Where to Drink in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

On the northernmost end of Brooklyn, history and modernity collide in the Greenpoint neighborhood. Polish restaurants and bakeries speak to the area’s immigrant roots, while a seemingly endless string of new bars and restaurants have made Greenpoint one of the buzziest neighborhoods of the moment. I am, of course, biased, calling the neighborhood home myself. But even before relocating here, I was a regular visitor. So if you’re wondering where to drink in Greenpoint, I offer my personal list of favorites—some new, some (very) old, all delicious.

Achilles Heel

Before the Greenpoint riverfront was a near unbroken string of high-rise condos, restaurateur Andrew Tarlow (Diner, She Wolf, Marlow & Sons), opened Achilles Heel in 2013 on a tucked-away side street. While the morning coffee program was eventually nixed, the cozy corner space still packs in nightly crowds for its simple, yet perfectly executed, drinks program and seasonal food menu. One of the only bars where I regularly order a vodka cocktail (the Local Stranger, with vodka, Averna, ginger, yuzu, and honey), Achilles Heel continues to hit the mark more than a decade later.

Bar Americano

The raison d’être at Bar Americano is aperitivo hour. Thus the bar is often busiest in the late afternoon and early evening hours, when small groups pack the sidewalk tables to sip spritzes and nibble on plates of olives and manchego. The bar’s house Americano cocktails (both a “classico” with Campari and a bianco) are deliciously easy drinking and the go-to choice from 3 to 7 pm. And aside from a trim list of wine, beer, and classic cocktails, Bar Americano doubles down on drinkers’ rediscovered interest in vermouth, with a selection running more than 50 deep from Spain, France, and Italy. 

Capri Social Club

While Greenpoint has no shortage of solid dive bars, none have the sheer history of the Capri Social Club. The bar itself, which used to be Irish pub Murphy’s, dates back to the late 1800s. Though operating continuously for well more than a century, the bar went up for sale in the ’70s when it was purchased by its current owner, Polish immigrant Irene Kabala. Yet the bar remains more or less unchanged—with a beautiful wooden back bar, sprawling ceilings, and walls permeated with a century’s worth of cigarette smoke—ideal for enjoying a lager from a frosty mug, or one of their Jell-O shots if you’re feeling feisty. 

Eavesdrop

Eavesdrop, opened in spring of 2022, is one of the now numerous “listening bars,” with as much thought directed into the musical programming as the cocktail menu. But even if you weren’t listening at all, Eavesdrop is a gorgeous space—like a cross between a recording studio and a Scandinavian spa. And just as the music selection frequently highlights local artists, the creative cocktail menu also incorporates local products such as the NY Distilling Co. Jaywalk Rye and Hana Makgeolli (see below) in the Rye & Rice cocktail, and the Commitment Martini (my personal fave) with Guilder’s Red Oolong gin, Sakura gin, and blanc vermouth. 

Hana Makgeolli

Alice Jun has been making both traditional and experimental makgeolli (Korean rice wine) for years and opened the Hana Makgeolli brewery, with business partner John Limb, in 2020. In industrial north Greenpoint, at the base of the Pulaski Bridge, the brewery opened its attached tasting room in 2021 where you will find some of the most unique beverages on offer, likely in all of Brooklyn. If you’ve never tasted makgeolli before, opt for a flight of ferments that range from creamy and fizzy to rich and sherry-like. Once acquainted with makgeolli, don’t sleep on the cocktails, like the stellar Sesame Sour (Takju 16 makgeolli, white rum, pineapple, yuzu, vinegar, soy sauce, Suze, sesame, egg white).

Lise & Vito

If your query is where to find natural wine in Greenpoint, the answer is … well, virtually anywhere. But newish spot Lise & Vito is worth a visit for the vibes alone (think neon pink lighting and Chartreuse-hued velvet banquettes). But the playful atmosphere shouldn’t bely the pedigree of the wine selection. Opened by alums of beloved pizza shop Roberta’s (and named in homage to two longtime regulars), Lise & Vito hones a creatively curated bottle list, aiming for smaller producers across the U.S. and Europe, while their rotating by-the-glass selections offer excellent opportunities for exploration, from a co-fermented white from Heya Wines in Lebanon to frizzante pear cider from Normandy.

Little Rascal

Functioning as the cocktail-centric annex of the long-beloved Lower East Side restaurant of the same name, Little Rascal opened in summer of 2022. Turkish brothers Halil and Öner Gündogdu, who own the Mediterranean restaurant, partnered with mixologist Keith Larry (formerly of Employees Only) to create the cocktail bar in their home neighborhood of Greenpoint. The result is a casual atmosphere and wildly delicious cocktails—frequently featuring house-made infusions, syrups, shrubs and more—like the Cosmic Debris (bourbon,  lemon, egg white, fruity pebbles, pistachio cream) or the Turin & Tonka (rye, tonka, sweet vermouth, house curacao, aromatic bitters).   

Sama Street

I won’t say that Sama Street directly influenced my move to the Greenpoint neighborhood, but it was certainly a motivating factor, being one of my favorite spots for creative cocktails. Founded by longtime friends Avi Singh and Rishi Rajpal in 2020, Sama Street accomplishes the rare feat of compiling a list of cocktails that are both delightfully unique and solid bangers. Utilizing a pantry of pan-Asian ingredients from pandan to fish sauce, the cocktails take classic builds in playful directions—like the Seven Long Years (tequila, green chile, pineapple, lime, sesame), which they dub an Asian Margarita—or the intimidating sounding but tasty Same Same But Different, with tequila, dill aquavit, turmeric, coconut, mint and fish sauce.

As an added bonus, several of the cocktails can be made spirit-free, which is helpful when I want to try everything on the menu. (Try the nonalcoholic version of Same Same But Different here.) In fact, I haven’t ordered a single drink here that didn’t elicit the exclamation, “Damn, that’s delicious!” 

Tørst

Curating one of the better beer selections in Brooklyn for more than a decade, Tørst appeals to both connoisseurs and casual drinkers. Their 21 rotating taps essentially offer a guide to “what’s cool in craft beer” at any given time, from farmhouse ales made in rural Oregon to a crisp kölsch from Germany or cider from Spain. More than 200 bottles expand the selection further, but don’t worry—they’re here to walk you through it.