No trip to Red Hook is complete without a trip to Brooklyn Ice House. Encouraging one to disregard whatever\u2019s happening beyond its borders, shabby in corners with the old asserting itself despite new additions; with shockingly good food, a tight-knit community, and a surprising amount of depth despite its outward appearance\u2014Ice House is Red Hook in microcosm. That is to say, it\u2019s charming and every time I go, I wonder why I don\u2019t go more often.
Like any neighborhood dive in any small town in America, the aesthetic at Ice House is incidental; people pass through and leave something behind. It isn\u2019t selling the concept of a dive as has become so popular\u2013one could even argue that it isn\u2019t a dive at all, but more of a neighborhood bar. But that would be to ignore the signs of life scribbled on the bathroom walls, scratched into the picnic tables. It isn\u2019t a dump, but it ain\u2019t the Ritz.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve got a half-dozen or so taps but a surprisingly wide selection of bottles. These are listed according to origin, so if you care about that, you\u2019ll be pleased. Other than that, it\u2019s bar as usual: beer\/shot combos, wine that does the job, an array of liquors that the bartender will be happy to whip into whatever cocktails are in their repertoire, which may vary wildly depending on who\u2019s behind the stick. If you\u2019ve got a cocktail in mind, you may as well try your luck. The thing nobody really talks about is that many dive bar bartenders have done a stint in cocktail bars or been trained by someone who has\u2014you\u2019d be surprised what they can pull out of their back pockets. It\u2019s cash only. There\u2019s an ATM, but it\u2019s better to arrive prepared.<\/p>\n
The food at Ice House is its big X-factor. It\u2019s bar stuff: dogs, burgers, Frito pie, but it\u2019s all well-priced and hits the right notes. The kitchen is tiny, so don\u2019t show up with a big group and expect food to arrive with the tempo of a full-fledged restaurant. But everything comes out tastier and better-made than one might expect. The big move here is the pulled-pork sandwiches for $5, or two for $8, and a slice of Steve\u2019s Key Lime Pie made right there, in Red Hook.
Brooklyn Ice House isn\u2019t doing anything that other bars don\u2019t. But it does have a feel no other bar has\u2013that ain\u2019t nothing. There\u2019s scarcely a better place in the five boroughs to read a drink with a cold beer on a sunny afternoon, or to carouse late into the night with friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No trip to Red Hook is complete without a trip to Brooklyn Ice House. Encouraging one to disregard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[8075,82048,98,100,99,1738,82044,83884,83887,83886,1829,83885,20226,9,24,33514,63,7744,82050],"class_list":["post-212337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-bars","tag-bars-beer-bars","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-dating-socializing","tag-drinks-beer-lovers","tag-drinks-happy-hour","tag-eating-drinking-facilities-on-site-dining","tag-entertainment-entertainment","tag-good-for-good-for-going-solo","tag-mood-chill","tag-more-recommended","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-kickers-double-verify-alcohol-content","tag-nyc","tag-price","tag-restaurant-bar-facilities-wine-and-beer-only"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}