Hope you held on to your outfit from the Dolly Parton look-alike contest because North Brooklyn is getting a rowdy, wild, Western bar, restaurant, and entertainment venue dedicated to country music, joining similar spots like Skinny Dennis (152 Metropolitan Ave.) and Dolly’s Swing and Dive (101 Kent Ave.).
Desert 5 Spot (94 Wythe Ave.) opened this week in Williamsburg. But this isn’t their first rodeo. Ten Five Hospitality, the group behind the bar, already manages a Desert 5 Spot location in Los Angeles.
Desert 5 Spot’s shiny new outpost will host live musical performances from emerging country artists and the Desert Five House Band, and DJs will spin a range of hits from artists like Tom Petty, Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, and yes, Beyonce.
The newcomer is more than a little bit country, with line dancing, two-stepping classes, cowboy karaoke, a mechanical bull (and less on theme, tarot card reading). There’s even an area near the stage called “Dolly’s Corner” that pays homage to the country icon with rhinestone-studded pink suede wallpaper and rare photographs of the singer herself.
“Desert 5 Spot was born out of our love for country music and a desire to create a space where cell phones and Instagram take a back seat to allow people to just drink and have unadulterated fun with their friends,” said Ten Five Hospitality Managing Partner, Dan Daley.
“My partners and I spent the majority of our careers in New York, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring Desert 5 to the city we still call home.”
Desert 5 Spot’s New York location offers a cocktail menu with emphasis on tequila and mezcal, a small selection of wine and beer including two from Brooklyn Brewery, and a tight food menu focused on tacos and snacks.
Cocktail menu highlights include the Jolene with tequila blanco, watermelon, strawberry puree, agave, and lime, and the Walk The Line with mezcal, cucumber, mint, and lemon. There are also slushies like the Cowboy Colada with tequila blanco, blue curacao, luxardo maraschino, coconut, pineapple, and lime and Dolly’s Spiked Lemonade with Grey Goose, Lillet Black, Cointreau, chamomile, honey, and lemon, plus large format cocktails that serve 10.
Desert 5 Spot’s food menu kicks off with ‘trail snacks” like chips and guacamole, nachos, and a grilled cheese sandwich with chili. The taco section offers options like adobo cauliflower, chipotle chicken with salsa verde, carnitas with habanero salsa, and red chili braised beef with cherry tomato salsa. The menu concludes with a “frosty trail treat” of vanilla soft serve in a chocolate shell with caramel popcorn and peanuts.
Desert 5 Spot’s New York location was designed by Bernadette Blanc and Wade Crescent with interiors inspired by road trips through California, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico and Texas. Many of the furnishings were hand-selected from vintage dealers and thrift shops across the West, each with its own story and origin.
The venue, named after the Mojave Desert flower the eremalche rotundifolia, also known as the desert five-spot, is filled with character. There’s a facade of a storefront resembling a Pioneertown motel, which aims to transport visitors into the Mojave Desert, a DJ booth fashioned from a vintage Chevy truck, cowboy boot disco balls and a cactus garden-inspired mezzanine, plus saloon-style doors, barrel tables, and cowhide rugs.
Desert 5 Spot is open Wednesday and Thursday 5 p.m. – 1 a.m., Friday 5 p.m. – 2 a.m., Saturday 2 p.m. – 2 a.m., and Sunday 2 p.m. – midnight.
Gag me with a spoon. This is the corniest sh*t I’ve ever seen, and further evidence of the Disney-fication of Greenpoint. I give it 1.5 years at most. Show me where the campus is. I thought the baby rave was as low as things would get.