurant with arguably the best beer selection in Brooklyn. Dark, spacious, and festooned with, yes, mugs, a light-up American flag, and paraphernalia from seemingly every brewery ever invented, the place just might pass for the headquarters of a labor union. Though not as gloriously blue-collar as the clientele at Turkey's Nest Tavern down the street, the folks lifting big mugs of Weinstephaner Heifeweisen at the bar do seem like the last remnants of Williamsburg's pre-hipster wave; they're novelists and journalists in their late twenties and early thirties, rather than college drop-outs looking to conquer the world with rock-and-roll. (Don't look to the jukebox for anything made after 1992, though Jimi Hendrix, Earth Wind and Fire and one CD of "Music to Drink Beer By" do represent.) Our only worry comes from the anomalous restaurant in the back, serving dishes like which, though tasty, are nevertheless woefully out of sync with Mugs' decor and spirit. If you want to join the resistance to Mugs becoming Williamsburg's first Park-Slopish yuppie hang, just stay out front watching sports, order nothing but beer and nachos.
From NY Times: "The name of this traditional bar and grill derives from the beer steins strung along the top of wall - they range from a simple glass to a monstrous, elaborate German tankard. Though it has a full bar, Mug's is, of course, all about beer, with over 20 varieties on tap for $3 to $5 a pint. Beer posters, old and new, serve as decoration. On a recent Friday night, the place was packed with sports fans in baseball caps craning their necks towards the hockey game on the TV above the bar while the jukebox cranked out classic and contemporary rock from Van Morrison to Pearl Jam. Spartan wooden booths populate the back room, where waitresses bustle with heaping plates of burgers. A blackboard advertises nightly specials (ostrich burger with onion rings anyone?)."



Comments
Posted by: hunter | September 21, 2007 01:17 PM
Posted by: hunter | September 21, 2007 01:17 PM
Posted by: hunter | September 21, 2007 01:17 PM
Mugs is one of the best bars in Brooklyn.
The food is great, the people are nice and the
staff is friendly. John, the bartender on the
weekend is great, you never have to wait for a drink. I highly recommend this place.
Posted by: A Fan | October 4, 2005 08:45 PM