Donna
27 Broadway, at Dunham Pl.,
Williamsburg; no phone
With doors and windows that swing open to the sidewalk, climbing potted vines, and the dark-beamed, vaulted white ceiling of a Colonial cathedral, this watering hole evokes somewhere even more far-flung than far-southwest Williamsburg—say, Havana in its heyday. In keeping with that theme, the drink menu is heavy on rum and fresh fruit. Scarlet Fever ($10) gets a kick from chile-spiked rum, plus citrus notes, and sweet cinnamon undertones, while the house tipple is the grapefruit-flavored Donna daiquiri ($10). In a nod to owner Leif Huckman’s (Goat Town, Marlow & Sons) half-Honduran roots, small-plate offerings lean Central American (chorizo empanadas, beef-heart skewers). Far from upper Bedford Avenue, the crowd that starts to dance when D.J.’s spin vintage R&B on Friday and Saturday nights is decidedly un-Williamsburg-like.
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