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Sunny's Bar
- Hours:
Wed, Fri-Sat 8 pm - 4 am
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Music:
- Live
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Wed, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Good For Dancing:
- Yes
- Ambience:
- Hipster
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
64 reviews for Sunny's Bar
Review Highlights
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"...Sunny's experience are the live bluegrass jams on Friday..." In 5 reviews -
"...of caution: Sunny's is ONLY open on Wednesdays, Fridays..." In 3 reviews -
"But once there, it is cozy enough to be worth the trip." In 4 reviews
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64 reviews in English
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Review from Jill D.
Brooklyn, NY
I somehow only seem to end up at Sunny's on freezing winter nights, but maybe it's because as soon as you enter, you're warmed up, soul and body. A cozy dive bar in the front room, strung with lights with plenty of booths, the bar opens into a back room where on Saturday nights, you can feel transported to a kind of mythical Kentucky, sipping on bourbon and listening to bluegrass. Musicians come and go over the course of the evening, filling the back room, and the rest of us are left lining the walls, listening, transfixed.
This isn't the bar to visit to catch up with friends, but it IS the place to go to hear some wonderful, authentic music and feel as though you're part of something bigger than the typical weekend Brooklyn bar experience with $16 cocktails with ingredients you can't pronounce. -
Review from Brian m.
Even though I'm part of the Yelp Elite .... AHEMMMMM ... I feel like a review of Sunny's doesn't even matter. The place is an institution for crying out loud (not bad for only being open three days a week).
Cheap drinks, friendly service, and the bar feels so "homey" with its warm lightbulbs, cozy seating, and friendly faces everywhere you look.
"So why not five stars, cheapskate?"
I'll tell you. I couldn't find one barstool that didn't wobble, it's cash only, there's little to no cell-phone reception, and (to be frank) if they didn't have live music that night, I would've been a bit ticked having walked all the way there in a downpour. Cozy and friendly will only get you so far, so try and hit Sunny's when there's live music a'playing or else you'll feel every step of the shlep. -
Review from La H.
Bellerose, NY
This little dive bar was a totally different scene for me. The place is awkwardly planned out and so is the bar. I felt like the staff conflicted too much and the place was too hipster for me. However, you can't beat the cheap drinks. They make strong drinks, which is good for some people, but bad for business. I feel like the owners should reevaluate how they do business here, though somehow they seem to be doing well - the place was packed. If I'm every in Red Hook again, I would go back.
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Review from Nina G.
Brooklyn, NY
One of the best bars in America. Had a whiskey and a can of PBR. Really diverse crowd - older, younger and some guys in tuxes. It's really out of the way and near absolutely nothing. Good for a fun date with someone you love but may not want a relationship with.
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Review from Jillian K.
New York, NY
My real life is entirely unlike my imaginary TV life in several important ways, but chief among them is this: in my TV life, I'm always having awesome conversations with bartenders. They share wise words, sage advice, and maybe a hearty chuckle or two. It's awesome.
In my real life, though, bartenders are more likely to ignore me, roll their eyes at my order, and skulk away after charging me $10 for a too-warm pint filled with head and withering disdain.
That is, until I went to Sunny's. At Sunny's, my imaginary TV life finally crossed into my real life over a few glorious mugs of hot apple cider and bourbon.
Yes, I'm one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (i.e., an outsider who came to Sunny's from Manhattan only after reading about it on Yelp), but if you're the kind of person who is willing to do that, I think you'll feel right at home.
I sure did.Listed in: Drink O'Clock
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Review from Jose G.
Brooklyn, NY
Man, this place was more crammed than the Disney Store on Christmas Eve. The musicians were strumming the typically hip bluegrass that I really have no problem with but need to be in the mood for, and we couldn't really find space to sit, stand, breath, or humanly function. Maybe skip it on the weekend unless you're in the neighborhood. Yeah, that might do you good.
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Review from Tim L.
Brooklyn, NY
I've been playing here every Wednesday for almost 5 years, so I may be biased but:
There is no other bar in NY like it, and when you're there, you feel transported, as though you could be anywhere in America, or maybe anywhere in the world.
Not a lot of places like that around... -
Review from Michael S.
Brooklyn, NY
Saw this place appear on an episode of Bored to Death, and it looked like a place I could get into. Then I looked into it and saw that they had bluegrass music on Saturday nights, which is also right up my alley. I've also been wanting to check out Red Hook, where I had never been before. So I waltzed on over there.
This place is kind of out in the middle of nowhere. It's about a 20 minute walk from the nearest subway, and it's not through a necessarily nice area. I think there's a bus you can get that takes you closer, but I don't really mess with buses.
When I got there, it was pretty much like I expected. Couple of booths to the left as you walk in, bunch of seats at a long bar to the right, leading to the back, where there is a cozy room with some tables. Good guys behind the bar. Friendly customers. No TVs at the bar, which didn't surprise me, but it no doubt makes it a little less comfortable to sit alone in the place. In any event, they have this apple cider that they spice up with bourbon or rum. I didn't have any, but people were sucking it down like the salmon of Capistrano.
As I mentioned, I was looking forward to the bluegrass. It gets going a little after 10. It seems that anybody with the cajones can bring an instrument and join in, which I think is awesome. People of all ages join in. The music was cool, and it was great listening to it. It wasn't a real hoe down with bluegrass players shredding up and down their instruments, which is what I really like, but it was cool.
In all honesty, given its location, I probably wouldn't go back unless someone I knew really wanted to check it out. -
Review from Josh F.
Los Angeles, CA
Did you watch the second season of The Wire? Didn't you secretly wish you could hang out at that longshoreman's bar but that it would be filled with your Brooklyn friends?
Yeah, me too. -
Review from Jason F.
Brooklyn, NY
Great dive bar in a town known for dive bars. Bloomberg seems to be doing his best to get rid of places like this: first no smoking, then the letter grade system, but hopefully his efforts fail. I like a place where I have to flush the toilet with my foot (not that this place is filthy) or I may encounter an odd textured liquid, or weirdly facial haired hipster or former longshoreman. This place has been great for a lot of years and I wish them many more. Note to hipsters: don't act like you found or invented this place.
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Review from Terry J.
Brooklyn, NY
This is probably my favorite bar that takes a jet ride to get to. I love this place, it has the perfect ambience, not too loud, not too crowded, good temperature, etc. The bartenders don't make you wait, yell or beg to be served and if you want to be anonymous or having an affair this is the place to go because chances are you wont run into anyone you know.
* I deducted a star because it really is hard to get to this place, last cab I took home to greenpoint cost about 19 bucks. -
Review from katie i.
My first visit to Sunny's was a life changing moment. I was never crazy about NYC, but after diving deep into Brooklyn on a foggy warm October night to sip whisky and hear bluegrass with some new friends I knew I had to live here. So I moved to Red Hook. It's impossible to describe Sunny's to someone who has never been. It's not a place, but an experience. A perfect bar to end the night in. The crowd is always easygoing and clearly there for a love of good music, good whisky, and an unspoken desire to break free from day to day modern living.
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Review from Julie P.
The existence of this place makes me very happy. Very happy indeed. Like an old, dark, drafty (but not) fisherman's inner sanctum, complete with secret hidden diner in the back room and windows to peer out of to view the waterfront (or the rain, if you're lucky). Friendly barkeepers, cool book readings, community hangout, solid neighborhood bar, solid destination bar if you're looking for teeny and memorable. Worth the trek.
Listed in: cocktails.
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Review from Leah M.
Los Angeles, CA
...coming out here was not easy, especially if you're a little freaked by travelling the outskirts...but man was this place worth the trek...if you love the blues/blue grass set in an intimate bar with friendly patrons, this is the place fo you. It's location is sorta random but this is exactly is what contributes to its charm and magic.
...also heard an interesting piece about Red-Hook on NPR right before going...the owner, Sunny was interviewed for this piece...listen to the story if you have the time:
http://www.npr.org/tem... -
Review from Matt G.
Five stars. I'd give it ten stars if I was allowed. Completely laid back, friendly people, and fair drink prices, but the real draw is, as others have rightly mentioned, the live bluegrass jams that happen in the back. The two hour trip from uptown Manhattan was worth it, and I'll be back as soon as possible. A near religious experience if you enjoy honest music produced by honest people. Cancel whatever you had planned next weekend and go here instead.
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Review from Katie B.
Brooklyn, NY
Walking around Red Hook, I get the strange pre-epiphanic feeling of a Pynchon novel (especially walking past the Waste Nought store), where everything seems infused with cryptic meaning. The neighborhood's nighttime character has something insidious and Wasteland-ish, but also playful and absurd, like a video game of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, complete with shadowy figures smoking in foggy alleys...
That said, Sunny's is a magical oasis of maritime love. Everything about the place, like most everything about Red Hook, has a sightly askew, boozy, water-warped feel that makes me love it all the more: the hardwood floors slant down toward the bar; the springs and stuffings inside the booths splay out in all directions; the back room is junk-full of ropes and old crates of beer from the once-functional kitchen. Nautical artwork is everywhere you look (some of it by Sunny hisself) - even the bartender has a kindly merman charm. Maybe it's the bourbon talking, but it's hard to leave Sunny's without falling in love: be it with the bar itself, the neighborhood, the amazing Wednesday night band or the Saturday bluegrass sessions. I even love the soap in the bathroom.
If you can't stomach the trek out here, then stay in Park Slope! It's off-the-grid-ness is part of the charming reward of the place; it wouldn't be such an oasis if it were easy to access, or open normal hours. I am going to come right out and say that this is my favorite bar in all the land. I can't imagine a more perfect evening than heading to Sunny's before sundown with a handsome man, sticking around for the Western swing, then riding through the rain on the back of a bicycle over to Bait & Tackle for a beer and a pork sandwich from the Ice House next door. Swoon.Listed in: Best of Bourbon, My Grass is Blue
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Review from Michael C.
Middle Village, NY
It used to be good until you Hipster's ruined it...just go back your great towns and houses..WTF would you come here is it your dream to live here was you wanted to do something in society? you move to dangerous areas like its no problem you raise the cost of living and ran old timers out..now natives NYCers are among the Aborigines and American Indians and romans,aztec etc.......
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Review from Marin G.
This place literally materialized out of no where in the corner of Redhook. I mean, I am no expert but my 3 block walk to this place from Van Brunt at 10:15pm met not one other living soul. I felt as if I was strolling my home town but in a good way. I figured no one would be there last Friday night because the streets were bare but the open door revealed quite a crowd.
This place is awesome. The style, the bartenders and the seats are so old skool cool. There were serious brooklynites mixed with those that dare take the voyage from other parts of the borough and/or city to escape their usual hangouts.
The drinks were priced about normal but the live band that played mixed in with the staff and the people watching potential makes all the difference. I am pretty sure I saw the proprietor add coal to the heating unit. Awesome. If you're in the hood, check it out for a sweet hangout. If you're not, well, then it will be hard to get there. -
Review from Becca S.
Brooklyn, NY
Sunny's is the bar that you wish existed closer to you, or at least closer to the subway. Only problem is, if that were the case, it wouldn't exist at all.
WHOA!!!!!! Did I just blow your mind with my crazy philosophizing or WHAT??
Seriously, though---the reality is that Sunny's would never be the magical place that it is were it more easily accessible to the masses, and those willing to make the trek from the F train or--gasp!--get on a bus are rewarded for it.
Like everyone else has said, walking into Sunny's is like walking into a bar in another time, in another city. The walls are covered with string lights, old photos, nautical-themed items and assorted bric-a-brac--and I don't mean carefully-curated-at-the-Chelsea-Flea-Market bric-a-brac a la Rusty Knot, but bric-a-brac that's actually accumulated over decades. Our favorite pieces were a set of foot-high dolls made in the likeness of old famous people, like Mark Twain, Humphrey Bogart and Louis Armstrong. Creepy, but creepy-cool, not creepy-get-me-out-of-here.
The crowd is laid back, demographically varied and thankfully not achingly hip. Drinks are affordable and strong, and in the back room anyone with an instrument can join the bluegrass jamboree! We saw about 3 guitars, an accordion, a piano, a mandolin and a drum set, as well as several instruments I couldn't name. How does everyone know the words? The whole scene is just spectacular, and unlike any experience you'll have at any other bar, anywhere. Trust me, it's worth the trip!Listed in: Brooklyn, YES!
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Review from Victoria L.
New York, NY
Sunny is the nicest man and a great artist. I used to drink there back in the mid/late 90's when the bar was a pay as you wish place. They would keep track of what you drank on little cards. I left many times drunk with cash in my pockets only to wake up with guilt and bike over to Sunny's the next day to pay him for the drinks! On a recent trip to Redhook I popped in to see if Sunny was around ( last time I saw him he was a baby- now she is 9!) He was not around, BUT... the bartender remembered me from over 10 years ago!
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Review from Jeff O.
No bar can compete with the experience that a night at Sunny's provides.
The unique space has at least 4 areas for drinking and revelry. The room where you walk in has bar stools and tables which are private yet in the mix. The younger people generally hang out to the front and at the tables, while the 10+ year regulars take the rear of the bar. The best way to characterize the clientèle is that they look like The Band when they had 12 members and Dylan joined in and stuff.
The second room is an abandoned kitchen with a long table to sit at and get in the way of people going to the rear music room. The adjacent outside area has benches, tables for smoking and windows to the inside so you don't miss any action. A common theme: even the outside feels private, yet inclusive.
The back room is a pick-up game of bluegrass. It is the guarded jewel of Red Hook's wharf. Inside are mostly musicians, and when the area gets popular enough everyone in the back room is playing an instrument of some sorts. Last time I went, a man was playing the aluminum can with a fly swatter - he was pretty good at it too! Here, they play for themselves and I'm sure they'd be happy for you to join in too.
On a fortunate night, you may be witness to a party boat docking, with clusters of tuxedos and beautiful dresses floating inside Sunny's. You are truly transported back, with a juxtoposition of the golden age.
Have I said too much? Is the secret out? The trek to Sunny's is a filter for their patronage. I would not recommend the fearful walking from the distant subway, east of Van Brunt can get a little too quiet... It's out of the way and will always be more neighborhood than tourist. I don't see velvet ropes blocking the entrance anytime soon.
One of my favorite bars in history. See you again, Sunny.Listed in: I Drink and I Smile
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Review from Kelly S.
Fountain Valley, CA
Sunny's is hands down, the greatest bar in New York - possibly the greatest bar in the world! I had heard about the legendary Sunny's for quite some time, and finally made the trek over about a year ago. Boy am I glad I did!
The bar is definitely off the beaten path in Red Hook [close to IKEA], so you need to plan a night around it in most cases.
It's only open 3 days a week [Wed, Fri, Sat I believe], and if you're lucky, the man himself will be there! On my first visit, I was chatting with Sunny, telling him how much I enjoyed his place, and he grabbed me by the shoulders and whispered in my ear "welcome home, kid." Needless to say, I was sold on this place. And sort of crushing hard on the man.
If that's not enough for ya, they also have the CLEANEST bathrooms I've ever seen in a bar. One night I was there, the mens room was out of order. You would have never known that to be the case. For some reason, the clientele at Sunny's has excellent bathroom etiquette!
Oh, and they have awesome live music most nights. It's a trip. -
Review from Sadie S.
Brooklyn, NY
Went to Sunny's last night to see the western swing band they sometimes have on Wednesdays. They were terrific - but why am I always the only one dancing?!
Sunny's is the reason I don't want to live anywhere other than Brooklyn. It's tucked away on a back street, open only a few days a week at Sunny's whim. Longshoremen, bohemians, the odd dog - everyone congregates in this sepia-toned space, where time seems to stand still. It's my notion of a perfect bar: completely un-sceney but full of charm and character; never too crowded but filled with friendly Red Hook regulars. Friends of the management have their birthday parties here on nights when the bar's closed to the public.
There's a little porch for smoking and old-fashioned bathrooms. We spent last night sipping PBR and chatting with old friends and new; when the band went off, my boyfriend and I played along to the 20's soundtrack on an old upright in the back room, improvising jazz parts for four hands. No one minded. It's that kind of place. So special - so Red Hook - so Brooklyn!Listed in: Back to the Future, Night Life
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Review from Shaina S.
Brooklyn, NY
Places like this seem like they don't exist in NYC anymore, when every week you seem to lose another favorite bar or restaurant to another chain store or over-priced boutique that sells like, 5 useless items. And yet, here, at the end of a desolate block in one of the furthest points west that you can reach in Brooklyn, it exists. And it's wonderful.
It also has more character in one antique, unused cash register that sits by it's lonesome at the end of the bar than just about every single bar in Brooklyn combined. This is the type of place that you could never get tired of looking at...it seems like there would always be something "new" to catch your eye, every time you went. And by new I mean something that's probably been in this bar longer than you've been alive.
It's also a great bar to get drunk in...I could picture myself as a regular here, getting sloshingly drunk at the bar, telling my life's secrets and woes to the bartender who I've now befriended because I've probably stopped in here every day after work for a drink or two...if only I lived in the neighborhood. And even though I don't, you can be sure that I'll make my way back here in very near future.
Oh and the space is massive, the bartenders are warm and friendly and it was one of the most interesting crowds I've been a part of in a long time. Lovely. -
Review from Furyk C.
Chicago, IL
Hix:
Sunny began hosting people in his living room over 2 decades ago and has been going strong since. You know the party where is seems like your guests will never leave, well this ACTUALLY happened. He is such the consummate host that he put in a bar...then he opened up his kitchen and developed a 'chit sheet' system of payment (although last i heard this was dead) so that he could get around the legalities for a liquor license - fantastic place and thank god there is no train that goes within miles - cause it does not need any more people.....
*shakes fist* you kids get off my lawn -
Review from John B.
I think Sunny's is the best bar in the world. It's at its best on a cold night, when there are fewer patrons of the noisome variety. Still, the location discourages cab warriors, which is good. Because people who have traveled a long way to be somewhere often feel obliged to be, or worse, to make, a scene.
It's in a beautiful space, and it's been allowed to age attractively. And once in a while, you might get a stiff drink in a teacup because that's closest at hand. -
Review from Ben W.
New York, NY
Sunny's isn't just a quaint little fisherman's bar in the Redhook section of Brooklyn, it's an original fisherman's bar in the Redhook section of Brooklyn. When Brooklyn had fish... Fish you could eat.
This place ain't pastiche and kitsch, no fabrication for the newly relocated hipsters, this is the real f-in deal. Sunny is the long haired guy behind the bar and he serves the drinks. It's his real name and he is cool to tell you about the bar, if you ask him. It's real old as are the murals on the wall.
The truth is, the greatest thing about Sunny's is that it just is what it is. It isn't trying at all to impress. It's a place where regulars sit by the bar and their huge grey dog, eyes you with mild suspicion, booths are filled with the kind of people you would love to have as friends, and the music playing from an undisclosed juke plays music you haven't heard in a while.
It's got that homey feel that only really old bars posses, booths provide an invaluable oasis for good conversation, and all conversations run long. If I was to pick a nightcap bar in NYC, this would be it. Only problem, it's far away from just about every mode of transportation in the metropolitan area... unless you have a boat... then it's really close.
TIP: Sonny's haas strange hours - Call ahead :) -
Review from Anna A.
Chicago, IL
I'm getting teary thinking about all of the times I went to Sunny's.
One time, the husband and I walked down there, got some drinks, settled down in the back room, and within 30 minutes, a bluegrass jam session had materialized around us. Four mandolins, a bunch of guitars, bass, accordion, and probably some more that I'm not remembering, and we got to sit there and soak up what was essentially a private concert.
Then there was the time the husband and I walked in, Sunny gave my husband a full-on kiss, served him a gin and tonic, turned to his bartender, and said, "What am I charging for my top-shelf liquor these days?"
Then there was the time the future husband and I walked in, had a couple of drinks, and watched a spectacular storm roll in over the water. There was a band playing "Dark as a Dungeon," and there had just been news of a mine cave-in somewhere in West Virginia, and the husband got all teary-eyed, as did I.
Then there was our last night in town, when all of our friends made the trek out to celebrate with us, even though for some it was out of the way. Every time, this place is about as perfect as a bar can get. My heart hurts that it's no longer a walk away. -
Review from Helena Z.
Brooklyn, NY
Am I in New York??
Fun isolated bar with live bluegrass if you ever wanna trek to Red Hook.
See Ben's review; it's quite accurate. -
Review from Rachel D.
Los Angeles, CA
This fantastic bar occasionally features live bluegrass music provided by a group of talented and adorable men. oh sunny's musicians, won't you be my valentines?
its open Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Which is why Wednesday night is when my household goes to Fairway and then to this bar. -
Review from P Z.
San Francisco, CA
I don't like bars. I find the false cheer and immodest prices to be a bit of a bore. Call me a misanthrope, but I hate standing around making bad conversation with drunk people. It is rare to find me in one, and even rarer for me to enjoy it.
Which makes my love of Sunny's all the more unusual. The place is full of generally interesting people. Its location on the water in Red Hook keeps the tequila shot crowd away, and draws lots of Brooklyn's most unique characters. The set up could not get more eclectic, which befits one of Brooklyn's oldest bars and I believe the oldest bar that is still in the same family. The flotsam and jetsam located above the bar looks like it's been there since at least the 1930s.
But my absolute favourite part of the Sunny's experience are the live bluegrass jams on Friday and Saturday nights. It is one of the coolest and least known events in the city. At least 20 musicians get together and improvise blue grass. They are invariably very, very good. And it is worth the trip, even if the bar itself weren't so cool.
The only word of caution: Sunny's is ONLY open on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. They are closed all other evenings. -
Review from Lani P.
Portland, OR
First off I have to say that to get to this place you practically have to be air lifted over there!! If you look on the map, it is literally at the end of the street, right at the water in Red Hook. But once there, it is cozy enough to be worth the trip. Reasonably priced drinks, friendly bartender, strangely earthy vibe, and live music. A bit too hipster-ish for my taste, but I would certainly go back if ever in the area again.
There is plenty of parking for your bike, and I suggest riding to get out here as it is difficult almost any other way but cab. -
Review from Jon G.
Houston, TX
They had a killer jazz band playing the night we were there (Wed) and the place was packed. The bar is really small so they had to squeeze the band into the back corner but believe me it worked.
Sunny himself welcomed us and made sure we had a good Italian beer when we arrived. Remember to either drive down or be ready to take a car back at the end of the night (no cabs). Great place, can't wait to go back next time I'm in Brooklyn. Thanks Sunny and Bill! -
Review from Pritha R.
Brooklyn, NY
Not really ever open. But when it is it's the best bar in town. Sitting right at the feet of Lady Liberty, far away from Bburg hipsters and Park Slope parents, Sunny's is a place to have a whisky or four and listen to some good bluegrass. Get thee there.
Good for Real New Yorkers. -
Review from Justin F.
Los Angeles, CA
I somehow found Sonny's after walking half the damn city. I was told it was one of the oldest bars in Brooklyn. They had a great selection of beers and to my surprise some LIVE BLUE GRASS funking up the place.
If Im ever around this area again Im stopping by !! -
Review from Sara H.
Brooklyn, NY
Hands down the best bar in Brooklyn and possibly all of New York City.
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Review from Melissa S.
Brooklyn, NY
Our go-to bar in the neighborhood. Best music, vibe, and bartenders around. Go to Fort D if you want fancy-pants cocktails, Bait & Tackle if you want a tacky dive aesthetic on the Red Hook main drag, and Ice House for good bar food. You go to Sunny's if you want to get cool.
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Review from Joyce S.
Manhattan, NY
The bar rocks. Such an atmosphere, such an audience. They don't hate smokers. They mix great cocktails. Dream of this place every Friday night. Go find me there ;)
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Review from Candi S.
Newton, MA
nice bar
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Review from Gong C.
Cupertino, CA
good , thx 110234 ohhhhh
