Tucked in a bodega behind a freezer door, below ground in the remnants of the oldest subway tunnel, behind a secret door that looks like a washer and dryer. Those are just a few of the places where you can find hidden bars in Brooklyn! Read on to discover more, including some featured in the new edition of Secret New York Hidden Bars and Restaurants!
Secret New York: Hidden Bars & Restaurants
1. Sunken Harbor Club at Gage and Tollner, 372 Fulton St 2nd Floor.
At Sunken Harbor Club, a hidden bar in Downtown Brooklyn found above the historic restaurant Gage and Tollner, in place of the arched mirrors and golden wallpaper, there are plush red booths, a backlit window of an underwater scene behind the bar, wave sounds gliding gently behind the music, and seven dining tables hand-painted with different vignettes from an 18th-century Dutch work about rare sea creatures. Although the cocktail menu is most easily labeled as tiki, it is also inspired by the travel writing of 20th-century culinary writer Charles H. Baker, Jr. and ‘cutting-edge mixological’ techniques. These ‘molecular’ methods include the high-pressure flash-infusion of spirits, acid adjustments, and forced carbonation.