Highball is beloved by local bartenders.
• The “Dog ‘N Pony Show” runs Sunday through Thursday and might be one of the best deals in town: a Sonoran hot dog, a shot of Old Grand-Dad bourbon, and a Miller High Life pony for $12.
• Ask about the private-barrel pours like WhistlePig six-year rye or 10-year bourbon, often hidden behind the counter and sometimes available for sampling.
• For groups, the massive FPB punch bowl is a good bet. Choose a base spirit (gin, vodka or tequila), add a mixer like lychee, pineapple or passion flower, and finish with a bottle of sparkling wine.
NICE TO KNOW
Highball sits a three-minute walk from Sauvage, a sun-soaked natural wine bar known for laid-back afternoons and an ambitious bottle list. Rose By the Stairs Brewing is right across the street, perfect for crisp pints before or after cocktails. Platform 18, the inventive train-car bar that helped pave the way for spots like Highball, is about a 10-minute drive northeast.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
Highball co-owners Libby Lingua and Mitch Lyons—longtime industry pros—run this place with the kind of precision that makes weird ideas work. The most recent menu is playful and layered as ever: a Pisco-spiked Midori Sour, a Pink Squirrel made with saffron and calamansi, and an Old Fashioned steeped with lapsang tea and palo cortado sherry. Even the shots, from a house blend of amaro to a mini passion fruit Daiquiri, are thoughtfully considered, as is the food, courtesy of CC’s on Central, which is better than it needs to be. Don’t miss the elote popcorn slicked with brown butter, pimento cheese and kettle chips or the Sonoran hot dog dressed in harissa mayo, beans and cheesy potato crisps. Everything here feels specific and intentional. It’s an industry favorite, and the cozy, dimly lit bar is often full of bartenders on their night off. Perhaps that’s because, though Highball gets plenty of national attention, it still feels like a neighborhood bar.
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Around the corner on Grand Street, Fresh Kills (from Richie Boccato) has been quietly serving some of the best cocktails in Brooklyn for nearly a decade.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
• When outdoor seating is available, the wisteria-draped garden (book ahead on Resy) might fool you into thinking you’re somewhere between Louisiana and Provence.
• While Maison excels at the A-list classics, look closely and you’ll find lovingly executed takes on B-side hits, like the Yellow Parrot and the Obituary, that make the case for revival.
NICE TO KNOW
Staff Favorite Dive Bars
Pete's Candy Store
I moved around the corner from Pete’s in 2008, and have found myself wedged into the bar’s tiny back music venue on countless nights since. The crowds may have changed, but Pete’s still maintains a bygone Williamsburg combo of grit, disaffection and surprise and delight. —Talia Baiocchi, editor-in-chief
Happyfun Hideaway
If you’re looking to make out on a dance floor, this no-frills, tropical-themed queer bar is the spot for you. —Irina Groushevaia, senior social media manager
7B Horseshoe Bar
7B stands out from the hoards of East Village icons not only because it opens at noon (ideal for killing time before, well, anything) but because it has one of the friendliest staffs of any bar, let alone dive, in the city. —Chloe Frechette, deputy editor
Sunny’s
This outer fringe of Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood is not easily accessible, but it’s worth a trip to experience a bar that’s been resurrected from the brink of closure several times. Live music starts most nights at 8 p.m., and there’s plenty of outdoor space for loitering. Don’t forget to bring cash. —Allison Hamlin, director of network development
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