The Top 29 Cocktail Bars in Brooklyn
-
Rank 1. Bar Madonna
Italian-American
- 50 Best 2026 · #36 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. East
-
-
Rank 3. Maison Premiere
New Orleans-Style Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best 2026 · #40 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Time Out #7 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- The Infatuation The Best Cocktail Bars in NYC
-
Rank 4. The River Café
Contemporary
Beneath the Brooklyn Bridge's shadow, this landmark trades intimacy for theater—jacket required, tables angled toward the Manhattan skyline. The prix fixe menu moves through precisely executed dishes: blue shrimp atop corn hominy, Dover sole in Burgundy truffle sauce, a soufflé that arrives warm and quivering. Formal service that doesn't feel starch, old money without the stuffiness.
-
- VinePair 2023 · Industry Icon of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. East
- Time Out #11 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
-
- VinePair 2024 · Industry Icon of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. East
- Time Out #8 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
-
Rank 6. Leyenda
Mexican
-
The Cozy Royale team's Greenpoint bar trades polish for the ease of a neighborhood living room, where beer-shot pairings and martinis coexist without pretense. Steamed hot dogs and ham sliders arrive as unpretentious anchors to drinking that feels less like a night out and more like a standing appointment.
-
Rank 8. The Sunken Harbor Club
Tropical Cocktail Bar
- VinePair 2024 · Bartender of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Garret Richard
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
- Time Out #2 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
-
Rank 8. Inga’s Bar
American
Pressed tin ceiling and white brick glow under candlelight in this reborn tavern where regulars cluster at the bar and the kitchen moves between duck poutine croquettes and braised rabbit with lardon without pretense. The burger satisfies as readily as the trout, and blackout cake with lemon curd closes the night with casual grace. A neighborhood place that knows what it is.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Grub Street 2026 · The 40 Best Restaurants for Kids (and Parents!)
-
Rank 8. LORE
American-infused Indian
A corner storefront in Park Slope where chef Jay Kumar fuses Indian spice with American ingredients in dishes like roasted squash over babaghanoush and duck confit with tamarind sauce. The warm service and poetic cocktail list elevate what might feel like a neighborhood spot into something more deliberately refined.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Vogue 2026 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Brooklyn, According to Vogue Staff
-
Rank 12. Bar Americano
Spanish/Northern Italian Wine Bar
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Greenpoint
-
Rank 12. Frijoleros
Mexican
-
Rank 14. Ammazzacaffè
Italian
A spare, welcoming Italian trattoria where a handsome wood bar and garden patio set the stage for seasonal pastas and grilled fish. The ondine—shrimp in tomato sauce—and branzino with roasted grapes arrive with the precision of a kitchen that understands restraint.
-
Rank 14. Bar Goto
Japanese
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. East
-
Rank 14. Hungry Thirsty
Southern Thai
A bright yellow storefront on Smith Street opens onto orange walls and a blue-and-green bar where Chef Prasert "Tee" Kanghae's southern Thai cooking draws steady crowds. The fried branzino arrives gleaming with its dipping sauce; the soy-marinated eggs demand repetition. This is cooking pitched at volume—spiced, confident, unapologetic about its pleasures.
-
Rank 14. Casa Ora
Venezuelan
Isbelis Diaz and her son cook Venezuelan food in a Williamsburg room lined with ceramics by a Caracas artisan, their tequenos crackling and their asado negro braised until it dissolves. The staff moves with genuine warmth, and a plate of sweet plantains with cheese and crema feels like a benediction.
-
-
Rank 14. Mesiba
Levantine Middle Eastern
Chef Eli Buliskeria's Levantine cooking honors a sprawling regional cuisine with precision—crispy whole striped bass, charred-onion kreplach, properly executed falafel—in a sleek, minimalist dining room that channels Tel Aviv. The lively ground-floor space at the Moxy hotel crackles with the kind of appetite and noise that makes eating here feel like an event, not an obligation.
-
Two Williamsburg bartenders who cut their teeth at Grand Army channel dive bar rowdiness and late-night diner whimsy into cocktails that blur savory and sweet—a guava Negroni with malted milk, a martini built on tomato vodka and brine. The drinks arrive without ceremony, suggesting a place more interested in spontaneous invention than craft-cocktail theater.
-
-
-
Rank 22. Eavesdrop
Japanese
-
-
- VinePair 2023 · Bartender of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Patty Dennison
- Time Out #15 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
-
Rank 22. Lamonte
European
-
Rank 22. The Hidden Pearl
Japanese-Inspired
-
-
Rank 22. Hotel Delmano
New Orleans-Inspired Cocktail Bar