The 21 Best Cocktail Bars in Brooklyn
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The best cocktail bars in Brooklyn, according to the experts: VinePair, Difford's Guide, and Time Out have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Clover Club comes out on top.
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Maison Premiere and Bar Madonna hold the next two places. Difford's Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Eater next.
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Rank 1. Clover Club
Cocktail Bar
The long wooden bar came out of a Pennsylvania mining-town dance hall and has been anchoring this Smith Street cocktail bar ever since. Victorian paneling, a tin ceiling, and a curtained parlor with a fireplace in the back make the whole room feel like someone's very well-stocked study. The cocktails are precise and the eponymous Clover Club is on the menu, naturally. The kind of place that makes Brooklyn feel older than it is.
The awards
- VinePair VinePair: Industry Icon of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Time Out Time Out: #8 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- VinePair Industry Icon of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Time Out #8 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
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Rank 1. Maison Premiere
Cocktail Bar
A four-tap absinthe drip at the center of the bar is a replica of the one at the Absinthe House in New Orleans, and that tells you most of what you need to know. Maison Premiere is a cocktail and oyster bar in Williamsburg that commits fully to the bit: dim golden light, mock antique everything, marble bar top, the faint sense that you've wandered into another city and century. It landed on North America's 50 Best Bars list, which tracks.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- The 50 The 50: #40 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- The New York Times The New York Times: 2013 · Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- The 50 #40 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- The New York Times 2013 · Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
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Rank 3. Bar Madonna
Italian Cocktail Bar
The awards
- The 50 The 50: #36 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Time Out Time Out: #20 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- Spirited Awards Spirited Awards: 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
- The 50 #36 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Time Out #20 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
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The big neon sign out front survived the gap years when nothing else did, and it still draws you in off Atlantic Avenue. This Art Deco bar in Cobble Hill has been around forever, and Toby Cecchini, the bartender who invented the Cosmopolitan, brought it back to life with the booths and floral wallpaper more or less intact. The kitchen does a Reuben and a double-patty burger, but the cocktails are what fill the room on a Tuesday.
The awards
- VinePair VinePair: Industry Icon of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Time Out Time Out: #11 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- The Infatuation The Infatuation: The Best Cocktail Bars in NYC
- VinePair Industry Icon of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- Time Out #11 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- The Infatuation The Best Cocktail Bars in NYC
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Rank 5. The Sunken Harbor Club
Tropical Cocktail Bar
The awards
- VinePair VinePair: Bartender of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Garret Richard
- Time Out Time Out: #2 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- The 50 The 50: The 50 Discovery
- VinePair Bartender of the Year · The Next Wave Awards · Garret Richard
- Time Out #2 · The 30 best bars in NYC right now
- The 50 The 50 Discovery
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Rank 6. Bar Americano
Wine Bar
The awards
- The Infatuation The Infatuation: The Best Bars In Greenpoint
- Spirited Awards Spirited Awards: 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Greenpoint
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide
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Rank 7. DOLORES
Mexico City Cocktail Bar
The awards
- The New York Times 2025 · 1 star, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
- Eater The Best Places to Eat in Bed-Stuy Right Now
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The awards
- Vogue The 25 Best Restaurants in Brooklyn, According to Vogue Staff
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
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Rank 8. Nightmoves
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- The 50 The 50: The 50 Discovery
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Rank 8. The Shanty
Cocktail Bar
A plate-glass window in the exposed-brick wall looks straight into a working still, which tells you everything about what kind of cocktail bar this is. The Shanty is the front room of New York Distilling Company, so the gin in your glass traveled about twenty feet to get there. It sits on a quiet warehouse block in Greenpoint, easy to miss, which seems to suit the regulars just fine.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- The New York Times The New York Times: 2012 · Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
- Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- The New York Times 2012 · Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
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Rank 11. Bar Goto
Japanese Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Spirited Awards Spirited Awards: 2024 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar
- Spirited Awards Spirited Awards: 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. East
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. East
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide
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Rank 11. Pitt's
Southern
The awards
- Food & Wine Pancake Soufflé · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
- Punch Rosie Martini · Our Favorite Cocktails
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Ben Hopkins
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Rank 13. Frijoleros
Mexican
The awards
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Rank 13. Leyenda
Mexican Cocktail Bar
The awards
- James Beard Awards James Beard Awards: 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: Difford's Guide
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Rank 15. Bodega Nights
Iberian Cocktail Bar
The awards
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Rank 15. Echo Lake
Rum Cocktail Bar
The $12 daily daiquiri sets the tone at this Williamsburg rum bar, where the menu runs from a lager-and-rum shot combo to oysters with tepache mignonette. The couple behind it know their way around spirits, one having run the editorial side of Punch, the other having shaped Chicago's beloved tropical bar scene. A basement rum bar called Undercurrent adds another layer for anyone who shows up and doesn't want to leave.
The awards
- Eater The Best New Bars in New York City
- Eater The Best New Cocktail Bars in New York City
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide
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Rank 15. FOLK
Indian Cocktail Bar
The awards
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Rank 15. Peek Inn
Cocktail Bar
The awards
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Rank 19. Kinda Nice
Cocktail Bar
A Greek Salad martini built with Tomato Crop vodka and piparra brine should probably not work, and yet here we are. Kinda Nice is a Williamsburg cocktail bar from two Grand Army veterans who describe the vibe as late-night diner meets dive bar, which mostly means the drinks lean savory and strange in satisfying ways. A downstairs dive called Shenanigans is coming, if you need somewhere to spiral afterward.
The awards
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Rank 20. The Richardson
Cocktail Bar
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 4 stars · Difford's Guide
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Rank 21. The Hidden Pearl
Japanese Cocktail Bar
The awards
- The Infatuation The Infatuation: The Best Bars In Greenpoint