Matchless

Location & Contact:

557 Manhattan Ave.

Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-383-5333

Description:

The preserved Shocks & Struts sign outside this classy Greenpoint joint has become a neighborhood beacon. Narrower and darker than Enids (across the street), this former auto shop feels more like a refuge for Greenpointers who find an extensive beer list (including 16 on draft) more impressive than a full evening of listening to Badly Drawn Boys oeuvre. The back den of booths contains a Foosball table, a side room features impressive canvasses from local artists, and the gorgeous, amoeba-shaped copper bar in the center hosts old men of dubious sanity staring at post-collegiate girls deep into meditations on spirituality. Matchless needs more time to cement its identity, but an increase in bookings of local bands could call into question locals allegiance to the bar on the opposite corner. Whats more, the owner has already gotten in a street fight with high-schoolers on PCP, which in this neighborhood counts as an initiation ritual.