Not Your Father’s Bar: Father Knows Best
Father Knows Best
611A Wilson Avenue, Bushwick
Every neighborhood needs a local haunt. And for the rapidly developing part of Bushwick that’s just off the Wilson L, that place is shaping up to be the newly opened Father Knows Best. Opened by Chris Taha and Colleen Makary (respectively, the owner and former manager of Williamsburg’s Summers Juice and Coffee), the bar is long and narrow in the front, with a full garage door that can be pulled up to let in sunlight and foot traffic during the day, when it functions as a coffee shop and restaurant. At night, it transitions into a full bar and club space, complete with a communal table that can be folded up to create a stage for live music, and a built-in DJ enclave tucked behind that. The bar also features a full wooden deck and patio outside, where Taha says he envisions throwing free community yoga classes in nice weather.
And if all that isn’t enough to lure you a few stops farther down the L, the simple but delicious food and cocktails that incorporate Summers’ cold-pressed juices will do the trick. The Reuben Daddy Melt includes a beef patty smothered in swiss cheese with ample Russian dressing and sauerkraut; the Spiked Garden Cocktail is the main creative offering on the alcohol side, with a rotating mix of alcohol and juice concoctions; so far, the Father Rich—gin, blueberry, tonic, and lime—is the only staple cocktail. But there’s a bacon pickle back, or a dirt cheap PBR and shot combo to hold you down in the meantime.
An extended cocktail menu and additional food offerings like a cheddar scallion biscuit with chipotle butter are in the works, but old staples like Summers’s own signature egg sandwich shows up too, complete with tomatillo avocado sauce, pickled jalapeño and chorizo. British ex-pats will love seeing a Snakebite on the menu here, a mixture of McKenzie’s hard cider and one of the bar’s rotating draft beers. And, bacon-jalapeño mac & cheese is a perfect snack whether you’re prepping for a long night of drinking or in the mood for some drunk munching. A friend and I split the ample hummus and pita portion before embarking on a survey of the cold pressed cocktail options, and finally, a beer or two to close out the night.
Above all, the space functions as a sign of things to come in the outer reaches of Bushwick. Low rents and adventurous spirits are already drawing newer and younger people to these developing areas, and if Taha and his crew have anything to do with it, this bar will help bring these scattered, somewhat isolated residents together to form a surrogate family all their own.