With Spring teasing us with her dainty ankle of approaching warmth, it’s easy to feel torn between our winter hobbit ways and the urge to run topless into summer’s heat. What do we wear, what do we eat, and most importantly, what do we drink during this time of transition? Between the seasons of warming whiskey and cooling margaritas, it’s wine that is the most versatile of beverages. And no better way to indulge this changing of seasons than with the cheapest and most transitional way to drink: happy hour! Welcome the spring with a crisp Rosé or hold on to winter with that full-bodied red by drinking early and affordably at some of Greenpoint’s best bars and restaurants. We’ve gathered a few of the neighborhood’s top five wine happy hours, offering 2 for 1 glasses, great food and wine combos, and even a $4 vino to get you through the change and into those short shorts.
Alameda (195 Franklin St, b/t India St & Huron St)
You know that soft late-afternoon light that pours down Greenpoint Ave? That buttery glow from the East River that makes you check your watch five times to make sure you didn’t accidentally leave work an hour early? With a gorgeous round bar in its center and a flooding of natural spring light, Alameda has that giddy comfort of post daylight savings warmth, and a $5 glass of prosecco to make your insides feel the same. Other great reasons to go: burger and beer specials for $12, a tomato toast and vermouth cocktail combo for $11, and many attractive film PAs scoping the space for the next season of GIRLS.
Happy hour: Monday-Friday & Sunday 5-7pm
Ramona (113 Franklin Street, b/t Greenpoint Ave & Kent Ave)
Maybe flowers and sunshine and smiles are just not your game. Maybe you love a warm, dark bar where you can escape the birds and bees and just indulge your eternal sadness with a 2 for 1 glass of wine and a plate full of warm olives. Ramona lets you wallow in perfectly priced luxury with a beautifully curated wine list, a sleek marble bar and intimate lighting, boasting a daily happy hour of 2 for 1 wine and beer and $6 Sazeracs and Old Fashions. Because crying after four glasses of Malbec (for only $16 total!) is way classier when you’re lit by old-timey filament bulbs.
Happy Hour: Monday-Friday, 4-8pm
Troost (1011 Manhattan Ave, b/t Huron St & Green Street)
I don’t want to exclude the vino-loving Y-chromosome holders out there, but it is a semi-scientific fact that ladies love the grape. And what do ladies love more than a fine bottle of wine in a beautifully rustic outdoor patio on a fresh spring evening? When the wine is HALF PRICE! Every other Tuesday Troost celebrates the XX with half-off bottles of wine (the cheapest being a bottle of Rosé for $14), and a daily happy hour featuring $4 draughts and $8 quartinos of red or white. Any day enjoy a tiny glass of on-tap prosecco for just $5, a perfect bubbly whisper of the long, warm nights to come.
Happy hour: Monday- Friday & Sunday, 4-8pm
El Born (651 Manhattan Ave, b/t Bedford Ave & Norman Ave)
Sometimes when you’ve tried five happy hours in the span of one late afternoon, you need something more substantial than a glass of well priced and delicious wine. Luckily, Spanish eatery El Born offers 50% off selected tapas every night of the week between 5-7pm. Also, Tuesday night is Paella night, getting you a glass of wine a heaping pile of meaty rice for only $19.
Happy Hour: Nightly 5-7pm
Paella/Wine Special: Tuesdays 5pm-close
Photo ©The Brothers Bouy
Enid’s (560 Manhattan Avenue, b/t Nassau Ave & Driggs Ave)
Take off your monocles and throw away your parasols* you fancy folk, wine doesn’t only have to be for the elite. In fact, wine is sometimes best when it’s only descriptor is white or red, costs $4 and can be served with fried cheese grits. Go to Enid’s when you cannot be bothered with frills and fluff, need a good Southern bar meal, or when it’s Monday, because happy hour last all night long.
*Monocles and parasols are welcome. Enid’s does not discriminate against the 1% nor 1920s style trends.
Happy Hour: Monday: 4pm-close // Tuesday-Friday: 4-7pm & 12-2am
How I miss reading and sipping wine in Diamond Bar’s backyard.
Alameda is between Freeman and Green st.