Did I mention that HC and I checked out Union Hall a week ago Sunday. First off, it’s like no other place else in the Slope. The scale of it anyway. It’s one big huge space; a one story building on Union just up from Fifth Avenue that used to be an appliance showroom or something. It’s been boarded up for years. The front looks like the library in some WASY-y social club with bookcases, wing chairs, and faux fireplaces. In the back there’s a bocce court. Yeah, tat’s how big the place is. The bocce court just makes the place – in the midst of drinking, eating, socializing, there’s this bocce thing going on (and a waiting list of players). There’s also a well-staffed and well-stocked bar, a patio, as well as a performance downstairs.
And it’s a scene. For those who say Park Slope is just about self-involved, Yuppie parents and their annoying children, this place will come as a real shocker. It’s an honest to god cool bar; a real scene with great music and crowds of people checking each other out.
The kind of place where two or more hetero women in cool clothing go for a night out – to socialize, to look for guys, to find friends they know. Men, too, arrive in groups, looking to meet and greet.
HC and I sat at the bar. I ordered a Cosmo but was seriously impressed with the wine-by-the- glass list. HC was impressed by the beer list. There’s even food; we ordered mini-hamburgers, which are something of a fad right now. But totally delicious.
I practically fell over when Neko Chase singing "John the Baptist" from her new album was playing. The incredibly attentive bartender said that she was playing her own i-Pod mix and she and I seemed to be totally on the same page music-wise.
The juke box is full of Indie rock (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Stokes, Arcade Fire). A juke box Teen Spirit would love. They also have oldies like Burl Ives and Billie Holiday, and a whole bunch of stuff I don’t remember which impressed me at the time.
Most of all, it’s the kind of Park Slope place that proves that PS is one young, happening place. Where do all these people live? They’re young, good looking, and on the make…
Who said PS was square?
yes, there are honest to god cool bars in park slope. sadly i cannot agree that union hall is one of them. the decor is straight up home-depot-does-beer-hall. you’re right about the scale: it’s big. way too big. not intimate at all. completely devoid of atmosphere, despite the faux library. and the clientele? maybe not self-involved yuppie parents, but i saw self-involved frat party refugees.
i am not trying to be deliberately pissy. PS has plenty to offer barwise, even for grumpy hipsters who hate kids: great lakes is a good ol’ standby. so’s the gate, commonwealth and buttermilk are groovy for the childless. (stay far away from loki.)
best of all: have you been to canal bar down on 3rd ave between president and union? now THAT’s a sweet, dirty, dive.