03/06/08

Pours are generous and the music is free at this Williamsburg sweet spot.

by Contributor

Behind an old-time Coca-Cola facade, on a quiet block halfway between the BQE and McCarren Park, lies the relaxed cool of Pete's. The inside is wood-toned and understated, with wainscoting and a newsprint-collage motif sprinkled with playing-card icons. The real charm lies in the narrow, curtained-off back room, which holds an upholstered vaudeville stage lit with vanity bulbs. Young Billyburg residents and friends of the band mix it up, with the occasional Manhattanite thrown in for good measure.

Hits: Martinis are served with a mixing glass and strainer filled with extra, giving you almost three full drinks for the price of one.

Misses: The somewhat narrow layout can make mingling awkward or difficult.

02/18/07

Pete's Candy Store is one of the best places in Williamsburg!!!

by satellight

This bar has a way of making itself feel like something between a bar and a friend's house where you would go and hang out all the time. It's difficult to go there and not enjoy it because there are many things to do and many different parts of the bar to visit. You can hang out in the front of the bar, play boards games, talk, and have a drink. Their mixed drinks are delicious, and they even serve food at a reasonable price. You can go straight back and get the only table near the bathroom, which is actually quite cozy. You can head straight back and off to the right and hang out in the corridor with the candles and L Magazine. Or you can go even further and enter the cable car area to experience whatever live music is playing. I love going to this place because of all of these choices as well as the way it's so easy to meet people here. Live music is always free, by the way!

• Pros: Layout is interesting, live music is free, people are friendly and unpretentious
• Cons: Awkward food service

12/01/05

A good time

by jsanderson

This is a great laid back place to have some drinks and hang with friends. It has a comfortable feel and the prices are reasonable. Check out the music and the book reading, too.

05/26/05

Oh Pete's

by lilipinchon

Rude staff, burned sandwiches that take 30 minutes to be made but after midnight, you may unpack your smokes.

04/30/03

Those Bygone Times

by frith_on_the_hills

Pete's Candy Bar really invokes the feeling of being in a Jim Jarmusch or Wayne Wang movie, with all the true grit one expects from a Brooklyn night out. On Sunday nights, catch some gospel that brings Tom Waits right to mind, and if you want olde tyme drinks served up by guys in fez caps and fidoras, this is the place. What a great patio out back, too! Faux Danish Modernist furniture coupled with rugged Western themes, a clean and quiet atomosphere, and a clientele that really do have class. The best is that the bar itself is really slippery with varnish, so you could veritably slide your drink all the way down the bar to a buddy!

08/16/02

This Place Sucks

by sheepprofessor

Ok, my headline is a lie. Actually, Pete's in my favorite bar in Brooklyn. Everything a bar should have: a place for music (which is always free), a big back porch, enough space so that it never feels crowded, a loyal enough clientele that it never seems empty. If you're really snooty about your drinks, or are really concerned with maintaining your image, this is probably not the place for you. but if you just want to get a pint or two, stand a chance of meeting nice, interesting people, maybe see some music, and not have to yell over the juke box to have a conversation, then you might just like Pete's.

I wish I was better at keeping the secret.