Top Brooklyn Bars to Open in 2012

Several new watering holes opened their doors around the borough this year. Here's a look at some of our favorites. 

Park Slope:

Greenwood Park

This new 7th Avenue beer garden has a healthy selection of beers on tap, a no-frills food menu and plenty of space to shoot the breeze. Just don't try to bring the kids.

Pork Slope

The borough's only roadhouse AND Road House-themed bar, Pork Slope offers up such cold-weather favorites as chili, fried chicken and BBQ ribs.

Prospect Heights:

Tooker Alley

The neighborhood called for another high-class cocktail lounge, and Tooker Alley answered. Drinks are expertly crafted by the capable hands of longtime NYC bartender Del Pedro, and a well-priced menu of fancy snacks will keep you holed up in the stylish space for hours.

Bed-Stuy:

The Bar at Peaches

Peaches offers up some of the most tantalizing soul food around, and the Bar at Peaches has managed to live up to the task of offering equally enticing tipples in a stylish setting.

Brooklyn Tap House

Brooklyn Tap House has the distinct honor of not only being named Bed-Stuy's first beer garden, but, reportedly, the largest beer garden in Brooklyn. With 140 beers—40 on tap and 100 in bottles—odds are you'll return for several visits without getting bored.

Carroll Gardens:

Lavender Lake

Housed in a former horse stable, Lavender Lake boasts a menu of reasonably priced brews and eclectic bar food, both of which you can enjoy on the back patio just steps from the scenic Gowanus Canal.

Fort Greene:

Mayflower Social

Mayflower Social is the sister site to the Italian eatery Aita, located nearby. The lounge features cocktails that hover around $10, food for around $5 and an ambiance described by some as "sensual." Ooh la la.

Windsor Terrace:

Hamilton's

The owners of Park Slope's Alchemy transformed the former Oak and the Iris space into a relaxed but classy neighborhood bar and restaurant. Stop by after work and unwind with a craft beer and the company of like-minded locals.

Ditmas Park:

Lark Cafe

Lark is not a bar, per se, but they do serve alcohol in the evenings, so it qualifies for our purposes. In just six months in business, Lark has established itself as a community hub where DP residents flock for a variety of activities ranging from playgroups to drink-and-draw nights.