c/o Thrillist

594 Union Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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347.529.4906

Cuisine: American Nouveau
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: Fairly Expensive
Hours: Daily 5pm-2am
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Lorimer St.
Delivery: No
Menu: Click Here
Time Out New York says:

Josh Cohen and Blair Papagni—the husband-and-wife team behind Anella, Calyer and Saint Vitus—expand their North Brooklyn holdings with this fifth venue. Teak Danish modern tables and upholstered teal banquettes decorate the 100-seat eatery, which also doubles as a late-night DJ lounge. In the evening, diners can order off the eclectic New American menu featuring raw-bar platters and dishes like baby artichokes with picholine olives and bottarga, tripe mole poblano with cracklings, and a BBQ black bass with cherry-tomato jam. Later at night, local DJs, like No Ordinary Monkey, take over decks, spinning a mix of roots, reggae, house and disco.

Thrillist says:

As you know from virtually every chips commercial ever, if your party spread sucks, your guests will harshly ditch you for whichever of your otherwise pathetic neighbors was thoughtful enough to stock Bugles. For a hard-partying place with optimal eats, get to The Bellwether, soft-opening this weekend, aiming to get hard on the 14th.

From the team behind Anella and Saint Vitus, Bellwether is aiming to be part restaurant, part successor to McCarren Park Pool Parties, a dual mission manifested in a “big, nice bar” that plays host to both iced bivalves and a DJ station (they feel compelled to tell you that the DJs will be clothed, but there’ll surely be oyster wardrobe malfunctions). Other locally purveyed nosh hits on NY’s various cultural flavors, and stretches from crackling-sided tripe mole poblano, to BBQ’d, cherry tomato-jammed black bass, a far more manageable meal than the white Baas’ 312lbs. Assisted by a booming back room, bashes kick off this weekend with Sat’s friends/family starring No Ordinary Monkey — whose promo materials involving sharks, rainbows, asses, and other asses make regular monkeys look even less cool — and Sun’s open Save Us Williamsburg shindig, the first of a bi-monthly which this time’ll feature Ron Like Hell & Ryan Smith’s mellow dinner tunes, followed by dancing and “Balearic Sunday jams”.

You’ll get fueled by “natural wines”, micro- and “uniquely brewed” suds, and the Sierra Nevada Righteous Rye/Dickel house boilermaker, because if anybody knows how to lay out an effective spread, it’s… Joe Tiller!

Bembe

81 South 6th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.387.5389

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Hours: Mon-Thu 7:30pm-4am; Fri-Sun 7pm-4am
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Food/Menu: No food available
Booze: Full Bar
Happy Hour: None
NY Mag says:

Alongside the Williamsburg Bridge, Bembe is a world apart from its concrete, industrial environs. Inside, the bi-level lounge feels more like Miami or a steamy, fun-loving Latin American hotspot, with a tropical drinks menu—mojitos, rum punch, a tasty vodka concoction marinated in and served from an actual watermelon—and an airy, island-like décor of exposed brick and blonde wood. (The slightly exotic, accented bartenders, both male and female, lend another degree of authenticity.) But more than anything else, it’s the sexy, ethnically-diverse crowd dancing (some expertly, some not) to vibrant Latin music, spun by a DJ but sometimes accompanied by live drummers, that really makes you feel like you’re on vacation. Be warned: These booty shakers move with an enthusiasm and determination—sans attitude—that’s contagious.

The Village Voice says:

A refreshing break from the lily-white Williamsburg hipster scene, this cozy brick-walled lounge is a relaxing place to enjoy sweet island-flavored drinks early in the evening. But Bembe heats up as the night goes on, with DJs spinning multicultural beats, often accompanied by hand percussionists as the sexiest people you’ll ever see rub up against each other.

c/o Blackout

916 Manhattan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
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718.383.0254

Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Hours: Mon-Fri, 4pm-4am; Sat-Sun, 2pm-4am
Subway: G to Greenpoint Avenue
Food/Menu: None
Booze: Full bar
Happy Hour: Mon-Fri, 4pm-8pm; $3 well, $2 off drafts; Mon, Sun, 11pm-2am; $3 well, $2 off drafts; Tue, 4pm-4am; two-for-one well drinks and select beers all day
NY Mag says:

Only in Greenpoint could you find the fashionista scene located next to the Polish meat store. Created by the same crew who masterminded the hipster-chic boutique chain Oak, the space has successfully lured Manhattan scenesters out to Greenpoint, but on typical nights you’ll find a smattering of locals. The interior lives up to the name—black mirrored tables, black leather banquettes, pretty boy bartenders in black tees, and a tin roof painted … yeah, you get it. The bar is long enough to avoid drunken encounters with struggling goth models, and a sizeable back garden offers an escape from the deep chasm of blackness within. There’s a decent beer selection, from Radeberger to Lagunitas IPA, and a Meatpacking-esque rotating cocktail list—though beware the model/bartenders who have little to no experience mixing a drink.

Paper Mag says:

It’s that time of year again: When the all-knowing fashion gods take to the runways to remind us that black is always the new black. So what better way for mere mortals to celebrate this week of fashion shows and parties we can’t get into than at Greenpoint’s swankily subtle new bar Blackout. This latest addition to the nabe comes courtesy of the owners of avant-boutique chain Oak. With black mirrored tables reflecting the ornate black painted tin ceiling as you sit on a black leather banquette, nowhere else is it more clear that fashion’s staple non-color is here to stay. Milky art deco lamps hanging above the lacquered bar, funereal white flowers, and the flicker of candlelight provide the only contrast in this bar awash in black. As can be expected, the clientle tend toward the head-to-toe look as well. While even those stylistas probably experience some wardrobe transition pains between summer and fall, Blackout’s cocktail list helps you make a smooth leap between seasons with a two drink combo: the refreshingly light Cucumber Vine (cucumber-infused vodka, muddled cucumber, lime; $9) followed by the leaves-crackling-under-your-feet taste of the Orchard (Appleton rum, apple juice, Pimm’s; $8). And the generous happy hour (5-8 p.m.) with $3 well drinks, $4 pints of Gaffel, and $3 bottles of Sierra Nevada will help you save those pennies for the season’s latest look.

image c/o BrooklynVegan
ADDRESS: 1089 Broadway, Williamsburg Brooklyn
CALENDAR: Click Here
MAP: Click Here
SUBWAY: JMZ to Myrtle
WEBSITE: www.chiefbodega.com/
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/bodegabk
WE SAY: New bars and venues open constantly in this neighborhood–it almost feels like the community board consists of a solitary robot with a giant rubber “Approved” stamp for liquor license applications. To which I say “Huzzah!” because papa needs his sweet, sweet booze. Anyway, today we take a look at a new music venue in Bushwick called Bodega (1089 Broadway), which is run by those hip souls over at Chiefmag. The space holds 300 people and used to be an actual bodega–one which used to sell crack I am told, which goes great with beef patties and Boar’s Head turkey sandwiches. Most bands they host are of the Todd P variety, including Japanther, The Death Set, Ninjasonik, etc. Shows are usually in the $5-$6 range, perfect for the club’s young, eight-people-to-a-loft crowd. [review by Keith Wagstaff]

c/o Brooklyn Bowl

61 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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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
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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.

Club Europa

98 Meserole Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
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718.383.5723

Rating: ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Hours: Daily, 8pm-4am
Subway: G Train to Greenpoint Ave.
Food/Menu: No food available
Booze: Full bar
Happy Hour: None
NY Mag says:

Club Europa’s unassuming exterior–wood signage, semi-seedy sidestreet location–belies the nonstop, no-holds-barred, Euro-disco fantasy within. (Yes, there’s a smoke machine involved.) The crème de la crème of Greenpoint’s young, thriving Polish population packs the enormous dance floor amidst elaborately choreographed lightshows, neon faux-stained glass windows, and gilt and red velvet everything. Hilton-twin-lookalike cocktail waitresses shimmy to the beat, toting translucent trays full of vodka drinks and bottles of Zywiec. Though the language barrier impedes conversation (not to mention drink orders) for English-only strays, Europa’s unique ambiance allows you to skip the velvet rope of Manhattan clubland as you catch an Eastern European case of dance fever.

Metromix says:

Long-time Polish haunt just off the main drag of Greenpoint’s Manhattan Avenue, Club Europa, like neighboring Warsaw, offers a mix of old-warm charm with oddball musical bookings—from Jersey hardcore to Eurotrash (and proud of it) DJ nights. That means skin-hugging ribbed tees are never optional.

CoCo66

66 Greenpoint Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
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718.389.7392

Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Hours: Daily, 4pm-4am
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.
Food/Menu: No food available
Booze: Full bar
Happy Hour: Daily 4pm-8pm: $3 draft beer and well drinks
Mon-Wed, & Sun, Midnight-2am: $3 draft beer and well drinks
NY Mag says:

Elements of this stylish Greenpoint bar’s former incarnation as a wood shop are still evident: Old window frames now line the rugged pressed-tin walls and the ceiling beams are used as benches. The industrial double doors, concrete floor, and raised loading dock entrance were left untouched by the co-owner, who uses the high-end chocolate in martinis such as the spicy Screaming Mozart, a combination of chili-infused vodka and hot cocoa. In the front room, after-work regulars line the chic metal bar that glows with red candles or gather around one of the polished black zinc tables lit up with embedded light strips. The best seat in the house is a table behind the DJ booth—they spin every Friday and Saturday—that’s warmed by a fake fireplace and watched over by a lone piece of kitsch, a porcelain good luck cat. The atmospheric back room provides more seating between turns at the dart board or at the pool table that basks under an enormous and ornate round skylight

Citysearch says:

Standing out from the neighborhood’s pubbier joints, this industrial bar boasts a construction of completely recovered materials. The zinc bar, skylights, and walls of distressed white pressed-tin help ground the front and back rooms in historical detail, while the dark wood banquettes and inset birch panels add warmth. The group-ready hangout attracts a spectrum of patrons, though Williamsburg’s young Greenpoint neighbors are scouting the territory.
The DJ’s musical choices can be a bit haphazardly mixed–but the bar pays close attention to drinks, muddling ice and mint for a tall and citrusy mojito, artfully serving a duotone White Russian, and nailing down each detail for a fresh lime margarita. Chocolates from next door’s Brooklyn Chocolate & Cocoa Co. accompany wines and armagnacs, and infuse cocktails as well. In back, the pool table sees some action and a dart board is ready and waiting.

c/o Cubana Socíal

70 N 6th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.782.3334

Cuisine: Cuban
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Price: $$$
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-2pm, 6pm-2am, Sat 9am-3pm, 6pm-4am; Sun 9am-3pm
Cards: All Major
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
Metromix says:

Remember the days when you could hop on a Cuban Airlines jet from Miami to Havana, pal around with Hemingway and Brando at the Tropicana, and be Stateside for breakfast? Neither do we. But Christina Bouza and partner Paul Tamburro are bringing a taste of mid-century Cuban arts and nightlife to New York via a refurbished industrial space in Williamsburg. “If you took an old cigar factory and turned it into a social club, that’s what it looks like,” says Bouza. Which means high ceilings, brick columns and an1840s general-store counter given new life as a bar. Cubana Social’s menu is “traditional Cuban with a modern twist,” Bouza explains, highlighted by the signature house Cubano Sandwich (roast pork, prosciutto cotto, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard) plus other affordable snacks like empanadas and platanos. Cocktails (Cuba Libre, Celia Cruz) pay homage to another Hemingway haunt, Sloppy Joe’s in Havana, while live music rounds out the entertainment.

NY Mag says:

Public Assembly manager Christina Bouza has tapped into her Cuban heritage and turned an old building-supply shop next to the performance space into a slice of fifties Havana. Bouza says the concept is “Havana meets Brooklyn”; she and her partner, Paul Tamburro,aim to feed hungry concertgoers (Music Hall of Williamsburg is also next door) with Cuban nibbles running from $3 to $9 (Jose Soto of Baba had a hand in the menu below). The cocktails (including a Cuba libre, Hemingway daiquiri, and the restaurant’s special mojito) will be priced between $8 and $10, while Daniel Kim, formerly of Café Grumpy, runs a coffee bar serving Intelligentsia.

Death By Audio

49 S 2nd St
Brooklyn, NY 1122
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No Phone

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Hours: Vary
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Food/Menu: No food available
Booze: Beer and Wine
Happy Hour: None
Calendar: www.myspace.com/deathbyaudioshows
NY Mag says:

Out of the tradition of DIY basement shows and illegal loft parties comes Death By Audio, a utilitarian two-room hall neighboring the Diamond Sugar Refinery on a low-traffic, industrial block in Williamsburg. Community performance spaces pop up (and disappear) constantly, and Death By Audio, a recording studio and gear factory by day, feels barely more established since the setup is deliberately minimal, and transient: a low-level stage flanked by large-scale pieces from a rotating cast of local artists; and a secondary room, often utilized as a dance hall (equipped with a projector for ambient screenings of dystopian seventies flicks and other trippy fare). Lineups of obscure noise-rock dudes or experimental electro German drone-pop come together anywhere between three or four days a week or once a month. Ubiquitous Todd P. often pulls the strings.