Located at 10-09 50^th Avenue in Long Island City, Queens, Open Door brings perhaps a first to NYC: a tapas/craft beer bar.  Normally, tapas places are wine bars, if they are bars at all.  Open Door offers nearly 20 tap beers and some offerings are from the newest that Queens has to offer, including Bridge and Tunnel, Rockaway and Singlecut.  We were quite impressed at how many local offerings were available.  The layout is bar in front half, dining area in back.  Food offerings included a Naan pizza (think Italian-Indian fusion).  This is definitely a spot we want to visit again.

A few photos from our recent visit to the Red Hook Winery, located at Pier 41 / 325A, 175-204 Van Dyke St.  Tasting hours run from 11am-5pm daily.

Located at 221 East Broadway on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Eastwood is a small-ish spot just a few blocks north of Seward Park.  The place has eight tap beers and a chill vibe to it.  A small kitchen offers assorted bar snacks and Eastwood offers two-for-one happy hours on weeknights.  It’s definitely worth a visit next time you’re going out in the LES.

Located at 247 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Pork Slope is a BBQ/craftbeer bar.  It’s almost like a grown-up version of Brother Jimmy’s for Park Slope.  The spot is long and narrow with a pool table in back, so it has that bar feel to it.  Pork Slope offers 20 tap beers and 20 bottled/can beers, so it’s definitely a good addition to the Park Slope NYC beer bar crawl.  The food offerings, which we did not sample, appear to be standard BBQ fare.  Overall, it’s a spot that’s a bit different for Park Slope.

Located at 5 Avenue A (in the old Nice Guy Eddie’s space), Boulton & Watt is a bar/restaurant.  It has a rustic vibe and a great brunch and ten solid tap beers.  Definitely worth a visit next time you’re in the area.

Located at 225 North 8^th Street (at Driggs Avenue, in the location formerly known as K&M) in Williamsburg, Roebling Sporting Club feels like a sports bar from a generation ago.  No unnecessarily gigantic TV screens or several dozens of TV screens that bring about sensory overload.  Just six TV monitors and some seating in the bar area as well as more seating in the back beyond the bar area.  On the warm weather weekends, the place caters to the various softball and other sports teams that play in nearby McCarren Park.  Six tap beers are offered.  Roebling Sporting Club is cash only.

Located at 499 Driggs Avenue (at N. 10^th Street) in Williamburg, Brooklyn, Isle of Skye is a Scottish whiskey and beer bar.  Located at the basement level of the building, Isle of Skye has lots of exposed dark wood and feels like it would be a great spot to visit during the winter.  Of course, if you’re in the mood for some whiskey, scotch or beer, than any season is fine for a visit!  Isle of Skye offers over 100 types of the amber-colored liquid and 12 tap beers and 18 bottled beers, so it does not quite make the cut for the Williamsburg NYC craft-beer pub crawl.  The spot also offers weekday happy hour specials, 4-7pm.  We look forward to returning here.

Located at 615 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Torst  takes the meaning of hard-to-find beer bar to the next level.  This place serves 21 tap beers and another dozen by the bottle.  Nearly all of the breweries represented were not ones we were familiar with.  In addition, this place must be the only craft-beer bar in Brooklyn that did not carry at least one of the three Brooklyn-made beers (Brooklyn Brewery, Kelso or Six Point).  The space is comfortable, with seating in the front half and the bar in the back half.  Lots of exposed wood walls.  Definitely a spot for the Greenpoint NYC craft-beer bar crawl.  Just be ready to try something completely different!

Better than most of the dime-a-dozen after-work Irish Pubs, the Keg Room, located at 53 West 36^th Street, is spacious, offers better-than-normal craft beer for this type of place and a friendly staff.  A rectangular bar (another unusual sight for this type of establishment) greets patrons and a seating area is in back.  We look forward to returning here.