The Best Dive Bars in Brooklyn
Kelly’s Tavern
9259 Fourth Avenue, Bay Ridge
As Fifth Avenue and Fourth Avenue meet down by the terminus of the R train, there’s only space between them for a single building, which means Kelly’s has doors on both commercial strips; it’s a great place to stop in for a cheap drink or a quick shortcut while running away from the police—the two things you want in a neighborhood bar! When Flickr users photograph it, they like to take pictures of the sign on the Fifth Avenue side because it’s missing some letters, which announces the bar’s ramshackle charm. Inside, its friendly: the last time we stopped in, a group of regulars were becoming best friends with a guy who’d just moved into the neighborhood while the bartender bought us our third drink—and we’d never even met before—in between putting out bags of Utz Potato Stix, which are hard to eat but which nicely soak up whiskey in an empty stomach.