Reasons I love Greenpoint- Part 17: The Gutter

One of my favorite places in Greenpoint is a place I don't frequent nearly enough: The Gutter. I've heard it referred to as being in Williamsburg - and it *is* located on the border - but with a 11222 zip code, I am counting this as a win for Greenpoint!

From the front door there's a great view of the Manhattan skyline - that's the Empire State Building in blue and white:

But let's go inside, shall we?

The Gutter is a surprisingly large bar that's a little dark and dingy - just the way I like my bars - with a great selection of draft beer. I don't have a photo of the taps, but I do have a photograph of just some of the liquor since I was trying to capture the marbled mirror tiles behind the bottles. We had those mirrored tiles in our house growing up, and so did a lot of my other relatives. I think it's a 70's Italian thing:

I *love* this bar. It has a ton of tables in addition to seating at the bar (my favorite choice). But The Gutter is so much more than just an awesome, well priced bar: It's a bowling alley! They have cool vintage bowling stuff decorating the place and then of course there's the lanes themselves. I remember reading that the lanes were brought over to NYC from an old bowling alley in the midwest - how cool is that?

And look at the neat-o old timey score keeping computers!

You may know that I'm bathroom obsessed, so I'm pleased to report that there are plenty of single stall restrooms... with sinks that line the walls of a separate room so they can be accessed without waiting for a restroom (genius!). And the stalls boast some of my favorite bathroom graffiti ever!

I've been here and bowled a bunch of times, usually for friend's birthdays. Here's Lainy's birthday in 2008:

Jordana's Birthday later that year:

My friend Joe Katz posed me for this photo. It's one of my favorite photos of me ever!

Erin and Me

My friend Michelle surrounded by Joe Katz, Josue & JJ

Joe Katz gives people what they want... the point!

Joe Katz is a legend:

And he brings his Connect Four to most events:

I actually bowl when I'm there (and win, but who keeps track of such a thing? *cough cough*)

My friend Theadora and me:

Did I mention there's foosball?

And if you're into candy (I'm a recovering candy junkie *sniff*), look at this beautiful old vending machine:

And besides, where else are you going to get a Zagnut so easily??

Now I know what you're thinking: "This place is &^!@%$# AMAZING! It can't possibly be real, affordable, and right here in Greenpoint!" And I don't blame you for thinking that. It does sound too good to be true. But it gets even cooler when you hear this... A scene from Flight of the Conchords was filmed in this establishment! I nearly fell off the couch when I was watching and saw the love of my life, Jemaine, in one of the barstools that I have sat in!!! (faint) Turns out it's one of my favorite songs of theirs too, "Friends". Enjoy!




Putting together this blog just made me realize how much I miss this place and need to go back there again. In fact, what are you doing on August 20th? I think I'm going to have my birthday celebration there this year. But I'm definitely going to hit them up before then, too. I love this place so much that I would hate to see it disappear from the hood. I want to support them. I hope you will too!

The Gutter
200 N 14th St Brooklyn, NY 11222 (718) 387-3585

www.thegutterbrooklyn.com/
(and if you want to see the making of The Gutter, there are some great photos here)

PS they have great ratings on Yelp!, too.