ADOBE BLUES • New Brighton, Staten Island

(This post is the first in a series of sneak peeks from the chapters of my book Bars, Taverns and Dives New Yorkers Love, coming out in March 2018 from Rizzoli Publishing.)

“It’s just a great neighborhood place. A place people like to go. It’s like . . . it’s like fuckin’ Cheers.” That’s how regular Doug Kenny described Adobe Blues one Sunday evening as I sat at the bar, enjoying my Mexican Firing Squad, a well-made cocktail classic featuring tequila, fresh-squeezed lime juice, and grenadine. The regulars love this place so much that an online #SaveAdobe campaign helped scuttle a 2015 deal to sell it, according to general manager Jack Dabdoub.

When to Go

Bar manager Ryan Barker suggests you stop by during the late afternoon or on a Monday or Tuesday evening, when it’s not too busy. Spend some time learning about Adobe’s massive beer selection. With the bartender’s help, try some brews you’ve never had or even heard of before. Bartender Hannah Spisto recommends Sunday afternoons, when Adobe Blues is jumping with both brunchers and drinkers. Wednesday nights are a fan favorite, too, when longtime house band the Wolfpack plays jazz and blues from nine to midnight.

What to Drink

Get a beer. They have almost two hundred to choose from, so dig deep. At quieter times, when beer aficionado Barker is working, he’ll guide you to surprising brews, like the Rothaus Pils Tannenzäpfle (“The Original Beer from Germany’s Black Forest”) that I tried, or something equally exotic from the wilds of, say, Brooklyn. And also, because man cannot live on beer alone, order the house margarita: They make a good one.

Next up: The Atlantic ChipShop of Brooklyn, another chapter of my book Bars, Taverns and Dives New Yorkers Love