Sweetwater Social is an intimate subterranean lounge, located at 643 Broadway. This spot was the former Vault at Pfaff’s (which we visited about two years ago). Layout and space feel similar. It’s a great space and we wonder why this spot has turned over so many times in the last 10-11 years. We hope Sweetwater Social stays for a while.
Located at 86 Orchard Street (at Broome St.), below Casa Mezcal, Botanic Lab is small-ish cocktail lounge with a performing arts stage. It’s worth dropping in the next time you’re hanging in the LES. We visited Botanic Lab briefly during a recent LES NYC bar crawl.
If you go to Bavaria Bier Haus at 19 South William Street (also an entrance on Stone Street) in Manhattan’s Financial District, be sure to order the soft pretzel. We had the pleasure of sampling one on a recent Stone Street NYC bar crawl.
Five bars in Manhattan that we hope to pub crawl to sooner rather than later: On the Upper East Side: Bondurants and The Gilroy. In Midtown, two new rooftop spots for the Midtown NYC rooftop NYC bar crawl: The Roof and Bar 54. Further South, in the Village: Carroll Place, a gastropub in what used to be Kenny’s Castaways. Yet another example of the sign of the changing times, even for Greenwich Village.
On a recent Cobble Hill NYC bar crawl, we were dismayed to learn that Downtown Bar & Grill at 160 Court Street in Brooklyn had closed for business. We’ve pub crawled to Downtown numerous times and wrote about the spot in early 2012. One source indicated that the bar’s rent had been raised too high to continue operating in that location. No word if Downtown will re-open in another location. If you have any additional information the status of Downtown, please share in the comment space below.
For a Scottish NYC bar crawl, we suggest the following spots in Manhattan: Caledonia, at 1609 Second Avenue; St. Andrew’s, at 140 W. 46th Street; Shoolbred’s, at 197 Second Avenue. In Brooklyn, be sure to visit Isle of Skye and Duke of Montrose.
Seen recently on a NYC bar crawl along Stone Street in Manhattan’s Financial District:
A few spots in Brooklyn have caught our attention recently and we look forward to pub crawling to. In Williamsburg, replacing Satellite Bar at 143 Havermeyer St is JackBar. We gather that this spot has some old-school arcade and craftbeer (so, perhaps another Barcade type place??). About one mile northwest of JackBar, we gather that Dirck the Norseman has finally opened! Supposedly the first brewpub to open in the city since the 1990s, we can’t wait to get to Dirck (we hope this will be an anchor spot of any Greenpoint NYC beer bar crawl). Finally, Mad Dog & Beans (of Stone Street in Manhattan’s Financial District) has opened a second location in Carroll Gardens at 276 Smith Street. As always, we will have reviews of these three spots in this space not long after our visits there.
On a recent NYC pub crawl, we visited The Roost, a beer bar in the back of a coffee shop at 222 Avenue B! Great spot with skylights. Has a bit of a Williamsburg or Carroll Gardens feel to it. We look forward to a return visit on our next NYC beer bar crawl through that area.
A few spots in Queens have caught our attention recently and we look forward to pub crawling to. In Long Island City, Woodbines, located at 47-10 Vernon Blvd, sounds like a solid spot. We’ve visited its sister spots around the city (Brickyard in Hell’s Kitchen and Kent Ale House in Williamsburg) and we’ve enjoyed our time there. Over in Forest Hills on Queens Blvd is Banter Irish Bar & Kitchen. Finally, in Astoria, Snowdonia (34-55 32nd Street) looks interesting. Forthcoming reviews on these places. Check this space next week for recently-opened spots in Brooklyn we have on our NYC bar crawl list.