Crown Inn
724 Franklin Ave., nr. Park Pl., Crown Heights; no phone
Take a look at the bar as you walk into this former bodega on Franklin Avenue. Now look up. See those shelves? Two sets of them, wending in a serpentine ribbon back and around the corner, past the convivial bar-height tables in front, all the way to the sequestered booths in back? Those shelves hold over 40 types of brown liquor, from Jameson and Jack Daniels to small-batch labels of rye, bourbon, and single-malt Scotch, as well as a fair variety of vodka, gin, rum, and aperitifs. Have them by the pour ($7 to $16), or in an expertly made cocktail like the signature Crown Sour ($9), which uses bourbon in place of the traditional whiskey and tops off with shots of both dark rum and cherry liqueur.