(2016) A Poland supporter walks down Nassau Avenue with facepaint and a Polish flag before the Poland-Portugal match. Photo: Erik Keithley
For the next month or so soccer fans in Greenpoint will be in the throes of World Cup mania. Normally placid people will dress head to toe in the uniforms of the nations they support, drape themselves in flags and even paint their faces. They will scream at the top of their lungs and experience either great joy or complete sadness before the final match in Russia brings the madness to a close on July fifteenth. Billions of people around the world watch the match and the thirty-two countries who are in the cup often grind to a halt when the national team plays. Sadly, the American Men’s National Team did not qualify, so American fans will have to support other nations.
One of the teams in the world cup this year is Poland and hundreds of locals will hit local bars decked in red and white, but local Mexicans, Germans, English, Koreans and other nationalities will turn up at local water holes to cheer their teams on. Here are some of the most popular venues to watch the match!
(2016) Poland fans gather in numbers to watch the Poland vs. Portugal game, and to enjoy Keg and Lantern’s tasty handcrafted beers. Photo: Erik Keithley
KEG & LANTERN | 97 Nassau Ave
Keg and Lantern on Nassau Avenue has a great vibe. They have many screens and a great selection of beer and snacks. The only problem is that the place might be packed for some of the bigger matches. Continue reading →
None of the Vikings fans crowded into the bar will ever forget Sunday January 14th on Manhattan Avenue, and the football miracle that happened that day. Lake Street (706 Manhattan Ave) is a Minnesota bar, and home to local Vikings fans who take over the place every Sunday clad in purple uniforms. The Vikings were losing in the playoffs and were ten seconds away from a season ending loss. Looks of pain and anguish were visible around the room as their quarterback threw up the ball in one last desperate attempt to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The ball flew up and a Minnesota receiver caught it. Then, miraculously the defender behind him missed a tackle allowing the Viking player to run half the field and score what was one of the most dramatic and unexpected touchdowns in football history. In a flash, local Vikings fans moods shifted from sorrow to rapture, exploding in wild ecstasy and unbridled joy. Continue reading →
A year ago, we were at the beginning of a five-day intolerable heat wave. Luckily, it seems we’ll only get a handful of 90°+ days this year which means more time outside drinking frozen cocktails! Boozy slushies are a bit of a trend right now and the neighborhood is full of them. It just so happens that they’re perfect for that cooling afternoon drink or to pretend you’re actually on a tropical vacation. Here are the spots happy to put a tiny umbrella in your drink. Continue reading →
I don’t know about you, but my favorite part of spring is being able to finally emerge from the dark and the cold to sit outside in the sun, preferably sipping on a nice saison and surrounded by greenery. I don’t ask for much. Luckily, Greenpoint is chock-full of great places to eat and drink outdoors, either in magical green gardens or on rooftops with stellar views. Here are a few places worth the trip.
Northern Territory
12 Franklin Street
Good for: Gorgeous semi-panoramic rooftop views and large groups.
This Australian-themed bar features an expansive rooftop with its own bar and wooden bench tables that channel something of a summer beach vibe. Gaze across the East River to watch the sunset over the city or to ponder the Empire State Building’s color of the day. Add a Beer & Shot into the mix for $10 during happy hour, grab an Aussie burger, and you’re set. Continue reading →
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 →
There are few pleasures in life greater than rounding off the working day with a well- earned beverage at your favorite bar. And when that beverage costs next to nothing, the pleasure is even greater, which is why happy hour is pretty much always the best time of day.
We’ve rounded up a list of practically every happy hour in Greenpoint for you to work through at your leisure. From $2.50 wine at Boulevard Tavern to ‘bottomless champagne’ at Le Gamin, we reckon we’ve got everyone covered!
Key to happiness:
☺ – Extra Happy Value
★ – Food Deals
♥ – Editor’s Picks
Achilles Heel 180 West Street (At Green St.) Weekdays 4pm-7pm
– $5 drafts
– $8 glass of wine
– $9 cocktail (seasonal classics)
– $12 for 6 oysters
★♥ Alameda 195 Franklin Street (at Green St.) Weekdays & Sundays 5pm-7pm
– $5 prosecco/cortada margarita/draught beer
– $7 tequila shot and 1/2 pint of beer
– $11 Boquerone & tomato toast with a vermouth & club soda
– $12 Burger and 1/2 pint of beer
★♥Adelina’s 159 Greenpoint Avenue (between Leonard St. and Manhattan Ave.) Weekdays 5pm-7pm
– $5 craft beer pints
– $8 quartinos of organic sangiovese, pinot grigio & prosecco
– Glass of organic sangiovese, pinot grigio or prosecco with olive bowl: $9
– Glass of organic sangiovese, pinot grigio or prosecco with cheese plate: $17
– Craft beer pint & “The Original” pizza fritta: $15
Beloved 674 Manhattan Avenue (between Norman Ave. and Nassau Ave.) Daily 5pm-8pm
– $8 house cocktails (+ daily cocktail special is $8 all night) Continue reading →
John Reardon is getting ready to tattoo a woman in her mid-twenties when I arrive early at the Greenpoint Tattoo Company for our interview. It is a Saturday afternoon, and a cheery song by Of Montreal is playing over the speakers. The walls are covered in framed prints of tattoos, and a book by Reardon on the subject rests near a stack of Vice magazines. The woman has brought along a guy friend for moral support, but the process goes so quickly that she doesn’t even have time to grimace.
After a few moments, the woman gets up to check her arm in the mirror, proclaims the tattoo to be “awesome,” and leaves to meet friends for brunch at Slick Willie a few blocks away. Since John’s schedule is packed today, with another appointment in fifteen minutes, I turn on my recorder and we dive right into the questions. Continue reading →
Minnesotan musicians, including various members of Hold Steady, Spoon, and the Wanted, opened up a pour of home in July.
Lake Street Bar (706 Manhattan Ave) sits unassumingly at Norman and Manhattan Avenues in Greenpoint. Its window-front wouldn’t stand out to anyone visiting Brooklyn, though it’s something locals would notice with its bare-fisted lack of pretension. It’s a bar, no frills. And frankly, exactly what our sometimes congested neighborhood needs.
