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Clinton-Washington Aves (G)
Lafayette Ave (C)
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Sometimes I just need to kill. I would just like to take a shotgun and do some big game hunting around the city. According to the boys in blue, I'm not allowed to do that. At least this time, I have a seamless Alibi to carry out my wicked deeds.
This is the only place where I can get drunk and kill things. Unfortunately I'm talking about shooting animals on the big screen in Big Game Hunter, but that should satisfy my bloodlust for the moment. I think $6 to take out digital panthers, elk, musk ox, and adorable elephants is way cheaper than a psychiatrist's bill and less humiliating than a life sentence. The hot chicks that flash in between rounds definitely make the time pass quicker.
Don't expect astounding service from the bar. Just order up and quit your whining. Watch out when you pass by the pool table as well. As friendly and outgoing as our resident poolsharks get, they will tear you a new hole if you mess up their shot. Serious hustling goes on in the pay-per-game billiard table. Speaking of hustling, there is definitely some pimping and ho'ing that goes down in these neck of the woods. A sticker that reads "Melinda will swallow your jizz for $40!" on Big Game Hunter's surface top speaks volumes.
A backyard lit in whore-red is the perfect spot to catch some somewhat fresh air in between my African mammal murder sprees and to catch up on a $4 Guinness. When the place appears empty from the inside of the bar, most likely everyone will be out here puffing away and complaining about their jobs or professors. It looks and sounds like a great casual hangout. Maybe it is.
Another on again, off again rainy Saturday afternoon in the K. When we walked in we were greeted by a giant, friendly St. Bernard (Can I please take him home?)
-$5 beers on tap, nothing special.
-one pool table.
-patio out back.
-Big Game Hunter if you're so inclined (and you can amuse yourself with the real life pictures of the "hot" chicks dressed up in safari gear).
Yea, it's a dive bar, and so what? You don't like it, move it along son. No pretense, no hipsters, a douche bag-free zone indeed.
The back room is the best place to sit and talk over several beers on a Saturday afternoon.
Then you realize you've just sat here for 5 hours....and you have the perfect alibi.
I am having trouble conveying my enjoyment and respect for this place while still listing all my complaints about it. Why am I rating it four stars?
Because you and your mates can run out, imbibe some exotic inebriates real quick, and your beer will still be there when you get back. Plus your vibe will still mesh with the vibe of the place. Its coming and going. Its near the G, its near dekalb, nevins, so when you just get too sloppy too early you can marshal the party over to you. Sitting out there on that porch with the red lighting, it can be seven or it can be past midnight - people filter in, people filter out, you're in some kind of a limbo similar to a fly suspended in beer-foam and it isn't that bad. Pratt, meet Clinton Hill, Clinton Hill, meet Ft Greene, now everybody get along and share the pool table.
Maybe that's what actually makes this place work. Its the space and the times you make for yourself there, not the service or the menu, not the amount of decades a place has switched hands but keeps the same name, not the fact it's a low investment kind of establishment.
I'll be the first to admit I find their cocktails ... yeah. The beer selection is a joke. The bartenders don't do well with small talk. They have buck hunter and golf. The pool table is always taken. None of that matters when you're just drinking whiskey and you want your own corner.
I have a feeling I wont really know the place for a long time. Thats okay. Love it, Hate it, I have a feeling I'll keep wander-stumbling back.
Not my favorite dive bar but its good. Stick to the bottled beer the tap beer is way off. . Spent a few of Thursday nights here while attending Pratt. Dealing with cheap college kids and some of the riff raff that stumbles in there bartenders might not be the friendliest but its part of the places charm.
Bartender with ponytail....douchebag, i think he might just be living up to the reviews he is reading.
IF YOUR READING PONYTAIL GUY, lighten up!
Be happy you still have customers...
Yeah, it was and apparently still is a hole. But I spent four years worth of stumbling home early Friday mornings after spending most of Thursday nights here while attending Pratt, so I have a soft spot in my heart for the place. It was a big part of my life at one time. Haven't been back in forever and probably never will, but it's good to hear the old dive is still in business.
Careful do not make a mistake in this place these guys are HARD!
Kidding - a story if i may; I've walked by the Alibi a number of times because i live only a few blocks away and am a huge fan of dives so i have always wanted to go in. I finally walk in one night early (6:20) and sit down at the end corner of the bar...
Bartender ignores me (the sure sign of a GOOD bar for all those of you who don't know it - a bartender who is too cool for the likes of you) so i wait while he changes channels on the TV...
Bartender with a tough, ginger ponytail: What'dyou want?
Me (there are not tap-handles aside from Guiness) so i point to an amber looking beer on the bar next to me and ask "you have Bass on tap?"
Ponytail: "what?"
Me: "do you have Bass on tap" being an Irish bar and with an Bass-looking beer on the bar for reference (now further elucidated) i figure he'll get it
Ponytail: "what?"
Pool-playing guy whose beer it was: "no it's Brooklyn Lager, it looks similar"
Me: "oh cool, i'll take a Brooklyn Lager"
Ponytail: "a lager?"
Me: "yeah thanks"
Ponytail puts the beer on the counter and as I'm reaching for my wallet i realize that it's been stolen or has fallen out of my pocket....
Me: "crap sorry, my wallet is gone, i need to go get it, so sorry, i'll be back in ten minutes"
Ponytail: *rolls his eyes* "SIIIIGGGGGHHH" (befitting his hair)
Conclusion: they either have more pickpockets outside this bar than a Dickens Novel and this poor guy ALWAYS has this happen or he is just a winy do*&he-bag who really needs to calm down. I got home to find that my wallet was gone and tried to call to tell them i would pay later - but...phone is disconnected......
Mean bartenders, crazy customers, arcade games and cheap drinks.
I like it.
What is with the stupid BUCK HUNTER video game in every hip Brooklyn Bar? I don't get it/I'm slightly offended.
Here at the Alibi, I like to:
-Drink gin and tonics with Loni Kirk (ok, she prefers vodka sodas)
-Shoot pool with Mystic
-Start my own dance parties
-Sit and drink on the back patio on warm summer nights
-Take shots of So-Co purchased by strangers (*NOT*)
Is it sad that my roommates and I made it a priority to stay in this neighborhood when we found a new apartment so that we wouldn't be far from this bar?
The dive of dives. Pints are $5, which isn't expensive or super cheap. The bartender was pretty friendly (We were 2 girls late on a weeknight when it wasn't that busy), but this place is extremely dirty with falling apart chairs and crazy drunks. I didn't mind it so much, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart.
Don't let your girlfriend go here by herself. It's full of sleazebags. But they are loveable sleazebags with hearts of gold.
Don't get the Bud on tap. It tastes bad. But why would you anyway? You're a beer snob.
This place is small but there is a backyard that is open til 12 or 1 and I've never had a problem getting a seat here, even with a group. There's definitely a crowd of regulars that come here, which I think is special and gives places a lot of character.
Come to this place if you like dive bars and drinks that are pretty cheap.
OH I forgot, they also have a pool table and a lot of pretty competitive people seem to enjoy playing pool there, which is kind of cool.
Try it. Try frontin' on True Dive. What, you're gonna complain about a place that looks like it's survived - rather poorly - a fire - and no one really cared to fix it up afterwards (other than replacing the burnt-down pool table)?
Stop frontin' and hit up Alibi to toss back a few cheapos - Bud bottles - and mingle with the bipeds that crawl into this bomb shelter that seemed to have been bombed. You'll enjoy it.
I watched the Seahawks beat the Packers on MNF in the Snow Bowl and there were even fellow Seahwaks fans there. So much love at Alibi.
The only pool table in walking distance in the neighborhood (as far as I know - if I'm misinformed, please steer me straight).
a serious dive place.. but why bother with dives when there are so many other bars with a better outdoor space, more arcade games, and friendlier staff? come on now, it's a recession. pick where you spend your $ better!
Best shitty bar ever.
Drinks are really cheap, there's always some loud pool game and people screaming by the bar but the bartender is always fast to get you another round to take out back. I pretty much always sit on the patio because it's stuffy as fuck in there, and maybe I like to smoke sometimes ok? Happy hour is really good there. Unlike other bars in Brooklyn and Manhattan you do not have to pay a premium to get treated like shit by the staff and patrons.
Alibi's fun but probably not destination-worthy for anyone living outside of a 1-mile radius of the place. I get the feeling most patrons live nearby or have friends who live nearby. I fall into category 2.
They do have a nice little back room that's an ideal space for a group of friends to take over, particularly if you're there to play the buck hunter and bowling(?) games that are back there.
Can I give no stars?
Let me preface this review by saying that my favorite bar of all time is the Pour House (RIP) on bushwick and metropolitan which is probably the diviest bar ever. It also happened to be filled with wonderful people who made you feel at home before you finished your first beer.
Ok so, on that note, the Alibi is probably the worst dive bar ever. I've lived in the neighborhood for over a year and have frequented this shit hole pretty regularly. Yet, the sleazy pseudo-hippy bartender never remembers my name even though I've made a point of introducing myself several times.
This bar is full of jackasses and douchebags who think they're in their own private club house and nobody who isn't pre-approved is allowed.
Now, I am a very mellow guy as anyone who knows me can attest to. I have never written a bad review, especially of a dive bar which is where I spend most of my time. But the bartenders here are just plain muthafuckin assholes who shouldn't be allowed around alcohol meant for public consumption.
The pool playing regulars at this bar have an elitist attitude that is mindblowing considering it is the worst pool table I've ever played on.
In short there is not one appealing thing about this bar unless you happen to live within spitting distance or are an underage Pratt student looking for booze. If you're the latter you can always come over to my place. I'll treat you nice and you might learn something.
This bar should not exist it sucks.
It is, at its core, a run-of-the-mill dive. The drinks/beers are inexpensive, but not very good either. I never really cared for the people that hung out there (an array of Pratt kids, neighborhood do-nothings and hipsters). One of the bartenders (I wont point him out, but if you know the Alibi, you probably know who I am talking about) is probably the biggest asshole I have ever encountered.
So why, the four stars? I lived in FG for years and the Alibi was like a friend that was kinda a dick, not really that smart, funny or interesting, but was undeniably reliable. No that I am leaving Brooklyn, I know I will genuinely miss that shithole.
I also have a soft spot for the Alibi, as it was where I watched the now-famed "tuck rule game", when the Patriots beat the Raiders and went on to win their first SB, amongst a pack of pissy Jets fans and one very loud Raiders fan.
This place is truly a shit hole. Another yelper summed it up best, it's like an old friend who's not very interesting but reliable. That said, not once but twice. Drinks are cheap, the jukebox generally holds good tunes. Usually full of Pratt students and assorted locals. It's generally filthy and if your with the right people it can be a good time.
Alibi was the first bar my craigslist-discovered roommates took me to when I moved in last December. It was everything I'd hoped for, and now I go there at least 2 or 3 times a month, usually for happy hour with my girlfriend.
I was used to a place called Louise and Jerry's in Hoboken, a basement-level dive with dim lights, a pool table, a familiar face behind the bar, a good jukebox, and Buck Hunter. Alibi had all these things, plus a great little wooden patio where it's OK to smoke. What more could I ask for?
I like dive bars and this one is your basic. Pool table. Buck hunter (safari). Bearded man with a book at the bar that buys my male friend a drink with no explanation. I can't swing this place when it's packed with Pratt students (avoid Thursdays), but it's a dependable neighborhood spot for a draft beer. I don't know what exactly makes me so indifferent to the place, maybe it's the college bar that is somehow mixed in.
Comfortable divey bar with a patio in the back and cheap pitchers of beer. Nuf said.
Love it. The bartender was GREAT, though apparently he has a bad rep.... Hmmm, my roommate called him the "nicest bartender in NYC" and she hates everyone! (but she was trashed)
Now that the Rope is always filled with LAME asses I'm headed to the Alibi!
One of these days, I'll get around to making a list of legitimate dive bars - bars that actually mean something to real people. Until then, alibi - are you kidding me? amateur night.
Too loud. Way too loud. Isn't there a law against playing bad music that loud? I did like the bar area layout -- it was smart to allow people to stand on the other side of the bar at the end.
Alibi sometimes smells like an old keg farted, but that's dive bars for you. This is the least pretentious place I've found to drink within a 10 minute walk of my apartment. Big Buck Hunter, pool, bar games, plus the deck make it fun for the whole family.
Typical dive. No frills, and the drinks are inexpensive. Pratt students and locals abound. I usually fall into Alibi. It's not a destination place.
Dive Bar par excellence...dirty and cheap...great tunes...full of locals and Pratt students soaking in cheap drinks...nice fireplace to wallow in your whiskey...though going upscale lately with a new bathroom...Doc or Wellies no longer required to pee...where is the neighborhood headed???
I have a soft spot in my heart for the Alibi, because it was the first time I patronized a bar (underage) and one of my early trips to New York when my sister was attending nearby Pratt. I remember being so surprised and disturbed because there was a suspicious cigarette-looking thing on the bathroom floor. Ahhh innocence. I drank screwdrivers in this dive and helped escort a drunk Pratt student home and felt horrible the next day. I will never forget it.
Having decamped from the East Village for cheaper pastures, I've found this place to be a reasonable substitute for my favorite dive bar, The Grassroots Tavern. Dark, dirty, and suitably cave-like, this Ft. Greene institution often has a surprisingly mixed clientele, ranging from hipsters to old construction workers (especially the old guy who wears his toolbelt whilst perched on his bar stool - he gives me the evil eye every now and again), but all enjoy the English Premiership soccer on the one dusty 19" TV. The charmingly overgrown back deck is nice, weather permitting.
definitely not for the faint of heart, or for those who don't live locally. definitely one of the dirtiest, shittiest, most friendly, cheapest, stinkiest places i've ever had the good fortune to drink at. bartenders are tough but kind, jukebox is basically inoffensive, the pool players are superintense but mostly won't want to interact with you if you don't have a stick in your hand. i smoke on the patio all summer long, which the rats seem to enjoy. it has a surprising late night (read: desperation) pick-up scene, so definitely don't let your cute girl/boyfriend go there alone. i second the guy who wrote " smells like an old keg farted", but i would add "in a good way".
Like the other reviews say, its not a place to travel to out of the way for, but its my favorite bar in the neighborhood. whenever we go to dinner on dekalb, we stop in there for a drink. moe's is great, alibi is a good place to go if you actually want to have a conversation or play a game of pool.
A true dive bar, through and through, with a decent beer selection. (Most of Brooklyn Brewery brands are on tap.) You don't feel like a jerk sitting alone at the bar here. The back room is quiet, but cold in the winter, so bundle up.
Neighborhood: Clinton Hill
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: Fort Greene
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: Fort Greene
Category: Lounges
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Category: Bars
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