Bar Akariba

77 1/2 North 6th Street
Brooklyn NY, 11211
view map
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.

Beloved (image c/o NYMag)

674 Manhattan Ave.,
Greenpoint, New York, NY 11222
view map
718.486.9222

Our Rating: ★★★
Cards: All Major
Reservations: Yes
Hours: G at Nassau Ave.
Booze: Full bar
Subway: G to Nassau
Drinks Menu: Click Here
Website: Click Here
NY Mag says:

Tucked away on Manhattan Avenue just up the street from Five Leaves, the 900-square-foot establishment (formerly Stones Tavern) will provide twelve craft beers, including $4 Narragansett Lager. The cocktail menu — designed by Heather Ash, head bartender from Allswell in Willamsburg and Rene Hidalgo, bartender from Lantern’s Keep — features six drinks, including the Storm Warning (Smith & Cross, Cynar, ginger, lime, club soda, Peychaud’s Bitters). Later this summer, Sreekumar and his co-owner Aaron Manheim will nearly double the size of the nightspot by opening their 800-square-foot backyard.

Berry Park

4 Berry St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.782.2829

Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Hours: Mon-Thurs 5pm-2am; Fri 4pm-4am; Sat 12pm-4am; Sun 12pm-2am
Subway: L to Bedford Ave., G to Nassau Ave.
Food/Menu: Click Here
Booze: Full Bar
Happy Hour: Thu, 5pm-9pm; Win a coin flip with the bartender and get your drink for free.
Time Out New York says:

Williamsburg welcomes its latest beer hall, a bi-level behemoth with a 3,500-square-foot ground floor and a roof deck almost as large. Brooklyn boosters may be disappointed to find that the 15 taps are dedicated to imports (mostly German and Belgian drafts). Other amenities that might make up for it: a 13-foot-wide screen dedicated to soccer, Manhattan (and McCarren Park) views and a forthcoming beer-friendly food menu.

Metromix says:

The sharp-looking bi-level beer bar and beer garden provides a much-needed alfresco (and unfresco? how do you say indoors in Italian?) drinking cavern for beer-loving Williamsburgers. The downstairs section houses a smattering of picnic tables, a stage and a bar stocked with European brews, while the spacious rooftop garden offers umbrella-ed tables and benches, as well as a secondary bar (also umbrella-ed), providing lovely views of Bedford Park and the city. Maybe start with a round on the roof before heading to The Gutter for gaming?

c/o Grub Street

67 South 6th Street
New York, NY 11211
view map
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.

Boulevard Tavern

579 Meeker Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11222
view map
718.389.3252

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Hours: Mon 6pm-4am; Tue-Sun 3pm-4am
Subway: G to Nassau Ave.
Food/Menu: Bar Snacks
Booze: Full Bar
Happy Hour: Daily, 4pm-9pm; $4 draft and well drinks
NY Mag says:

Despite the fresh paint and free wi-fi, this pub is in truth a Greenpoint relic. Opened in 1928, the bar weathered most of the last century as J & D’s before giving up the ghosts (more than one owner has died on the premises) just after the new millennium. A few years later, the owners of East Village bohemian bar Raven pried off the boards to find a diamond in the rough: To the original high tin ceilings and extra-long, dark wood bar, they’ve added high-backed wooden booths, a pool table, a jukebox and a majestic 12-beer tap that makes it clear that—neon signs and reasonable prices notwithstanding—this is not a dive. When rock bands aren’t throwing after-parties, bemused retirees who still call the joint by its former name make neighborly conversation with the latest 24-year-old graphic designer who thinks he knows better. The bar’s owner, Harold David Kramer, is himself a slice of NYC history, since he’s the grandson of the owners of the Thunderbolt, the beloved, vine-covered Coney Island rollercoaster that was torn down in 2000.

Metromix says:

A great neighborhood bar, especially during the summer months, when the friendly folks at Boulevard fire up the grill in their backyard (every Friday through Monday) and cook burgers and dogs, which go well with their cheap drinks.

Burnside

506 Grand St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
347.889.7793

Bushwick Country Club

618 Grand St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.388.2114

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Hours: Mon-Fri 5pm-4am; Sat-Sun 4pm-4am
Subway: L Train to Lorimer St.
Food/Menu: No food available
Booze: Full bar
Happy Hour: Daily until 8pm buy one, get one free on pitchers. Pitchers of beer, from PBR to Red Tail, run $15 to $17.
We say:

A beautiful addition to the new Grand Avenue bar scene. The restored oak bar will make you feel like you should wear a smoking jacket. The tiny makeshift miniature golf course in the backyard will make you wish you had worn your Seersucker. Several beers are on tap and a full liquor bar is available. Definitely worth a visit.

Citysearch says:

Bushwick Country Club ups the ante on Grand Street’s burgeoning bar scene. A mellow neighborhood crowd mixes in the kitschy bar, with shabby chandeliers, a photo booth and ironically hip action figures and pop culture lunchboxes. In the back yard, pickup games of mini-golf are played for free on a DIY course, with obstacles such as a windmill made of flattened PBR cans and a rudimentary hobo mannequin. BCC carries a range of lowbrow and high-quality beers, wines, bourbons and tequilas guaranteed to improve the putt. Try Delirium: a full-bodied Belgian beer with nine percent alcohol by volume, available for only $6, a relative bargain. Members of the Country Club get that fuzzy feeling of fitting in, with additional perks such as special discounts. The jukebox keeps it all going with everything from Men Without Hats to the Descendants.

c/o NY Mag

264 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.387.9617

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Hours: Daily, 2pm-4am
Subway: L to Bedford Ave or Lorimer St., J,M,Z to Marcy Ave.
Food/Menu: No food available
Booze: Full bar
Happy Hour: Daily, 2pm-8pm; $2 off liquor, wine and draft beer
NY Mag says:

At his day job as a sculptor, owner John Clement renders sinuous shapes in rough industrial materials, but the design touches in his railroad barroom are non-ostentatious: Just a few antlers and antique beer cans adorn the slate-grey walls. A possibly overly generous happy hour special encourages drinkers to be serious about their craft, which they practice at the sidewalk seats during the summer, at the people-watching-perfect window perches, or at the bar where unharried attendants custom cater drinks such as a peanut-butter and jelly shot (Stoli raspberry and Frangelico) and dole out beers from the esoteric and often-changing varieties on tap. Bargain-hunters choose sides between two long-running specials: The Patriot is a PBR can and a shot of Jim Beam while the Federale pairs Tecate with a Sauza shot.

Citysearch says:

Williamsburg has long been approaching its nightlife saturation point, but among its old pubs, sexy lounges and factory performance spaces, one type of bar was always missing: the handsome cocktail joint. Compact little Clem’s fills the niche and looks spruce with a copper-painted, pressed-tin ceiling, polished bar and corner picture windows. The room has yet to pull in a large following, but even a scattering of couples brings it alive. Cocktail standards (including a “Southside” Car) mix with house novelties such as the Yellow Boxer–smooth tequila brightened with Galliano, Rose’s lime juice, sugar and soda–and the Straight Story, which softens rye whiskey with sweet vermouth and bitters. The selection of eight beers on tap also offers surprises: the hearty Blue Point from Long Island and the subtle, lemon-wedged Weihenstephan (est. 1040 A.D.). The solid rock-and-roll bartender will let you sample a brew and gallantly tear open your bag of Utz Party Mix before serving.

Crown Victoria

60 S 2nd St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
917.719.6072

Cy Lounge

216 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
view map
718.384.0100

Rating: ★
Cards: Cash Only
Hours: Mon-Thu 4pm-4am; Fri-Sun, 2pm-4am
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Food/Menu: No food available
Booze: Full bar
Happy Hour: Daily 2pm-9pm: $2 PBRs; $5 shot-and-beer specials; $5 margaritas; varying other drink specials
NY Mag says:

Like a homesteader who finally landed a house on Main Street, the owner of Williamsburg’s almost impossibly out-of-the way dive Rockstar Bar has set up a second joint just two blocks from the Bedford Avenue subway stop. Given the prime location, you’d think that this cozy, red-and-brown candy-striped room would teem with the young and fashionable. But Cyn, like its predecessor Rain Lounge, is a chasm in the middle of the swirling hipness that surrounds. Aside from the replacement of the former tenant’s hip-hop soundtrack with an internet jukebox and DJ’s spinning rock, little has changed. Amidst the dim red lighting and the modest crowds, you come here not because you want to join the see-and-be-seen carnival outside, but because you want to escape it with a $2 Pabst in the spacious back garden.

Shecky’s says:

It’s not easy being the new kid on the block, but then again, if the new kid wore striped pants in a sea of plaid, it might be more difficult to fit in. Cyn Lounge, formerly Rain Lounge and now owned by the same guy who owns Rock Star Bar under the Billyburg Bridge, isn’t as cool as its über-trendy Bedford neighbors, but there is charm in going against the grain. Gone is the hip-hop image, or anything with the word hip, really. Inside, there’s a DJ spinning in the middle of a low-key, drama-free crowd. During happy hour (2pm-9pm), grab a $2 PBR or $5 margarita, pull up a plastic lawn chair and head for the spacious back patio, where keeping it “real” means snuggling under red paper lanterns.