This Sunday marks the return of Vintage Crawl, a shop and bar hop through Williamsburg and Greenpoint. This year’s crawl is unique, as they’ll be helping with the Hurricane Sandy relief. From the organizers:

The Brooklyn Vintage Crawl is officially back!  The first shopping experience of its kind to hit the New York scene, is hosting its Fall Crawl on Sunday, November 11th from Noon-8pm. Last year’s inaugural event drew nearly 1,000 shoppers and thousands of dollars in single-day sales–overall, a neighborly great time!

This premier event will feature a self-led bargain hunt through the best vintage shops in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.  Our map featuring all discounts and promotions throughout the neighborhood is available through the mobile platform,  Domino Street, which makes The Vintage Crawl accessible to mobile smartphone users before and during the Crawl at www.vintagecrawl.com.

Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts will be a suggested $1-$5 donation added to each purchase.  All proceeds will be donated to New York Cares, specifically for Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts in the NYC area.

More after the jump. (more…)

Tutu's

via

Lucas Walters is ready to make his grandmother proud — by opening his own cozy drinking haven and christening it with her beloved nickname.
“It looks like an old lady’s house,” Walters laughed of Tutu’s, his corner bar, which is set open Wednesday.

The bar will be located in the former home of The Morgan Restaurant and beside Bushwick’s future boutique hotel.

“We raided our families’ houses for lots of tchotchkes,” he said of the decor.

Walters — a partner at the popular Williamsburg haunt The Commodore — is launching Tutu’s with Jason Merritt, who owns Big Tree Bottles liquor store just down Bogart Street from the new Bushwick business.

“We’re starting with just a cocktail menu and meat and cheese,” Walters said.

He added that he hoped to offer gastropub fare including burgers, salads and brunch by November.

Via

If you’re a true lush, then you’re likely familiar with the work of Frederick Exley, a daytime drinker/author of works like A Fan’s Notes. He was the prime chronicler of literary drinking in 1960s New York, and now there’s a bar named after him. The Exley, located near McCarren Park in Williamsburg, is owned by the former general manager of Tailor, and it’s being billed as a casual “third space” for neighborhood residents (aka those who can’t stomach another trip to nearby Union Pool). We suppose you can think of it as the boozy Starbucks – it’s housed in a former auto-body repair shop and features colorful murals by local artists.

It’s a small space, with seating for about 35 patrons. The cocktail list focuses on classic American libations and a menu of small bites like sea salt pretzels and a cheese plate will be served. The official opening date is tomorrow, get more information here (1 Jackson Street).

More at www.theexley.com.

Kent Ale House (via Gothamist)

Co-owner Patrick Burke (who also runs the Brickyard Gastropub in Manhattan) says that roughly half of the beers will be locally sourced from New York State. Click through for the current menu.
There’s space for 55 in the outdoor seating area that wraps around the exterior of the Ale House, and a room in the back has a working fireplace that Burke plans to use in the winter. In addition to beer, they serve mixed drinks and wine, plus a solid bar menu that ranges from spicy popcorn to grilled cheese sandwiches to sweet potato fires to arugula salad. There are also a variety of “build your own” burgers, with “grass fed natural beef, bison, and veggie” options, and over a dozen possible toppings.

More information and a full beer list at http://www.kentalehouse.com. See Kent Ale House in our listings.

From the inbox:

John Ratliff of Ends Meat (formally of Anella & Calyer) and Jose Ramierz-Ruiz (formally of Isa) are now doing weekly pig roasts at Crown Vic in Williamsburg on Sundays. The pigs are heritage breed from a local farm and roasted over custom built rotating spits.The chefs roasts the pigs all day starting at noon till the meat runs out in different styles that vary each week. 2 weeks ago they did a riff on babi guling from Ibu Oka in Bali. The meat comes with an assortment of sides, and the plates usually go for around $15-17. Starts at 5 until pigs gone. Usually 10

More information about Crown Victoria bar here.

Extra Fancy (c/o Grub Street)

via Paper:

Despite the name, the handsome boys behind new Williamsburg seafood and cocktails spot Extra Fancy aren’t wearing bow ties or suspenders or shiny shoes. They’re just kicking ass making good drinks, pouring rad beers and endearing themselves to the neighborhood. It’s a quiet spot now, but once people figure out it’s there, it’s sure to be overrun with pretty hipsters, cocktail fiends, and late night degenerates looking for something fried (fancily, of course).

For more information, visit our listings.

Maisson Premiere

Not only has Northern Brooklyn become THE place to eat in New York, its become THE place to drink as well. From newcomers like The Ides and Maison Premiere to older favorites like the Turkey’s Nest and The Abbey, there’s no place we’d rather have a cocktail than Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick.

With new watering holes seemingly opening daily, its become impossible to keep up. Who has the best Old Fashioned? The best garden? The worst service? We’re here to help you navigate. Here’s a list of our favorites bars in the neighborhood.

via Grubstreet

Monday evening the fiance and I braved the rain for a much anticipated night cap at Greenpoint’s newest bar, Beloved.  I had already read a number of great reviews and am happy to report that every word was true.

We stepped into Beloved and found a couple seats at the end of bar.  The crowd was a little sparse around 9pm but started filling up as the next couple of hours passed.  The bar is beautiful – well designed and offering ample seating as well as a yard in the back.  The environment was comfortable and laid back and the bartender genuinely nice and personable.

I ordered that evening’s drink special – not sure what it was called but it consisted of a honey syrup, lime juice, and bourbon shaken together with blueberries.  It was, in my humble opinion, perfect.  The drink was not overly sweet, balanced by the lime juice and the smokey bourbon.  I also appreciated the perfectly ripe blueberries that garnished the drink as well as the very reasonable $8 price tag.  The fiance ordered the Allsorts Inc, consisting of tequila, mezcal, and an assortment of ingredients that we had to ask the bartender about, like Falernum.  The result was a delicious multilayered drink that had “a lot going on (but in a good way)” that the fiance thoroughly enjoyed.

All cocktails on the menu are $10.  All draft beers are $6 and cans of Tecate are an easy $3.  Beloved is located at 674 Manhattan Ave in Greenpoint, close to the intersection of Manhattan and Norman Ave.

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Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, which as you all know, commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland something you won’t remember by 3 p.m. If you’re looking to stay local, here are some north Brooklyn Irish bars, some of which will be having specials.

Of course, if you’re really into the holiday, you may be better off leaving the area for, say, Bay Ridge or something. This isn’t Paczki Day, after all.

Williamsburg:

Banter, 132 Havemeyer St. (at S. 1st) 20 oz. pints and, starting at 10pm, DJ Dolanite

Gordon Bennett, 109 S. 6th St.

Iona, 180 Grand St. Happy Hour prices until 7pm, screening Ireland v. England rugby game

Mug’s Ale House, 125 Bedford Ave. (at N. 10th)

Spike Hill, 184 Bedford Ave. “A whole day of nonstop Irish partying” with music (Pitchblak Brass Band, The Fuego Quintet) and dancing (a “surprise” DJ). Also corned beef and cabbage, plus free giveaways.

Greenpoint:

Connie O’s Pub, 158 Norman Ave.

Palace Café, 206 Nassau Ave. (at Russell)

Shayz Lounge, 130 Franklin St. (between Kent and Java) Live traditional Irish music

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The Super Bowl is hours away and you need a place to watch it. Luckily for you, The Greenpoint Gazette published a list of 18 bars in Williamsburg and Greenpoint that will be airing the game. I cut that list in half, narrowing it down to my top picks of which bars and specials sound best. Descriptions by the Gazette.

- Full Circle Bar (318 Grand Street, 347-725-4588): Giving out free Bon Chon Bowl wings, showing the game on three 40+ inch HD TV’s, and selling 24 ounces of Genesee Beer for $10.

- Huckleberry Bar (588 Grand Street, 718-218-8555): Serving up chili nachos ($7) and chili dogs ($4), $15 buckets of Budweiser and Bud Light (5 beers in each), and projecting the game onto the wall.

- Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue, 347-529-6696): Showing the game on a 12-foot projection screen in the main room and on two 48-inch screens in the front bar, providing free snacks, and offering a food menu complete with pizza, wings, and party food. Reserve a party package and get seated before everyone else. The packages are First Down (12 beers, 1 pizza and a reserved table for $45), Field Goal (24 beers, 2 pizzas, plate of wings and a reserved table for $85), and Touchdown (48 beers, 4 pizzas, plate of wings and a reserved table for $150).

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