Houston Hall

Inside an artistically gritty former parking garage, Houston Hall's high, wood-raftered ceilings and 8,000-square-foot room keep personal space intact and conversations surprisingly audible. The often packed beer mecca slings huge, sudsy mugs of brewskis to a predominately dude-heavy crowd hoisting comically large one-liter steins. The more manageable 12-ounce and half-liter mugs afford a greater range of sampling from the ten rotating taps of Greenpoint Beer Works. But you can also sip from extensive wine (splits and whole bottles only) and cocktail dockets featuring riffs on classics like an herbaceous, cilantro-tinged margarita and original concotions like the citrusy Flatiron spiced with rye whiskey. To sop it all up, the kitchen turns out carby pub bites like fried pickles, beer-battered onion rings, chili dogs, and mammoth salty pretzels, served soft and warm with a mildly spicy mustard for dunking. With six large skylights covering much of the roof and huge windows, the brick-walled hall offers a sunny beer-garden-like experience year-round.