The Starlight Is the Michelob and Steak Bar Williamsburg Was Missing
Brooklyn is filled with beautiful bars and restaurants—spaces like Llama Inn, Lilia, Sisters, and Donna, constructed out of white marble and tiles, concrete flooring, and light wood paneling. The effect is: Brooklyn, right now. It’s lovely.
But, sometimes, don’t you kind of miss less-than-beautiful bars? The kind filled with beer paraphernalia and nicknacks, covered in dark wood and awash in browns, maroon and taupe? The ones that don’t serve cocktails with six ingredients; they pour shots and old American beers on draft. They are lived in, and they feel that way. They are, in a word, comfortable.
Now, John Roberts—the man who brought the world the pickleback and Bushwick Country Club—and Tom Chadwick of Dram have brought this bar to Williamsburg. It is a place that really does feel like “the 50s crossed with 1974,” as Roberts describes it, where you can drink Michelob amber on draft, sit in dark vinyl banquette booths, and even order a delicious 16oz ribeye steak from a Michelin-recommended chef until 3am for a mere $24. Here, tan and cream vintage wall tiles and lamp shades with beer logos will make you feel you are revisiting your favorite bar from a 1970s young-adulthood you never had. And though it is just one month old, you can find all of this at The Starlight.
But why did Roberts and Chadwick, two successful proprietors, want to open another bar? Seems unlikely but, in a town of drinking establishments galore, Roberts and Chadwick saw a hole in the market, and it relates to that affordable steak.
And if you are not too busy ingesting moderately priced items and being quite comfortable, head all the way to the back of the bar—past the vinyl booths, past the kitchen and bathrooms. Just before you reach the back door, you’ll find Skee-Ball, complete with paper tickets, won with every 20,000 points (not difficult) that will get you actually desirable toy-rewards, like a little slinky, or a whoopee cushion.
And, the name? That is derived from another commodity we have precious little of in the city: “I was flying back from California visiting a friend, and—I love window seats—I was looking out the window and the sun was setting,” says Roberts. “And all of the sudden, stars! Over the desert. And I was like, Starlight!”
The Starlight; 596 Grand St., Williamsburg
All photos by Jane Bruce