As mentioned in a previous post, last weekend was a fun time. In part because I got to go to the Daily Front Row Fashion Media Awards on Friday night, and also because on Saturday I took a trip to Red Hook and may have found the coolest bar in New York.
Venturing to Red Hook was one of my NYC Bucket List Challenges, and a couple of friends from work were down to join me for it. To get there, we took the (free) water taxi at Pier 11 in lower Manhattan which was a beautiful, quick ride with great views of the downtown skyline. It dropped us off right on Van Brunt Street, the main strip of restaurants & bars.
After walking a few blocks on Van Brunt, we spotted Brooklyn Crab, but first, I wanted to check out Red Hook Bait & Tackle. I’m so glad we went because it was SO weird in the most awesome way.
The entrance had a funny chalkboard and a really old clock out front.
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Entrance of Red Hook Bait + Tackle
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Entrance of Red Hook Bait + Tackle
Inside, it was dimly lit and only a handful of very randomly assorted patrons sat at the bar. The bartender is was a friendly Irish guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt and Burt Reynolds mustache twisted up at the ends. As we walked further into the bar, the first thing we noticed was taxidermy – everywhere.
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Red Hook Bait + Tackle
There were some nautical items on the walls, but this place mostly looked like the Museum of Natural History meets a hunter’s lodge, meets a bait & tackle shop meets a garage sale from the 70s. And it was all kinds of awesome.
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Brooklyn Bait + Tackle
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Brooklyn Bait + Tackle
We got a table that was surrounded by stuffed mammals and birds. Fittingly, they had the video game Buck Hunter. The women’s bathroom is labeled “BAIT” and the men’s bathroom is labeled “TACKLE” – some were confused by that.
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The Trio at Red Hook Bait + Tackle
As my friend Marshall said, it was an “Instagrammer’s Paradise.” Yup.
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Red Hook Bait + Tackle
After a few hours of this…
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Red Hook Bait +Tackle
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Red Hook Bait + Tackle
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Red Hook Bait + Tackle
…we decided we were ready to get some food. So we walked/rode bikes through some amazing sunflowers and spotted Hometown Bar-B-Que.
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Joe on Van Brunt Street
Unfortunately, there was a long line. We waited for about 10 minutes then just moved on to Brooklyn Crab around the corner. Brooklyn Crab was a multi-level, multi-bar log cabin meets crab shack meets arcade meets mini golf spot. Here is Marshall riding a rainbow colored dolphin at the end of the night.
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Brooklyn Crab
Overall, I love Red Hook.
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
