Burnside
506 Grand St., nr. Union Ave., Williamsburg; 347-889-7793
For a bar in a neighborhood racked with aggressively themed bars (Nautical! Leather! New Orleans– y!), everything here is delightfully low-key—from the T-shirt-clad crowd to the décor, or lack thereof (decaying walls, spartan wooden seats). Still, Burnside improves upon your typical Ann Arbor dive: Beyond the boisterous games of shuffleboard and solid beer-and-bourbon menu, not to mention delicious deep-fried cheese curds ($4 to $6), you’ll find dozens of flatteringly lit nooks and crannies to host more intimate moments (including benches reminiscent of wood-burning saunas, or the covertly situated seats on Burnside’s patio).
Midwestern Watering Hole
Where to Drink Now
- What Does Your Drink Say About You?
- Playing Cupid at a Beer-Hall Meat-Market
- The New Wave of Gin-Centric Cocktail Joints
- Bottle Service for Bottle-Service Haters
- Where to Drink, Anywhere, Anytime
- Solutions to Six Drink-Order Clichés
- Brunchtime Cocktails Worth Setting an Alarm For
- Manhattan's New Russian-Themed Club vs. Little Odessa
- A Night in the Life of the Mister H Doormen