The best bars near Barclays Center are the ones that don’t need a Nets game or a sold-out tour stop to be worth the trip, though they’ll happily take your money either way.
The arena sits right where Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Boerum Hill and Fort Greene all bump into each other, which means the pregame options range from a two-minute walk to a proper destination bar worth building your whole night around. Some of these places have been pouring drinks since before Barclays broke ground on Atlantic Avenue; one of them got pushed out of its original home by that construction and just relocated down the block.
Here are the 7 best bars near Barclays Center, whether you’re after a fast beer before first pitch (well, tip-off), a cocktail before the show, or a dive that doesn’t care what’s happening at the arena tonight.
Hollow Nickel – 🏆 Bowery Beat Editor Top Choice
Address: 494 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Phone: (347) 236-3417
Style: Neighborhood bar with a real kitchen, craft beer and wine list
Vibe: Casual, comfortable, unmistakably a regulars’ bar even on event nights
Price: $$
Website: hollownickel.com
Two blocks. That’s the entire pitch for Hollow Nickel, and most nights it’s enough: it’s become the default after-party stop for whatever just let out at the arena, without turning into a rowdy sports-bar scrum in the process.
The beer and wine list is bigger than the Boerum Hill storefront suggests, and the kitchen means you can actually eat something that isn’t a $14 arena hot dog. It’s the rare spot on this list that works equally well as a pregame stop and a place to land after, which is why it’s the top pick.
Go early for a table, go late for the after-show crowd still buzzing about whatever they just saw.
Sharlene’s
Address: 353 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Phone: (347) 350-8225
Style: Classic dive bar
Vibe: Jukebox, pinball, zero pretense
Price: $
Sharlene’s doesn’t dress itself up for the arena crowd, and that’s exactly the point. It’s a straightforward Prospect Heights dive with cheap drinks and a jukebox that isn’t trying to be anything else, which makes it a nice reset if you just want a quiet beer before or after whatever’s happening down the block.
It stays open into the early morning, so it also works as the place you end up after everything closer to the arena has cleared out.
North Pole Pub
Address: 428 Bergen St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Phone: (718) 857-0049
Style: Dive bar, 16 beers on tap
Vibe: Christmas decorations year-round, trivia and live music nights
Price: $ (beers run about $7-$9)
North Pole Pub leans into its bit hard: string lights and ornaments stay up 12 months a year, which is either charming or unhinged depending on your tolerance for novelty, but the beer list is the real reason to come back. Sixteen taps is a lot for a bar this size, and the prices are noticeably lower than the bars right on 5th Avenue.
It’s a short walk from the arena through Park Slope, and among the bars near Barclays Center on this list, it’s the one worth a return trip even on a night with nothing happening at the arena at all.
Weather Up
Address: 589 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Phone: (212) 766-3202
Style: Prohibition-style cocktail bar
Vibe: White subway tile, low light, bartenders who know what a proper Old Fashioned looks like
Price: $$$
Website: weatherupnyc.com
Weather Up is what to book if the plan is dinner and a show, not tailgating. It was one of the first serious cocktail bars in Prospect Heights and it’s stayed one of the best, with a seasonal menu and the kind of snacks (spiced nuts, olives) built for two people splitting a drink before curtain.
Note that it’s closed Mondays and doesn’t open until 2pm on weekends, so check before you build an afternoon plan around it.
Black Forest Brooklyn
Address: 733 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Phone: (718) 935-0300
Style: German bierhalle, 14 beers on draft
Vibe: Long communal tables, built for groups
Price: $$
Website: blackforestbrooklyn.com
If your group chat can’t agree on where to go before the game, Black Forest is one of the few bars near Barclays Center built to actually solve that problem. The draft list sticks to the Reinheitsgebot, Germany’s centuries-old beer purity law, which mostly means the pours are clean and the portions are generous.
The communal tables make it one of the few bars on this list built to comfortably absorb a group of eight showing up without a reservation, which is more than most Barclays-adjacent spots can say.
Union Hall
Address: 702 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Phone: (718) 638-4400
Style: Bar with two indoor bocce courts and a downstairs live music/comedy room
Vibe: Converted warehouse, fireplaces, a library nobody reads in
Price: $$
Website: unionhallny.com
Union Hall is the pick when a quick drink isn’t really the goal. It’s a 15-20 minute walk from the arena into Park Slope, which is farther than anything else on this list, but the bocce courts upstairs and the comedy and music bookings downstairs make it worth building a whole evening around instead of just passing through.
It’s a better after-show plan than a pregame one unless you’re leaving Barclays with plenty of time to spare.
Freddy’s Bar
Address: 627 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Phone: (718) 768-0131
Style: Dive bar with a backroom for music, comedy and readings
Vibe: Scrappy, a little beat up, exactly what a dive should be
Price: $
Website: freddysbar.com
Freddy’s has the best backstory of anyone on this list: it used to sit on Dean Street in Prospect Heights, a few blocks from where Barclays Center now stands, until the Atlantic Yards project that built the arena forced it out. It relocated down to 5th Avenue in South Slope and kept going.
It’s the farthest walk on this list, but the backroom books real acts and the happy hour runs from noon to 7pm every single day, which is a rarity this close to a major arena.
So, What Are the Best Bars Near Barclays Center?
Finding the best bars near Barclays Center really depends on what you’re there for.
If you want the two-block dash before tip-off, Hollow Nickel is it.
If you want a proper cocktail before the show, Weather Up delivers.
If you’re wrangling a group that can’t agree on anything, Black Forest Brooklyn solves it.
If you just want a cheap beer and a jukebox, Sharlene’s and North Pole Pub are both standing by.
There isn’t one single answer, and that’s kind of the point, the same way it works a few miles north around our guide to bars near Yankee Stadium.
Whatever’s on the marquee at Barclays tonight, get there with enough time to actually sit down, tip your bartender, and the bars near Barclays Center will still be pouring long after the last encore.
