BROOKLYN ICE HOUSE • RED HOOK, BROOKLYN
[This is part 10 in a series of sneak peeks from the chapters of my book Bars, Taverns and Dives New Yorkers Love, published by the good folks at Rizzoli Publishing. You can order it online now at Powell’s, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.]
“Newcomers are shocked by the food, how decent it is,” says Brooklyn Ice House owner Trevor Budd, a surfer/snowboarder dude originally from Australia, now a 40-ish Brooklyn dad. “Decent” is an understatement. Their chili is one of the best I’ve had in New York, a deep, dark, all-meat-no-beans Texas stew, slightly sweetened and thickened with corn masa flour. It satisfies the soul, and so do the onion rings, sweet potato fries, and, their surprisingly inventive specials, many vegetarian-friendly. Didn’t see that coming in an Australian-Texas roadhouse, didja, mate?
The Brooklyn Ice House Aussie-Texan pedigree is partly inspired by Budd’s wife, Elaine, who’s from San Antonio, so the scruffy barbecue roadhouse vibe makes sense. When you’re parked at the bar over a shot, beer and bowl of chili, that’s how it feels: like you’re in a local joint a mile outside of town in the Lone Star State, hanging with the casual, jeans-and-flannel regulars. If you want some sun and fresh air, great. Head out back and enjoy the spacious yard with its picnic tables, shaggy ivy walls, and mural of a bipedal, quisling pig, cheerfully tending a smoky Weber grill while drinking a Pork Slap beer.
“People are surprised we have a backyard,” Trevor says. “If that door in back is closed, you wouldn’t even know.” Don’t judge a bar by its cover. That sweet backyard is just another bonus you wouldn’t expect from the divey exterior of the Brooklyn Ice House. Best Times to Visit Saturday and Sunday afternoons, when it’s lively, but not so busy you can’t get a seat. Best Seat in the House In the backyard when the weather is good, or the round table by the front door if it isn’t. You win either way. Trevor keeps the backyard open late, thanks to “pretty cool neighbors” who don’t complain about some boisterous conversation. The round table by the front door inside is good for up to six or seven folks, and it’s conveniently located next to an ever-present bowl of candy. Why a bowl of candy? “Just somethin’ nice to have around,” says Trevor.
Drink • Start with a shot and a beer, the perfect roadhouse drink. They have combos like The Stevedore (a can of Pabst and a shot of Evan Williams whiskey) and The Highbeam (a bottle of Miller High Life and a shot of Jim Beam), and the price won’t break the bank. Next drink: Go deeper into the beer list (they’ve got dozens of bottles in stock, including some pretty obscure treats), or how about a Moscow Mule made with Tito’s Texas vodka? They got them copper mule mugs for a reason, son.
Next up: the Brooklyn Inn of the Boerum Hill neighborhood in the Brooklyn, another chapter of my book Bars, Taverns and Dives New Yorkers Love, which you can order right here. Limited-edition signed prints are available here.