The Best Bar Food in Brooklyn Right Now

By Scott Lynch

Given the number of big games and marquee international sporting events coming up—the Super Bowl, obviously, but also the Winter Olympics, and March Madness, and, this summer, the World Cup—chances are probably higher than usual that you’ll be spending an afternoon, or a night, or both (“What’s the rush? Have another!”) in a bar.

Now, we here at Brooklyn Magazine obviously have nothing against bars that are just…bars—the types that are good places to drink alcohol, hang with friends and randos, drink more alcohol, and that’s about it. In my drinking days (call it the 1980s), I don’t remember ever buying anything but booze at a bar. Maybe a couple games of pool or Defender, too, I guess, but even if we did wind up at a place with a kitchen, we never squandered any of our scarce resources on what would be, inevitably, an extremely mediocre meal.

Ah, but times have changed. And today, there are scores of bars in Brooklyn that also send out interesting, excellent things to eat. So here are ten of our favorites for scarfing stellar plates of food while knocking back a few and, usually, watching the game. Scroll on for the best bar food we’ve come across in Brooklyn as of late.

Note: There are lots of great places in Brooklyn that, though they emphasize their alcoholic offerings, vibe more like restaurants than bars to me, and so are not included here. I’m thinking Bar Chuzo, Dolores, Orion Bar, and “wine bars” like Places de Fetes, among others.

The steak sandwich (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Athena Keke’s
222 Greene Ave.

What a win for this part of Brooklyn! Not only is the new queer, women-owned Athena Keke’s one of the coolest, most fun, most charmingly decked out sports bars I’ve ever seen, but the food is straight-up phenomenal here. The chef is Claudia Capriles, formerly of Place des Fetes, and her menu is short but enormously appealing, featuring “Baltimore fries” dusted with Old Bay; cunapes, or Bolivian cheese bites; and a gorgeous steak sandwich, juiced up with a burnt leek chimichurri. Plus, everyone gets a bowl of “meow mix” to munch on, and the trio of alfajores, from her mom’s recipe, is a total treat. Front of the house is run by co-owner Alexandra Murray. The couple met ten years ago while working at the Eddy, and together they’ve created something really special here in Clinton Hill.

A smashburger (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Lacey Burger
704 Nostrand Ave.

The last time I wolfed Kevin Morgan’s burgers was at that nutso Kel’s Burger Fest in Williamsburg last summer. A lot has happened since then, but his Lacey Burger has landed at the fun and funky new Nostrand Avenue bar Uncle Rogers-Think: pool table, loungey areas, lots of TVs—and the neighborhood is definitely the better for it. Lacey specializes in smashburgers, and they’re great, but make room on your table for the stunningly loaded chopped cheese fries and the saucy smoked wings, too.

The chicken platter (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The Commodore
366 Metropolitan Ave.

Even if the OG Commodore on Metropolitan didn’t have a kitchen, it would still be one of Brooklyn’s great watering holes. Just a chill and forever-hip hang, with strong drink and lots of personality. As it stands, though, the Commodore is also one of the best restaurants in the city, slinging a stellar tuna melt, a banging brisket dip, and, most famously, some fabulous fried chicken, which you can get in a sandwich (rad) or as a three-thigh platter with biscuits and hot sauce (even more rad). No sports, FYI, but with chicken this good, who the hell cares?

Two styles of pie (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Turbo Pizza
1540 Dekalb Ave.

This dive-vibing bar feels like it’s been around forever–the wood paneling, the raised booths, the vintage beer signs, the pool table, the black lights, the $9 beer-and-shot specials… it all takes me back to my misspent youth–but Turbo Pizza actually opened just last summer. Very cool! But the reason I’m most excited about the place is their full menu of first-rate Detroit-style pizzas, the soft, doughy pies laden with the likes of pepperoni, Buffalo chicken, vodka sauce, or burrata and sopressata, and always rocking a crisp, cheesy, caramelized crust. Some of the best pizza in the borough, and you can get really drunk while eating it! What a world.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The Kettle Black
8622 3rd Ave.

Picture the ideal South Brooklyn sports bar: tons of TVs, the place packed with regulars sucking down beers and shouting at the screens, old-school memorabilia covering every square inch of the place, and, most relevant to our discussion here, endless platters of some of the best chicken wings in town. And that’s exactly the Kettle Black, a neighborhood institution for more than twenty years down here on 87th Street. Those wings come sauced, glazed, or rubbed about a dozen different ways; my favorites are the classic Buffalo, and the zippy “original 87th Street dry rub.”

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

Lori Jayne
232 Knickerbocker Ave.

I would follow Sam Braverman’s brilliant bar food operation Lori Jayne anywhere, including to a corporate-ish food hall in Manhattan, but I am glad my buddy has decamped from there (the Time Out Union Square Market) back to the County of Kings (Danger Danger Bar across from Maria Hernandez Park). For one thing, Lori Jayne’s superb burgers, saucy wings, and legendary steak frites are now once again located a few blocks from my apartment. For a second thing, Danger Danger is a blast, and a better fit for Braverman’s punk rock style.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

Brooklyn Public House
247 Dekalb Ave.

There are few meals I’ve ever enjoyed more in the past year or so than the early supper I inhaled the other evening at the Brooklyn Public House, the Dekalb Avenue stalwart starring a menu filled with traditional pub fare (shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash) and nearly 20 beers on tap. The scenario was this: absolutely, brutally, single-digit freezing outside; warm, inviting, lively inside; a robust, steaming, chicken pot pie on the table as I stretched out in a booth in the back. Heaven. And the game is always on.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

Bar Nico
790 Grand St.

The Nico in question is the model, actress, and one-time Velvet Underground singer, the walls are covered with rock-n-roll (and adjacent) ephemera from the 1960s and ’70s (the bathroom, though, screams boomboxes and the Beastie Boys), two of the owners are Aussie, a third used to manage the bar the Pencil Factory, the burger (with egg, bacon, and freaking beets) is a glorious, delicious mess, and the scene, at least on the cold Sunday that we popped in, is super relaxed. The twist here, food-wise? Most times the special is some sort of Italian comfort food dish, like chicken parm or lasagna, the latter of which, in particular, sounds like just the ticket towards the end of a big night.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

The WingBar
275 Smith St.

One of my favorite dishes in the city, visually, is the 100-wing bowl at the raucous and delightful WingBar, a Smith Street mainstay since 2009. Because, come on, a HUNDRED chicken wings in a huge wooden bowl, plopped on your table as if everything is totally normal? Hilarious. The 50-wing bowl is almost as awesome, but, honestly, even a 10-wing order will make you happy here (Pro tip: Get the saucy “hot”, rather than the dry rub ones), because the wings rule at The Wingbar. Great blue-cheese burger, too, and as much sports-watching as you want. The place is small, though, so don’t expect to spread out.

The pulled pork sandwich (Photo by Scott Lynch)

99 Rogers
99 Rogers Ave.

Lowkey and local, 99 Rogers is an eminently useful spot because: 1, you can pretty much always get a table; 2, it’s a bar, so there’s plenty of booze for every mood; and 3, they serve a lengthy menu of comfort food classics, including a whole section of grilled cheeses (like, ten different varieties). We disappeared a pulled pork, pickles, and provolone melt in seconds on our visit for this list, but any of the others will do the trick just as efficiently.