Cocktail bar
Unclaimed profileLong Island Bar
Brooklyn, NY · $$$
Inebrious
Beverage Program Score
The editorial take
Long Island Bar edits classics by degrees rather than replacing them with concepts. The Long Island Gimlet keeps gin and fresh lime legible while ginger cordial lengthens the finish; A Martini uses sake, blanco vermouth, and bergamot-pomelo tincture to add aroma and softness without losing the drink's cold, dry center. The Erin is the sharper test: rye and sweet vermouth are pulled toward gentian by Suze and Bigallet China-Amer, creating a Manhattan relative that earns its bitterness. This restraint makes the room easy to use—one can order a precise cocktail, an $8 beer, or dinner without changing venues—but it also reveals the supporting categories' limits. Beer is a six-item utility list, two of them nonalcoholic, and the public menu offers no neat-spirit inventory. The cocktails carry the critical weight, succeeding because each modification is small enough to measure.
- What should I order?
- Use the Long Island Gimlet as the opening measure of freshness and dilution, then choose The Erin for a darker, bitter counterpoint. A Martini is the better second drink when sake, citrus oils, and a softer vermouth profile sound preferable to rye.
- Who will enjoy this place?
- Classic-cocktail drinkers who value temperature, proportion, and quiet house adjustments will understand the appeal immediately. Guests seeking elaborate presentations, a deep beer survey, or a published rare-spirit list should come for the room and food rather than category breadth.
- When should I go?
- The bar opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 2 p.m. on weekends, closing at midnight. Early weekday service provides the clearest view of the bartenders' technique; weekend afternoons work well for a gimlet and burger before the room fills.
- What should I expect to spend?
- Current cocktails cost $18-$20 and all listed beers cost $8. Two cocktails are $36-$40 before tax and gratuity; adding the $22 L.I. Burger turns the visit into a roughly $58-$62 food-and-drink subtotal.
- What makes the beverage program distinctive?
- The house makes one or two exact changes to a classic template, then stops. That editorial restraint allows guests to perceive what sake, ginger cordial, gentian, or apricot contributes instead of decoding a long ingredient puzzle.
Beverage categories
We only score what a venue sets out to do. Categories a venue doesn't attempt are left unscored rather than penalized.
Beer
The list supplies useful style contrast and a low-cost reset between cocktails, but six choices—two without alcohol—make this a supporting service rather than a beer destination.
Menu strengths
- — Uniform, accessible $8 pricing
- — Distinct Kölsch, amber, wheat, and IPA options
- — Two nonalcoholic beer styles integrated into the same section
Standout selections
- — Captain Lawrence Kölsch
- — Grimm Hefeweizen
- — Other Half Baby Diamonds IPA
Pricing: Every current beer is $8, including four alcoholic and two nonalcoholic selections.
Cocktails
Classic structures receive restrained, intelligible modifications and arrive without theatrical distraction. The list is short, but it spans bright, sparkling, bitter, and stirred registers with unusually consistent purpose.
Menu strengths
- — Precise dilution and temperature applied to recognizable formats
- — House ingredients that change a drink without obscuring its family
- — A compact list with meaningful contrast rather than redundant signatures
Standout selections
- — The Long Island Gimlet
- — A Martini
- — The Erin
Pricing: The current eight-drink list runs $18-$20, with seven cocktails at $18 and A Martini at $20.
Spirits
Gin, rye, cognac, and agave spirits are selected intelligently for mixed drinks, but the absence of a public neat-pour list limits judgment of backbar depth, producer range, and markup.
Menu strengths
- — Base spirits chosen to support exact classic structures
- — Thoughtful use of sake, vermouth, gentian, and amer as modifiers
- — Bartender fluency with established cocktail families
Standout selections
- — Hepple Gin in A Martini
- — Rye with Suze and Bigallet China-Amer in The Erin
- — Cognac in the house French 75
Pricing: A current neat-pour inventory and its prices are not published online; spirit value is visible primarily through the $18-$20 cocktails.
How it sits with the food
The L.I. Burger and fried cheese curds are not incidental snacks: fat and salt suit the Gimlet's lime-ginger edge and the bitterness of The Erin. Lighter seafood dishes make more sense with the Martini or Cognac French 75.
Inebrious does not score kitchens, food or the restaurant overall. We review the beverage program only.
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