The best bars in Brooklyn

A bar by the same name operated in this same space for more than half a century before hospitality professionals Joel Tompkins and Toby Cecchini reopened Long Island Bar in 2013. It’s topped NYC best bars lists ever since, beloved near and far for its casual style and excellent cocktails. Go early, it gets crowded. 

One of the original favorites from Smith Street’s golden age, multi-bar maker Julie Reiner’s Clover Club first opened in 2008 and it’s still considered one of the city’s best bars. Venture beyond the dining room to grab a seat if you can and take a moment or twelve to peruse the lengthy cocktail menu that could more fairly be categorized as a book. Or just order a frozen drink, which they do very well here. 

Esteemed Brooklyn hospitality pros chef Sohui Kim, Ben Schneider and St. John Frizell revived Gage & Tollner last year, leading it to status as one of the best restaurants of 2021, and Sunken Harbor Club followed upstairs shortly after. Its space feels like the interior of a slightly kitschy ship and the elaborate cocktails are perfect. 

Night of Joy towers among the city’s more casual rooftops with its lowkey elevated deck and marvelous frozen margaritas served in old-fashioned soda shop-style glasses. There is also a cozy interior space downstairs. 

This Williamsburg favorite was met with cheers and sighs of relief when it reopened last spring after a long pause. Its finally fully functional once more, back to serving its signature absinthe and oysters, among many other options, in its lovely space and secret garden-quality exterior. 

This neighborhood charmer used to get untenably packed on weekend evenings, but things have gotten more comfortable in the eighteen years since it first opened. At $13, its cocktails are a few dollars less than expected, there are a few sandwiches on the menu, you can play pool in the back and there’s a yard a little farther.

This address has been a bar since 1890, most famously as Sunny’s, as far as anyone seems to recall. It's in what some visitors would have referred to as remote Red Hook in the pre-rideshare times when a taxi could have gotten you there, but much less reliably back. Perhaps that's also why the classic, charming dive is as popular as ever, with people packing into its booths around the bar, in the back room and into the small but efficient backyard. Go on a weeknight to avoid the Uber crowd. 

First opened in the summer of 2020, Good Judy bills itself as “a bar and venue for queers and alies.” It hosts live music in its piano bar, viewing parties, theme nights and other events, and has a nice patio outside. 

A huge backyard is the obvious draw during more temperate months, but nightlife pro/musician Kareem Bunton’s bushwick bar is attractive outside and in. Bunton’s World Famous’ attractive interior is appointed in jewel tones, occasional exposed brick and comfortable banquettes where you can sip frozen drinks and other tipples. 

New to Williamsburg’s Hoxton Hotel, Jaffa opened this past May. It makes three operations by chef Michael Solomonov at this address, joining fantastic K’Far adjacent to the hotel’s lobby, and popular Laser Wolf on the 10th floor. Jaffa serves seafood, fun cocktails, buckets of beer and wine by the glass or box on the Hoxton’s mezzanine level. 

Award-winning bartender Ivy Mix joined with the Clover Club team to open Leyenda across the street in 2015. It added street seats to its backyard in recent years, and its terrific cocktail menu is printed with a legend so you always know what to expect. 

One of NYC’s best waterfront bars occupies this 147-foot schooner near the southern edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park. It feels vacation-adjacent even in full view of lower Manhattan across the east river, replete with all manner of drinks and seafood classics. 

The fun cocktail menu at neighborhoody Grand Army is ever changing, including recent themes like “CATS!” (not the musical) and “Nicholas Cage.” Its present offerings include the S'mores and Truth or Dare, if you wish to guess the present theme. 

This throwback mariner bar dates to 1939 and it has aged about that well. Its karaoke is so popular that the designation is somehow more pronounced than its dive bar bones, but you’ll still get that mixed drink in a plastic cup in the unlikely event you aren’t sticking with beer. 

Caribbean American barbecue joins wine, beer, cocktails and frozens in this simply chic space with pops of greenery. Those last two varieties are available in standard or fun sizes, which here has an opposite meaning of the one more popularly attributed to candy bars.

This self-billed "queer tiki disco dive bar" has a consistently updated beer menu, shows, events and theme nights, and a nice backyard. 

Disco and 70s style seems to be creeping back into NYC restaurants and bars this season, but Goldies has boasted the aesthetic–with an extra Viva Las Vegas touch since 2016. In addition to its glittery tables, interesting portraits and nods to big cats throughout the space, it has a pool table and a great deck. 

Although it is only on the sixth floor of the Wythe Hotel, Bar Blondeau, which opened last summer, has a great view of the Manhattan skyline. See it inside from around the pretty bar or step out onto the large terrace. Drinks include all the regular hits, plus more zero-abv options than most and a solid, mostly seafood menu. 

This brewery and taproom is light, bright, airy and loft-like inside with a strip of seats outside if it’s a sky’s-the-limit kind of occasion. Fruit-forward brews match the uplifted space, which you can enjoy on site and take home. 

New owners Maracuja’s semi-secret garden for the first time in a long time in recent years, so ignore the sign marked ‘no entry’ and slip outside. The menu reads “if you know it we can read it” in lieu of a formal cocktail menu, but there is a wine and beer list, and a variety of better than bar food options. 

Wyckoff’s Brooklyn Beer Garden (previously known as Wyckoff Beer Garden) is a great place to be for that titular item, plus a colorful outdoor space to sip it in. Its large space is particularly well-suited to groups.