Achilles Heel (c/o Village Voice)

180 West Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
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347.987.3666

Cuisine: Bar snacks
Our Rating: ★★★★ Great
Hours: 8am – 2am • Every Day
Brunch: None
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.
Delivery: None
Website: achillesheelnyc.com

Village Voice says:

Look out the window from your seat at Achilles Heel, the new Greenpoint bar from Andrew Tarlow — whose expanding empire includes Marlow & Sons, Diner and Reynards, among others — and you’ll look straight into the shipyards, where a dock worker might be casually leaning against a brick wall and smoking a cigarette.
Historically, this address served that crowd, but after it went dark forty years ago, it remained vacant until Tarlow inked the deal for it and decided to open a cafe and bar inspired by — and meant to cater to — his neighbors across the way. “When Andrew saw this space a year ago, he fell in love with it,” explains Mike Fadem, a Marlow alum who now manages this spot. “It looked a lot like it does now. He saw it, saw the neighborhood, thought about what this was last time it was an operation, and decided to recreate that from his taste.”

That meant preserving a lot of the original details, like time-worn wood floors and the bar mantle. And it also means the spot will be serving early morning beers if it can lure in workers coming off the night shift. “People are on a different schedule on the docks,” says Fadem. “There are people out early, and it’s unique to have this kind of a place now. Back in the day, bars were open early, and in other places, they sometimes still are. But it’s not that way here anymore. But at our bar, we will serve drinks.”

The crew would also like the spot to serve as a local gathering place for the other folks who’ve moved into this nook of Greenpoint, many of which are used to trekking down to Marlow for their morning coffee fix. “There are a lot of daily customers at Marlow that live on these two blocks that don’t have to go there for their scones now,” notes the manager. That’s because thanks to a delivery service that connects all of the restaurants in Tarlow’s group, the Marlow scones are available behind the counter, as are croissants from Reynards. Those bites pair with the same ambitious coffee program that connects all of the sibling restaurants, too, with George Howell beans serving as the base for cappuccinos, espresso shots and pour-over cups brewed to order. “We have a lot of people who treat Marlow as their neighborhood coffeeshop,” explains Fadem. “So Andrew was definitely interested in opening a cafe.”

While coffee drinks will be available until 11 p.m., the place definitely turns bar-focused sometime in the mid-afternoon, when locals start wandering in for a beer (the well-edited list features drafts from Evil Twin and Pietra and bottles from ‘T Gaverhopke and Firestone) or a cocktail chosen from a classically slanted but perpetually changing short list of seasonally appropriate tipples. Bartender Craig Weinrib explains that many of those, like the Hemingway daiquiri, as well as the back bar are currently a bit rum-centric — “it’s a shipyard bar so it seems appropriate,” he says — but notes the spirits program will continue to develop, and that all bartenders can stir up classics not called out on the list.

And the wine, he says, is a big argument for drinking here, too. “The woman [Lee Campbell] who buys wine for this bar buys wine for the whole company, and she’s one of the most looked-to spokespeople for natural wine in New York. So there’s a heavy focus on her wine program, and it seems like there’s going to be a lot of people here to drink wine.” The list explores crisp white Muscadet, Grand Cru Champagne, Provencal rose, and Burgundy designation Chambolle-Musigny along with a number of more obscure varietals and geographies, which firmly plants the program in serious oenophile territory.

Eventually, says Fadem, the spot will ramp up its food program, offering oysters, meat and cheese plates and other snacks. But there will never be a kitchen, he notes, and the focus is always going to be on the bar.

Bar Akariba

77 1/2 North 6th Street
Brooklyn NY, 11211
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718.388.6160

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Hours: Wed-Sun 6pm-Midnight
Price: $$$
Subway: L to Lorimer St.
Food/Menu: Japanese/Oysters
Booze: Full bar (specialized in sake)
Happy Hour: No
Menu: Click Here
Grub Street says:

Shaul Margulies and Motoko Watanabe, the couple that owns Zenkichi, have converted their Williamsburg izakaya’s backyard into Akariba, a 40-seat lounge specializing in what Margulies calls “the deadly combo of sake and oysters.” Once it opens next Thursday, it’ll feature a seasonally rotating ten-item menu of oysters (everything from Blue Points to Kumamotos), small bites such as grilled toro, and within the next weeks, sashimi prepared by Zenkichi’s chef Tetsuya Akikawa, who honed his sushi skills at Jewel Bako. Desserts will come form Zenkichi.

Most of the dishes (excluding the sashimi) will be priced from $5 to $10, and cocktails made from beer, wine, and sake (which will also rotate seasonally) will cost $8 to $11. We’re told Akariba translates to “the glow of a lantern in the dark,” and as you can see in our slideshow, the interior (capped by a glass ceiling) is every bit as sultry as its sister establishment. Reservations won’t be accepted — just find Zenkichi’s hidden door and Akariba’s is a little bit to your right. Listen for the jazz …

Time Out says

Husband-and-wife restaurateurs Shaul Margulies and Motoko Watanabe have added this izakaya-style bar in the backyard of their Williamsburg Japanese restaurant, Zenkichi. The glass-enclosed patio is outfitted with marble tables, cast-iron lanterns and an abundance of leafy plants. The cocktail list will have a Japanese bent, with hand-chipped ice and concoctions like a lavender lychee-tini, made with pureed lychee and shochu. The selection of 10 to 20 seasonally changing sakes, meanwhile, is meant to be paired with oysters, which are offered raw, grilled or sautéed, along with a limited selection of other small bites.

Alameda

195 Franklin Street at Green Street
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Brooklyn, New York 11222
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347.227.7296

Cuisine: American Bistro, Pub Fare, Small Bites
Our Rating: ★★★★
Cards: All major
Price: Entrees $10-$17, Cocktails $10
Hours: Mon – Fri: 4:00 pm – 2:00 am
Sat – Sun: 11:00 am – 2:00 am
Brunch: Weekends
Booze: Full Bar with fancy cocktails
Subway: G Train to Greenpoint Ave.
Delivery: No
Menu: Click Here
Website: www.alamedabk.com
says:

Eater says:

Evan and Oliver Haslegrave, the brothers behind the Home design company, are opening a new bar and restaurant in Greenpoint called Alameda. Brooklyn Star veterans Nick Padilla and Waine Longwell are also partners in this project. Nick will be the chef and Waine will be in charge of the bar. Alameda will inhabit the corner space that formerly housed The Greenpoint Coffee Shop and The Garden Spot Cafe.

Padilla describes this as “an American Bistro.” The chef tells Eater: “The idea is to provide a set list of raw bar itmes, salads and sandwiches and supplement it with chalkboard specials that are seasonal and frequently changing.” The restaurant will serve Blue Bottle Coffee, and the team hopes to offer dollar oysters during happy hour. Expect a full list of beer, wine, and cocktails.

The Haslegrave brothers designed Paulie Gee’s, The Manhattan Inn, Donna, Goat Town, and Torst, but this is their first time building and running a place of their own.

Anchorred Inn

57 Waterbury Street
(between Meserole St & Scholes St)
Brooklyn, NY 11206
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347.881.9095

Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$
Subway: L Train to Montrose
Hours: Mon–Fri 1pm–4am; Sat, Sun noon–4am
Food and Drink Menu: Click Here (pdf)
Booze: Full bar
Website: www.theanchoredinn.com
NY Post says:

The new watering hole signals comfort after a long day or night for the world-weary rockers and other tattooed, skinny-jeanswearing locals who people the bar, which mashes up a maritime theme with a dive bar vibe.

Co-owners Adrienne Dowd and Carmen Mello dreamed up the nauticaldive fusion while working together as bartenders at The Half King, and opened the doors to their Brooklyn joint in February. A golden mermaid and a wood sign emblazoned with an ornate anchor and the bar’s old-timey logo (which Dowd, who’s an artist, created) mark the entrance. Inside, Mello’s collection of kitschy velvet paintings lines the walls, and true to the bar’s seafaring focus, one depicting a whale and a giant squid in a oceanic death match hangs over the bar, while a vintage deep-sea diving suit suspended from the ceiling hovers nearby. Cushioned red vinyl booths, salvaged from a pizza parlor Dowd frequented in her youth, offer spots to kick back and enjoy the suds and tipples on hand.

On a recent night, the beer selection was ample and reasonably priced enough to meet the needs of those with only a little cash to spare as well as those with money to burn, and happy hour brought a $1 discount for all drafts. Six taps rotate seasonally, and recent drafts included a standard low-priced lager, Yuengling ($4) and craft brews from local breweries, such as Sixpoint’s Brownstone ($6) and Bluepoint’s Toasted Lager ($6), as well as some further afield, including Left Hand Milk Stout ($6) from Colorado. The cans and bottles covered a wide range, from the ever-popular, low-budget drink of the effortlessly cool, Pabst Blue Ribbon in a can ($3), to the bottled microbrew Dreamweaver Wheat ($7) from Tregs Brewery in Pennsylvania.

The Anchored Inn’s cocktail list steered away from the oceangoing theme and into the realm of divey rock ‘n’ roll with a menu of drinks inspired by the local bands that tend to make up the majority of The Anchored Inn’s crowd. The Mutante Supremo ($9), named after the death metal band Mutant Supremacy, was a Tecate Michelada with a shot of chipotleinfused mezcal, and The Bad Dream ($7), created in honor of the grime metal band Bad Dream, mixed stout with Stoli Vanil. Simpler well cocktails go for $6, and several fine liquors, including Woodford Reserve bourbon ($9), Whistlepig Rye whiskey ($10) and Ron Zacapa rum ($9) were available. And cheap shot possibilities abounded. Any canned beer paired with any well shot costs $5, and the ubiquitous pickle back shot, with well whiskey and pickle juice, was also a mere $5.

But despite all its welcoming qualities, The Anchored Inn’s intense noise level sometimes made it hard to relax. On a recent night, the sound of the hardcore band playing at The Acheron next door was so loud that The Anchored Inn’s bartender had to blast the Black Sabbath blaring from the bar’s speakers just to make it audible above the din.

TimeOut says:

Adrienne Dowd and Carmen Mello, longtime bartenders at the Half King, break out on their own with a nautically themed drinkery in Williamsburg. The bar features a golden mermaid bust outside and a hanging Russian metal diving suit indoors, plus 20 black-velvet paintings, including a squid-versus-whale rendering. Tip back one of six draft beers (Left Hand Milk Stout, Sixpoint Sweet Action) or opt for a sipping liquor (Woodford Reserve bourbon, Flor de Cana rum). Overboard boozers can counteract the night’s tippling with salty bar snacks, including nachos, boiled peanuts and an intriguing combo of pickles with whipped pork fat.

c/o NY Mag

20 Skillman Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.218.7272

Cuisine: Comfort food
Our Rating: ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: Sun-Thurs 4pm-2am; Fri-Sat 4pm-5am
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Graham Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
Citysearch says:

On the same stretch of blocks as Galapagos, Northsix and Sweet Water Tavern, Anytime appeases streams of bargoers with its round-the-clock eats. Its small industrial space is painted in white, gray and orange, and holds a takeout counter with a couple of suspended wooden-beam tables. The best thing about the space, though, is skipping it and getting snacks delivered to your door.Grilled sandwiches, soups and toasts (such as smoked mozzarella and roasted peppers) provide the primary sustenance, along with appetizers in the jalapeno popper/buffalo wing family. The eight-ounce burger arrives well-done on a shiny bun–comforting stuff, especially when accompanied by tater tots. Potato leek and scallion soup is green and flavorful, and the balanced fruit yogurt shake satisfies. Anytime’s menu shifts with the seasons, offering chilled soups and sophisticated salads in the summer.

New York Mag says:

Can a late-night restaurant with offerings that run the gamut from low-brow mozzarella sticks to ambitious pan-seared salmon actually be any good? Yes. And happily, this establishment on Williamsburg’s North Side succeeds in being most things to most people. Your image-conscious friends will dig its hipness: banquets swathed in nubby orange upholstery cradle Diesel- and Seven-sheathed behinds on a regular basis. Cash-strapped pals will appreciate the excellent value. After a couple of drinks, even you’ll be pleased with the availability of cheap, greasy tater tots and chicken fingers at post-last call hours. And once you’ve sobered up enough to have your culinary wits about you, try the silky and tangy hummus with a garlicky bite—a point of pride with the Israeli owner.

c/o Brownstoner

45 Richardson Street
Brooklyn NY,11211
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718.599.1645

Cuisine: Brazilian
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $
Hours: Tue-Thurs 5:30pm-12am, Fri 3pm-1am, Sat 10am-1am, Sun 10am-11pm. Brunch Sat-Sun 10am-4pm. Closed Mondays.
Booze: Full bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Williamsburg’s Beco is located in a sort of Williamsburg-Greenpoint netherland, and the owners kept the place a neighborhood secret while getting it off the ground. Rather than a full-blown restaurant like Miss Favela, David Giddings says he and his partners envisioned it as a modest Sao Paolo boteco, where you can laze about while popping made-to-order pao de queijo and sip cocktails made with fresh passion fruit and pressed sugar cane. As Giddings describes it, the decor harks back to the days of Pele, and “doesn’t scream ‘Brazil’ in your face, but it’s more like what a boteco is — a real hangout.” You can hang there during brunch that includes acai and granola, omelettes, bife a cavalo (Brazilians refer to their steak and eggs as “steak on horseback”), and a feijoada that’s prepared over the course of two days by a Carioca chef, Casia Steinberg (Fabiane Lima, the Brazilian owner of Fabiane’s, also consulted on the menu).

(more…)

c/o Grub Street

67 South 6th Street
New York, NY 11211
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718.388.0908

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Menu: Click here
Website: biabargrill.com
Hours: Mon-Sun 5pm-2am
Price: Moderately Prices
Subway: J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Food/Menu: Vietnamese snacks
Booze: Full bar (specialized in Asian beers)
Happy Hour: No
Grub Street says:

Hipsterphernalia meets Southeast Asia at Bia, South Williamsburg’s new Vietnamese restaurant and bar. The owners of recently shuttered East Village dive bar Duke’s have brought their kitschy roadhouse décor with them, and auto-repair signs, tables made from oil drums, and plastic bar stools somehow successfully mix with Buddhas, plants, and paper lanterns. Named after the Vietnamese word for beer, Bia has a solid selection of craft brews and imports (some from Asia), and most of the dozen taps are already flowing. The cocktail list is short and a bit pricey, and the house wine comes from a wooden barrel at the end of the bar.

A full menu with “authentic Vietnamese” fare inspired by owner Duke Quan’s family recipes — think pho, banh mi, and, for summer, a raw-beef salad. The kitchen will hopefully serve daily lunch in the future, but they’l focus on dinner and weekend brunch at first. A wooden roof deck (pictured here) is situated directly under the Williamsburg Bridge, so it doesn’t have much of a view. But the picnic tables, lawn chairs, and wooden fences give it a funky backyard feel

Blackbook Mag says:

Good evening, Vietnam. Duke peeps cross the river, take over raw industrial space in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge. Rooftop bar provides views aplenty. Twin staircases lead to cavernous interior complete with balcony seating. John Wayne photos joined by recycled signs from the last tenant (“Vince’s General Auto Repairs”). Kitchen pumps out traditional grilled meats, rice dishes, and bánh mì (duh). Bar pours craft beers and old-fashioned cocktails, for better sipping under the rooftop umbrellas.

c/o NY Mag

197 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.599.2707

Cuisine: Coffee/Tea/Sandwiches/Wine Bar
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-2am; Sat, Sun 10am-3am*
Booze: Beer and wine
Subway: L to Bedford Ave
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

Evangelos Roumeliotis of Oleput and Sparrow in Queens planned to open a dive bar in Brooklyn before he came across this corner space on Bedford’s main drag, which he knew “had to be a café.” Furnished with mostly found wood pieces like a massive oak mechanic’s desk that now displays wine bottles, and otherwise built from similarly worn, recycled wood by partner Tom Fade, Blackbird feels like an old-world European coffeehouse. Italy’s Danesi espresso spikes cappuccinos and lattes (with soy and skim substitutions nodding to the hood), treats are sophisticated like eggier-than-usual brioche baked by Manhattan’s Tisserie, and dainty nubs of ground walnut and honey melomakarouna cookies from Artopolis bakery in Astoria (all delivered daily). Meats for a small platoon of panini come from the best purveyors in town; jambon is D’artagnan and chorizo, Despaña. Come nightfall, France and Spain are tapped again for a wine list that focuses on small, mostly unrecognizable vintners, so young, squatting writers (and readers) can spoon up the last of their awesome root beer floats and switch to pinot in the evening.

Metromix New York says:

Cafes and wine bars are as rare in Williamsburg as faux-hawks and sidewalks, but combining the two is a bit more interesting. Hipsters hover here mostly during the day, when the European-style hangout (the owners are Greek) serves dark coffees, loose-leaf teas, grilled cheese and pastries on its central wooden communal table. By night, it gets dimmer and the vino flows.

c/o Brooklyn Bowl

61 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.963.3369
(Bowling Alley with food by Blue Ribbon)

Cuisine: American/Southern
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$$
Hours: Monday – Thursday 6pm-2am; Friday 6pm-4am; Saturday 12pm-4am; Sunday 12pm-2am
Family Days are Saturday and Sunday! Noon-6pm is ALL AGES!
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
We say:

A stunning sprawling space, albeit pricey.

The New Yorker says:

We suggest that you eat with your non-bowling hand,” a note on the menu at Brooklyn Bowl states, in a nod, presumably, to both aim and hygiene, if not to the traditional carelessness of ten-frame dining. This converted warehouse at the northern edge of Williamsburg does triple duty as a bowling alley, a music hall, and a grub house. Its kingpin, Peter Shapiro, the former owner of the bygone jam-bandy club Wetlands, has dreamed up an emporium that combines hedonistic excess (deep-end leather couches, spiked milkshakes, brisket, live music) with eco-consciousness (reclaimed-cork floors, no bottled beer, live music). For the eats, he brought in the Bromberg brothers, the creators of Blue Ribbon, to draw up a rebuke to every limpid water dog and fossilized onion ring you’ve ever downed, then regretted, at Wherever Lanes. They tinkered with comfort-food classics, secure in the knowledge that no bowler will ever crave endive. It’s a menu that begs over-ordering, as well as this remark from your waiter, regarding the procedure for delivering the food: “You guys want it as it fits?” “Fits where?” is one reply; the table is bigger than the stomach.

Still, all you have to do, while stuffed, is take a few steps forward and drop a twelve-pound ball on the floor, so there’s no sin in downing the carefully considered greaseballs the Blue Ribbon boys sling your way. Their fried chicken, dipped in matzoh batter, seasoned with Cajun spices, and accompanied by white bread and honey, has Earl Anthony game. The calamari, commingled with fried jalapeño, is the Dick Weber of fried squid. The San Gennaro, loaded with finely ground Italian sausage, is the Johnny Petraglia of French-bread pizzas: crisp outside, fluffy inside, it has all of the virtue, and none of the vice, of Stouffer’s. There are a few gutter balls; some might find the mac and cheese too creamy and the “Really” Sloppy Joe really actually too sweet. But the score sheet shows more X’s than —’s.

On a recent evening, the lanes were busy but not loud; the pins hang on strings, which helps muffle the din. Giant video screens showed montages from raunchy old B-movies like “The Student Nurses” and “Caged Heat.” Around eleven, the Roots took the stage, the dance floor filled up, and a waiter came by with Nutella-bourbon shakes, a convergence that felt like nailing a spare on a four-ten split. (Open weekdays for dinner and weekends for lunch and dinner. Entrées $9-$19.)

c/o The Downtown Diaries

188 Grand St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.218.7776

Cuisine: Spanish/Tapas
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $$$
Hours: Mon-Fri 5pm-5am; Sat-Sun 11am-4am
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford Avenue
Delivery: No
Citysearch says:

Out of nowhere, one of the most beautiful restaurants in Williamsburg. Quietly under construction for more than a year, this Catalonian tapas spot seems to have been born fully mature, with weathered wood plank walls, double-height rusted iron ceilings and industrial light fixtures putting it on par with Dressler and Zenkichi in Williamsburg’s grown-and-sexy division. Despite its stunner status, Cadaques is a casual tapas spot in true Spanish style, eschewing the usual stateside small-plates scheme ($9 for a glass of wine, $12 for a saucer-sized snack–gracias, idiota!) for a menu that gives you a couple of tasty plates and a glass of wine to go with each for about $30, with tip. The early favorite is pulpo en su tinta (octopus served with squid ink, fig and tomato confit–after a 12-hour slow-cook, the octopus feels like a tender scallop) though specials like the foie gras a la plancha with peaches, figs and port wine-cinnamon reduction are hard to resist. Oh, and if you have any interest in fat, hairy Hungarian pigs, Cadaques is one of the only restaurants in New York that has cured hocks of mangalica, the almost mythical, sheepish hog prized for its fat-marbled flesh.

Metromix says:

Williamsburg diners have yet another option on the restaurant-clogged area surrounding Grand Street and Bedford Avenue: Cadaques, an airy Spanish tapas spot with shareable menu of classic plates like stuffed piquillo peppers ($9) and Serrano ham croquettes ($7), plus newfangled twists like churros with sea salted chocolate and raspberry-rosemary jam ($7). Between a kitchen that’s open until 2 a.m. on weekends (the bar, which is working on a signature Spanish-style cocktail, stays open later) and the weekly flamenco band, Cadaques looks to be hopping until the wee hours. Not a night owl? No worries—they’re also open for brunch on the weekends.