Ah. A new bar in Park Slope. And right on 9th Street no less. The Dram Shop Bar has been on the tip of Park Slopers (Park Slopees?) tongues for the past couple of weeks before opening last Saturday. Last night, fellow tipple connoisseur (read: drunk) boomstick and I walked the long block down to whet our proverbial whistles.
We walked in and were greeted by that New Bar Smell: a subtle combination of disinfectants and lacquer. The bar itself is huge, and in addition to the many tables set up, there is also a downstairs area that appears to be still under construction. Taking a seat at the bar, we noticed several things. First of all, there’s plenty of entertainment. There were flat screen TV’s (which eventually played basketball), a pool table, shuffleboard and board games. We met Jules, a young friendly bartender who served us beers along with free shots of Jameson whiskey. So far, so good. We spoke with her and the other bartenders who were chatty and seemed excited to be working in a new spot.
We then proceeded to the pool table, which was a dollar a game. The table is brand new, but bar sized (which I guess is appropriate given its location) with a good set of cues and a lot of space so that it doesn’t get too cramped. There’s an outdoor space as well, which I’m sure will be quite crowded come Spring. Once we had lost at pool, we decided to test out their board games. After playing exciting games of Yahtzee! and Battleship, boomstick decided to play Chutes & Ladders (which was strangely frustrating).
The night went on and we continued to drink. They played a collection of music that we listened to in high school, which consisted of everything from Cake to Echo and the Bunnymen. I met co-owner Clay who talked about setting up a website for the bar, having beer tastings with micro-breweries and how his fiance is the chef (their kitchen is open until midnight). The fries were tasty.
Everyone that was playing pool was talking about the bar. We played several people from Carroll Gardens and around Park Slope. We all agreed that the bar was quite nice, but was still lacking something. A certain je ne sais quoi. Brooklyners take their bars very seriously, and I feel like each bar has to earn their spot among the best. So far, Dram Shop Bar is well on its way.
Pros: Entertaining, friendly and talkative service, good food, nice pool table, spacious, happy hours, well lit.
Cons: Moderately priced drinks, the je ne sais quoi thing.
Dram Shop Bar
339 9th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue
Park Slope, Brooklyn
I love the bar, considering becoming a regular, and for the record, not only did i win at Chutes and Ladders, I laid waste to plainclothesman with no mercy.
I almost stopped by when it opened, enticed by the “first beer free” sign…yet I couldn’t see in the blinds so I instead went for the safety of barbes. Good to know there’s another pool bar close by…in case I feel like losing at a game sometime.
Here I am, not a block away, and I’ve never even heard of this. It seems like it’s right next to my laundromat!
Trying this place out tonight and am excited. I frequent the owner’s other bar in Carroll Garden’s, I’m sure this place will take off much like their other establishment!
Oh, what’s the owner’s other bar?
last night in a 5-minute stop through at this bar i was struck by the banality of it – it seemed like a tgi fridays! reckles aptly pointed out the combination of oversized fixtures, cleanliness, and multicultural, multigenerational, plainly dressed customers that made it seem like total suburbia-ville. seems like a good place to go early and take over one of the mammoth booths, though.
I don’t know about how people were dressed but everyone was really friendly and talkative…
And of course it’s going to be clean, it opened on Saturday!
I’m pretty sure the owners are also in charge of Angry Wade’s on Smith Street.
i like the suburbs.
Hillary Clinton will have supporters at The Dram Shop on January 31st.
Has anyone considered that there is the allegation of taxpayer fraud since Hillary Clinton has been, for several months, on the campaign trail and NOT giving 100% to her constituents in New York. Thus, she is taking 100% income for being a Senator from NY but not providing 100%.
Will the taxpayer DEMAND reimbursement???
Please, anyone willing to give me the recipe for the deep-fried lumps of macaroni and cheese, and the spicy ketsup? I live in California and cannot get to NY right now. I tore the photo of the mac and cheese lumps out of the Oct 20 issue of NEW YORK, and I get hungry every time I look at it! What kind of cheese? What kind of bread crumbs? What kind of deep-fry oil? Thanks!