After all of the precious spring and summer hours wasted cooped up in apartments, huddled in airless offices, or trapped inside of the grim bowels of the subway, there’s nothing we won’t do—and nowhere we won’t go—in order to spend just a tiny bit of time basking in the great outdoors. Which means, we inevitably all wind up at same small handful of backyard-blessed Brooklyn bars, tussling over the rare spare stool or bench, for the privilege of spending a weeks worth of income on boozy blender drinks and fussy snacks.
Well, you’re more than welcome to our spot at Berry Park or Sycamore this season. Because going forward, we plan to pass each blessedly sunny day sprawled out at Baba’s Deli and Coffee Shop, an unassuming, Prospect Expressway-abutting bodega, situated at the lip of the South Slope.
At first glance, Baba’s looks like any other cookie cutter corner store—a fluorescent-lighted way station for lotto tickets, e-cig atomizers, and 99-cent “Big Cans” of Arizona. But for the low, low price of anything from a Poland Spring to a six-pack, customers are granted access to a shockingly spacious backyard, attractively outfitted with umbrella tables, wrought iron armchairs, a nifty street lamp, and even a real live tree!
The craft beer selection is totally solid, and since it’s all retail, imagine how much you’ll save on pints of Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, Brooklyn Greenmarket Wheat, and Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down. And who needs to nosh on overwrought deviled eggs on the patio of some posh cocktail bar, when you can chow down on Baba’s all-day breakfast wraps, West Indian-style burgers, or “create-your-own” burrito bowls, for little more than a fiver?
So yeah, let the rest of the borough engage in rooftop turf wars this summer. We’ll be kicking back at Brooklyn’s chillest bodega, with a newspaper, some Ho Ho’s, and an ice-cold bottle of Long Trail IPA.
599 5th Avenue, Park Slope
