The Richardson

Address: 451 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, New York, NY 11222 , United States
Tel: +1 718 389 0839
Website: view The Richardson’s website
Door: Open door
Style: Lounge bar
Food: Tapas/plates & dishes

Review

In the shadow of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in north Williamsburg, with traffic roaring constantly overhead, the tranquillity of The Richardson comes as something of a welcome surprise. This neighbourhood cocktail bar, formally a liquor warehouse, is now a little wooden haven from the urban sprawl of the city, managing to transport you to another time and place, with its dark wooden interior and light jazz soundtrack, without taking itself too seriously.

There's plenty of open space inside, and a little courtyard out back too, but we'd recommend sitting at the corner of the L-shaped bar with the window behind you for the best view and peruse the selection of six classic, six inventive house cocktails and eight seasonals.

Drinks-wise the cocktails often see fairly random combinations (The Higgins' Sarsparilla combines amaro, red wine and ginger beer) and they're not afraid to use Austrian pine liqueur or Stone's Ginger Wine, but everything is made with finesse but without fuss - no shaken Martinis or Manhattans here, as is so often the case on the island itself.

The bartenders have real personality, happy to talk booze or just chat, and it's easy to strike up conversation with Brooklynites' innate sociability