News

This new, reservation-only waterfront bar operates out of a floating cottage at Brooklyn Bridge Park Marina

A new bar from Fini Pizza is quietly pouring spritzes and serving snacks on the water

Laura Ratliff
Written by
Laura Ratliff
concrete shoals waterfront bar
Photograph: Courtesy of Concrete Shoals
Advertising

There are hidden bars, and then there are really hidden bars—the kind where you need a code to get through the gate and a text message summons to let you in. Welcome to Concrete Shoals, a new, reservation-only drinking spot that just quietly opened inside a floating cottage at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Marina's Pier 5.

From the team behind Sean Feeney’s Fini Pizza, Concrete Shoals feels more like a nautical clubhouse than a bar: rattan café chairs, hunter green Adirondacks and picnic tables are scattered along the dock, perfectly angled toward the harbor’s golden-hour show. The views are free, but you’ll need to book ahead for a seat—the marina gate only opens if your name’s on the list.

RECOMMENDED: The 18 best waterfront restaurants in NYC

Drinks lean breezy and unfussy: prosecco and Lambrusco by the glass, spritzes (Aperol and elderflower), a white Negroni and a cheeky “mini mudslide,” a riff on the White Russian that feels straight out of a beach weekend with the Dude. Beer is on hand, too, but this is very much a spritz-and-sunset situation.

Snacks are pared down and picnic-ready: olives, nuts, potato chips, popcorn sprinkled with sugar and salt, tinned fish and salami with cheese and crackers. The menu has a kind of yacht club-meets-carnival energy, light enough for grazing but with just enough heft to keep the Lambrusco flowing. Bigger appetites can call in reinforcements: Pizzas, wings and salads arrive by shuttle from Fini, the pizza shop that kicked this whole venture off earlier this year just up the waterfront.

The cottage itself is simple—a floating dock bar with a view that outshines most Brooklyn rooftops. What Concrete Shoals does better than anywhere else is put you right on the water, where the city skyline feels less like a backdrop and more like part of the room.

Concrete Shoals is open Wednesday through Friday from 5–10 pm and weekends from 2–11 pm. Reservations are required, partly to keep things orderly, but mostly so you know how to slip past the gate. Whisper it quietly; it won’t stay secret forever.

Popular on Time Out

    You may also like
    You may also like
    Advertising