BROOKLYN BARS

The Jake Walk

Bar Great Harry
Get your seasonal brews here: Bar Great Harry switches its draft beer selection so frequently that the owners launched a blog dedicated to their daily list (as well as e-announcements for brewery visits and trivia nights). Maybe it’s just because space is tight, but strangers tend to become insta-friends—or frenemies—over rounds of Battleship and other nostalgic board games at this spare coffeehouse-ish suds haven. 280 Smith St at Sackett St (718-222-1103, bargreatharry.com)

Black Mountain Wine House
More French château than Brooklyn bar, the Black Mountain Wine House melds rustic charm with sophisticated taste. The intimate tables reek of romance; singles are better off slugging at the front bar—and come holiday season, sampling winter-weather wines and cheeses by the crackling fireplace. 415 Union St at Hoyt St (718-522-4340)

Brooklyn Social
If you’ve always dreamed of being a member of the Sicilian social elite (who hasn’t?), hit up Brooklyn Social, a bar that has snarkily preserved the snootiness of the 1930s men’s club it once was. The space is stacked with legit artifacts: Owner Matt Dawson preserved as much as possible from the men’s club, from framed photos to the fridge. Now that it’s oh-so-contemporarily coed, it’s a great place to mingle—and its sophisticated menu (and house-made eggnog come Christmastime) is sure to keep out the riffraff. 335 Smith St between President and Carroll Sts (718-858-7758)

The Jake Walk
The Jake Walk’s going for delicious—and achieves it with cozy surroundings, an uncommonly deep wine and whiskey list, and cured edibles from nearby Stinky Bklyn (owned by the same folks). The catch: You’ll likely learn firsthand what the stiff-legged, Prohibition-era “jake walk” feels like after the typically long wait for a table. 282 Smith St at Sackett St (347-599-0294, thejakewalk.com)

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