Nowadays, Greenpoint has a bewildering number of bars, but many of the best ones aren’t really places to watch a football game. So what makes a great sports bar where you can watch all the Sunday N.F.L action (or Monday night or Thursday night or Saturday College Football)? First, the bar has to have a big screen TV, preferably many TVs, so if you don’t root for the Giants or the Jets you can still catch your team’s game. Second, the bar’s gotta have good cheap beer and preferably some kind of beer and shot specials. Also, who doesn’t watch a football game without getting the munchies? A bar that serves pub grub has to rate higher than one that doesn’t. Finally, you want to watch with a good crowd, not in some mausoleum. With those categories in mind, here is a list of the top ten places to watch an N.F.L game! Continue reading →
Editors’ Note: This is our second post in a series about solo dining. Here’s our first post.
Perhaps the most obvious spot that comes to mind when one thinks of restaurants most suitable to the individual is a cafe. Dotted with open chairs opposite a single patron hunched in front of a laptop or over a book, the scene of predominantly lopsided tables is a familiar one in North Brooklyn any day of the week. Here’s my guide for where to go to get your work done by day, and in some cases even linger into the night.
A favorite spot to get work done: counter seat at Eagle Trading Company
For the same reasons I think a seat at the bar is the best seat in the house, I frequently find myself at the counter of Eagle Trading Company(258 Franklin Street) where the sweet server knows I’ll be having the Coronation Chicken (mango chutney, raita, arugula $7 as sandwich; or as salad over spinach and arugula $8) as I get work or “life admin” done while enjoying refills of iced green tea and a breeze from the Franklin Street-facingwindows. If I’m there for breakfast (served until 4pm daily), it’s the B11 breakfast sandwich (eggs, jack cheese, avocado, jalapeños, tomato, onion, cilantro $7) with lots of hot sauce as I launch into productivity. Continue reading →
The bar at The Four Horsemen, via their Instagram.
Admittedly, when I first had dinner at The Four Horsemen in Williamsburg several months ago, I went there because I’d heard about a certain lead singer of a well-known New York band being part owner. I also might have a borderline unhealthy obsession with said band and their recent resurrection, which is why I’m devoting this first paragraph to it. But even though that guy and his legendary music originally attracted me to The Four Horsemen, that’s not why I keep coming back.
The space is small and den-like, and the natural wood ceiling planks make you feel like you’re in the hull of a modest yet stylish houseboat, sailing on magical waters from Stockholm to Tokyo. And that worldly yet right-at-home feel is intentional—the owners were inspired by their own international travels, drawing from “attention to detail and unparalleled service via Japan, casual excellence via Paris, happy evangelism for wine and understanding of coziness via Copenhagen and the come-for-one-glass-and-stay-til-closing of London.” The vibe is on point.Continue reading →
If you’re like me, your New Year’s resolution (if you made one at all) is already abandoned, and training for a half-marathon has been replaced with a snowy sprint to the bodega.
Never fear, my fellow hibernating, chubby, and cocooned Greenpointers! Below is a list of 5 fitness programs bizarre enough to get you out of the apartment and maybe even in shape before winter’s over, without even having to get on the subway: Continue reading →
‘Tis the season for new restaurant openings, and last week Greenpoint had three*. One of the tastiest additions to our burgeoning dining scene is a delightful French Catalonian eatery called Cassette, whose name roughly translates as ‘little box’. Don’t let the name mislead you though, as the space is anything but small. Positioned on the corner of Kent and Franklin streets, the front of the restaurant takes up at least a quarter of the block, which it comfortably shares with Ramona, Kennaland and the former Lulu’s.
Cassette is adjacent to the Kickstarter HQ on Kent, which is somewhat convenient since one of the partners is Kickstarter founder Perry Chen. In creating the new restaurant, Perry teamed up with Henry Rich, owner of Boerum Hill’s popular neighborhood Italian Rucola. Also hailing from Rucola is head chef Joe Pasqualetto whose passion for good, simple food means that Cassette’s veg-focused menu is primed for success from the word go. Continue reading →
Adobera Arepa with queso fresco, black bean spread, avocado and pickled jalapenos (Image from @centavonyc)
The nights are drawing in, the temperature’s gradually dropping and it’s starting to be hands in pockets weather – but we’re not talking coat pockets – oh no – we’re talking yummy little stuffed arepa pockets!
A brand new weekly pop-up at Brooklyn Safehouse is bringing delicious arepas to Franklin street every Wednesday night. The pop-up is called Centavo, and is run by trio of friends John Monastero, Mike Lee and Mary O’Reilly, who are taking of advantage of cozy season to roll out an inventive menu of comforting hand-held treats to hungry bar-dwellers. Continue reading →
Sad news: Boulevard Tavern will be pulling its final pint this weekend, after 10 years of serving the neighborhood.
Owner Harold Kramer and his wife Ria started running the bar in 2005. They reclaimed the name ‘Boulevard Tavern’ after discovering the signage underneath that of J&D’s, the bar that closed on the same site in the early 2000s.
Tragically, Ria lost her battle with cancer three years ago, and Harold has been struggling to manage the bar alone. Among the reasons he cites for closing, he says “it’s tough being a small business in NYC right now”. Continue reading →
It turns out Greenpoint is becoming a bit of a mecca for craft beer. Whilst the likes of Brouwerij Lane, Tørst and Dirck the Norseman have really put us on the map as a beer destination, less well-known is the fact that Nassau Avenue’s Keg & Lantern have their very own self-described ‘nano-brewery’ and that today marks their one-year anniversary of in-house brewing.
Last year owner Keiran Breen realized that the large basement below the bar was crying out to be put to use, so he placed an ad on Craigslist for an in-house brewer to come on board. He struck gold when he found Patrick Allen, an enthusiastic home-brewer who was ready to take his weekend hobby to the next level. Patrick promptly quit his job as manager of a fine art photographic printing studio, and set about upsizing his home-brewing knowledge to a far more commercial scale. Continue reading →
There’s been a whole lot of comings and goings amongst Greenpoint’s bars and restaurants recently. Here’s a round-up of a few changes that are on our radar…
Brooklyn Barge Bar (3 Milton Street) – This novelty floating bar has been a long time in the making and it’s looking like they’ll miss the boat with the summer crowd if they don’t get things going soon. Time Out are throwing a ‘first look’ party ($25 for unlimited beer and oysters) on the barge on August 26th, so it’s quite likely that this will be their opening night. Let’s hope they don’t have to cancel like they did with their 4th July celebrations. But, if they do, at least it means that Transmitter Park will stay a haven of tranquillity for a little longer.
Brooklyn Label (180 Franklin Street) – A sign in the window of this popular brunch spot says ‘closed for renovation’, along with a request to renew their sidewalk liquor license. However, it’s just been confirmed by the owners that the business is actually being sold and will be re-opening as something different in due course. Continue reading →
