Maybe you’re visiting the borough for the first (or second!) time and don’t want to get swept up in the tourist traps. Maybe you’ve been living here for a while and need to break out of your free time routine and spend those coveted hours with more intention.
Maybe you read my guides all the time and personally take it out on me when you get excited about an event only to find it’s sold out.
It’s not me, it’s Brooklyn. You are in a place where everyone wants to be and cool shit happens here, not by accident. Don’t wait for the weekend guide, and hell, don’t wait for the weekend. Find my list of all the best places that always have the best events in the borough.
Then don’t wait, go.
Go.
House of Yes in Bushwick
This is the epicenter of the Brooklyn party scene. Created by two Burners with a passion for disco and dancing, for acrobatics and costuming, for feeling alive and wild and free once the desert dust has cleared, House of Yes is a warehouse space reimagined into the best party you’ve ever been to, nearly every night. From sensual monthly House of Love parties to funky roller disco nights, kinky cabarets and modern vaudeville-style performances, there’s something here for everyone. Especially if you often find yourself covered in glitter and mostly in lingerie and watching the sunrise with a bottle of champagne and your closest friends and new lovers, or just have always wanted to be that person. Follow their events here. 2 Wyckoff Ave.
Barbes in Park Slope
The best place to see live music in Brooklyn. Which may seem like a bold statement, until you’ve spent a night in their intimate and seductive backroom, with your body close to the person beside you but your mind miles away, traveling through Spain as Stephane Wrembel seduces you with his fingers upon a Spanish guitar. They have live music every night of the week. Arrive early to get a seat, stay late because you won’t want to leave. Check their schedule here, or drop by, any night. 376 9th St.
Radegast Beer Hall in Williamsburg
It’s hard to navigate through all of the beer gardens and breweries in this town. Let me help you a bit. This one has live music most nights and days on the weekend, the kind that will transport to the streets of New Orleans, the kind that will have you dancing with a giant mug of beer in your hand. They’re not competing for your microbrew approval, this is a Czech-owned and inspired beer hall. Expect the classics, and expect them to be refreshing, and big, and pair perfectly with their selection of sausages from the grill in the back. Check their schedule here, or just drop by anytime, and often. 113 N. 3rd St.
Threes Brewing in Gowanus
Started by three friends with a passion for beer, this brewery quickly rose to the top of the NY brewing scene, and for good reason. Now boasting over 50 canned beers in their repertoire, their tap room has 25 rotating taps of mostly their but also other standout NY beers, plus clever cocktails and if you play your cards right (or say I sent you), sneaky free shots of whiskey. They have a huge outdoor space that becomes a cozy tented bungalow in the winter, special beer release parties, DJs, comedy, and all the best holiday parties for people who want to avoid the overcrowded Manhattan scene. Plus, this is the best place in town to seriously elevate your beer-and-burger routine- Brooklyn’s best butchery, the Meat Hook, has an outpost within the space. Keep up with their events here. 333 Douglass St.
Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook
This is the best bar in the borough. And I will look you in the eye and repeat that, anytime. Call it a dive if you want to call it a dive, or call it a local mainstay with an intimate music venue in the back that often hosts some of the best talent in town, a cozy outdoor space, a bartender that both doesn’t give a shit about you and also has a heart big enough to fit the whole borough inside, and cheap drinks. Check in here or just follow the buzz of the iconic neon anchor in the window and go, drink there, often. 253 Conover St.
Archestratus Books in Greenpoint
This charming cookbook store has a hidden, Sicilian-inspired cafe in the back that is sneakily serving some of the best lunches in town. Join them on the weekends to get a free arancini ball with the purchase of a beer or glass of wine. And buy tickets for their always-sold-out cooking classes and community dinners, hosted by the authors of the books sold within the space. It’s my favorite spot to buy gifts, to eat meatballs, and to learn something new in North Brooklyn. Check their schedule of events here. 160 Huron St.
St. Mazie in Williamsburg
This is not a list that I intended to include restaurants, and St. Mazie is not a restaurant. Or, that’s not why you should go. This charming spot on Grand has live music and performances every night, both on the main floor and hidden below in the basement. I’ve sat and sipped a classic cocktail while being seduced by a 1920’s jazz-era maven before slipping down below and getting lost in the magic of a bold rioja and passionate flamenco dancing. The food is the perfect accompaniment, for any performance. Check their schedule here or stop by, any night. 345 Grand St.
Pioneer Works in Red Hook
Pioneer Works feels alive, stepping inside. Part gallery, part studio, and wholly a work-in-progress, the 3-story warehouse space started as a vision by artist Dustin Yellin to create a space that was a cultural center, and somehow a “museum of process”. Like pioneers forging paths into the unknown, the artists within these walls are transforming the scene through art, music, culture, mindsets, environments and time. The space is always transforming and breathing life into and from the surrounding area. Go here for concerts, for outdoor events, or simply for inspiration from some of the most progressive artists in the city. It’s open to the public Wednesday through Sunday and free, but leave a donation. Check their schedule of events here, or just stop in when you’re in Red Hook. 159 Pioneer St.
Rooftop Reds in the Navy Yard
The city’s first (and only!) rooftop winery, this industrial oasis in the middle of the Brooklyn Navy yard is my favorite place to have a glass of wine in the city. Grab a rose and a spot on a hammock with your lover, sip a viognier while flinging ladder golf balls, dodge rogue bean bags while drinking cabernet and competing at cornhole. Do anything you want here, and definitely do not miss their events, like monthly film screenings and dinners al fresco with some of the borough’s best chefs. Keep up with them here, and drop in anytime, just make a reservation first (for free!). 299 Sands St, Bldg 275.
Theater XIV in Bushwick
You don’t see enough theater in this city because well if you live here, it’s part of the pedigree as a “New Yorker”. How are we supposed to weed through all of the off-broadway and off-off-Broadway to find something worthwhile? And that means worth all of our precious New York minutes… You start by finding a theater company that is doing it differently, that is showcasing some of the best talent in the city on an intimate stage with productions that mix burlesque and ballet in a way that is delicate yet undeniably risque. Company XIV is that company. Their theater in Bushwick is the perfect place to sit and sip and be completely floored by the talent and stories as they all unfold onstage. Check their performance schedule here. 383 Troutman St.
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