James F.
Yelp
It's with a really heavy heart that I give this place 3 stars. In nearly every fiber of its being, its a 5 star Brooklyn pub: great beer list, great drinks all around, incredibly hospitable staff, awesome vibe, superior tunes, and friendly patrons. On a quiet night it feels like home, and even on a busy night everyone is respectful and it's always a good time. It's one of the most authentic and down to earth drinking establishments in Brooklyn.
So why three stars? In a sense it's a personal issue, but it's one myself and multiple other people share, and it has to do with the back room. The back room is the pits? No. The back room, like the rest of the bar, is practically perfect! Beautifully decorated, well lit, the bartenders will turn the music off or on for you depending on your preference, perfect for a crowd or for privacy (depending on the night). A group of seven of us set up a regular game night there and given the welcomeness and atmosphere of the bar, were happy each evening to drop a large amounts of our modest earnings on drinks and merriment.
It's just... that Big Buck Hunter machine... a malignant monolith of misogyny, cultural appropriation, and animal cruelty...blaring in the corner like the bigot no one invited to the party but who insists on spewing their two cents of venomous negativity into every conversation they weren't a part of. Call me a "snowflake," but it became such a point of contention with our group (nearly all of whom found it offensive), that we eventually just picked another place to host the get-together.
I know those arcade cabinets were a staple of dive bars through much of the early 2000s, and I'd get it if people were lining up to play, but on any given night I've been there, quiet or crowded, I've never seen a single person put a single dollar in that stupid machine. The most attention I've ever seen anyone pay to it is an occasional peek into that otherwise charming back room followed by "why the f**k is there a Big Buck Hunter back here?" Like it's such an anachronistic eyesore they don't react to seeing the 7 young professional men and women sitting back there playing D&D like an intense session of nerd poker.
I hate to give this place three stars, but that machine became such a buzzkill on our game nights that we had to find a new place, and it straight up sucks because we were so happy playing there...it's just such a bummer. Placing that ridiculous game in such a beautiful bar, it just doesn't make any sense; it's like putting a "Honk if You Love Boobs" sticker on an Aston Martin....