At Greenpoint’s Eavesdrop, beautifully crafted cocktails pair with 1950s Japanese aesthetics to create a vinyl lover’s paradise. Dubbed a “wine bar meets izakaya,” the listening bar delivers ambience and space as its most unique attractions.
“Eavesdrop serves up craft cocktails, natural wines, small plates, and music in a space designed for sound,” explains the bar’s website. “Our mission is to bring Brooklyn’s community of listeners, artists, and curators together in a cozy neighborhood environment that lends itself more to listening than to dancing. We believe that with the right DJ, sound system, and atmosphere, music of all kinds can be celebrated and experienced anew.”
With capacity for just 36 people–all seated–the 1000-square-foot Eavesdrop manages the seemingly impossible, it makes a New York City bar a place for great conversation–and drinks. The cocktail menu is made up of a mix of spritzes, negroni twists, and in-house concoctions. The natural wine menu grabs from all over, think Italian pet nats, Spanish whites, skin contact options from Chile, and reds from Australia.
The food menu is also eclectic. Chicken and chile meatballs can be enjoyed with sticky rice (bacon, scallions, mushrooms, tomato, sesame, lotus leaf) or cake, which comes in options: Chocolate olive oil cake, amaro whipped cream or Yuzu lemon ricotta cake.
Listening bars started in 1950s Japan. They feature high-end audio equipment that play carefully-chosen vinyl records, giving visitors the chance to appreciate music at a quality they can’t get at home. But how do you bring that to New York?
Eavesdrop elected to design its space more like a living room, an aesthetic that’s become more common across Copenhagen and parts of Italy. It’s one that’s certainly working as the place has been filling up most nights.
If you’d like to swing by the bar, we’d recommend making reservations, which you can do here. It’s located at 674 Manhattan Ave in Brooklyn and open from 5pm till midnight seven days a week.