Dive bars aren’t just about sticky table tops and cracked vinyl banquets. They’re also about being able to afford to buy a round for the new friends you just met on the concrete patio out back, about a certain friendliness and camaraderie that just doesn’t develop over fancy cocktails. Here are a few of the best dive bars to be found in two neighborhoods with a lot of hip, young people who don’t have a lot of money to throw away — Williamsburg and Bushwick.
Bushwick Country Club
Confusingly, Bushwick Country Club is in Williamsburg and is also not a country club. This is a “craptacular” (their word) local dive bar that has mini golf. This bar claims to have invented the pickleback — a shot of whiskey with a pickle juice back. They also have a big outdoor space and a slushie machine for frozen margaritas and Jim Beam and Coke slushies. Also, free cheesy puffs with your drinks. (more…)