A bar in the
old sense of the word.

~ Park Slope's living room ~

Open Late · Lit Warm · Poured Honest

Inside the bar, late.Plate I · 5th & 12th

§ I — The story, briefly

We didn't plan on a neighborhood bar.
We just kept showing up.

Commonwealth opened on the corner of 5th & 12th because we wanted somewhere to drink a bourbon and hear a Wire record without a $19 cocktail menu in our faces. That was the entire pitch. It still is.

What we built — almost by accident — is what every block used to have: a bar that knows your face by the second visit and your drink by the third. The jukebox is real. The popcorn is free. The bourbon list runs deep, with a Kentucky lean that's slightly embarrassing on paper and entirely the point in practice.

We open at three on weekdays, two on weekends, and we lock up at four every night of the year. The patio is open whenever the weather lets us get away with it. The pinball machines never take a quarter.

That's it. That's the bar.

§ II — What you'll find inside

Four things we actually care about.

The regulars

We've been here long enough to know your drink, but not so long we'll bore you with the story behind it. Probably.

II.

The pour

Twenty-plus drafts, a serious bourbon program, and a Kentucky lean we don't apologize for. Wells we'd actually drink.

III.

The jukebox

Curated by hand. Wire, Dinosaur Jr., the Dead Boys, and a few hundred records you didn't know you missed.

IV.

The patio

A real backyard with park benches, string lights, and enough sky to forget you're in Brooklyn for a minute.

★ ★ ★

Meet Ray

Jukebox curator · resident bartender

The records on the jukebox are the records I want to hear when I'm at work. If you don't like them, the good news is we close eventually.

— Ray, behind the bar

§ III — Then & now

A little history.

Then

Opened on the corner of 5th & 12th in Park Slope. The bar had a different name; the spirit was the same.

Soon after

Ray took over the jukebox. NYC magazines started calling it one of the best in the city. It still is.

Now

Open every night until 4 a.m. Free popcorn. A patio. A pinball machine. Same bartenders you saw last week.

Pull up a stool.

Open every night until 4 a.m. Free popcorn, twenty-something drafts, a backyard, and the best jukebox in NYC waiting on you.

Find Us →What we pour