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Real People. Real Reviews.®
Metropolitan Ave-Lorimer St (G, L)
I've been going to Royal Oak for a year now and it's always been good. I go for the drinks (The Bramble and The Tina Fey, The Tina Fey is now my favorite) and the dancing.
The bartenders are friendly enough and I've never waited forever for a drink. They have a big space in the back where you can let loose and get your freak on. The DJ can be a hit or a miss. Last time I went (three weekends ago) the speakers were broken and they sent the good DJ home and started playing stuff off of the bartender's ipods, which meant there would be one good song and then five lame ones. Another time the DJ was only playing Daft Punk, which I know excites some of you but it got real old real fast. Other times I've stayed til last call because the music was bumping.
The crowd is the same way, really good on some nights, and super lame on others. It gets packed on the weekends, so don't go if you want to sit in the corner and be moody or if you're going to be that jerk who gets mad when people are pushed up against them. People like to go out too! Be social, it doesn't hurt! The ladies bathroom is always clean and smells like strawberries. No idea about the men's room. Also, is everyone is there 21 or over? Most likely no, but those people (or should I say girls) are easy to spot, so don't stand/sit/dance next to them.
You can (and will) have a good time here if you leave your attitude at home and order a Tina Fey. Joins us on the dance floor; I know you got moves.
(Also: They had a coat check last winter but it's gone now. I wish it make an appearance again!)
If you want a place to enjoy a quiet drink and talk about philosophy, this is not the place you want to be. On the other hand, if you've had a hard week, want to drink like Lindsay Lohan (other substances included) and dance to Hot Chip, then go to Royal Oak!
I have never been to this place and left thinking, 'oh that was boring and uneventful.' But of course, I've never gone there looking for a chill night. It's totally skeezy and you may get dance/humped by a bespectacled hipster, but hey, what's wrong with that?!
They
Do have
Large crowd for
Late night dancing
But its a bit too crowded and skeezy.
Favorite bar in the vicinity of McCarran pk. Spent many cold winter nights here thawing out and an equal number of hot summer days shaking off the heat.
You know what? I've only every used the Royal Oak in the middle of the day. "Used?" you ask? "What an odd use of the word use." No, see-- I'm in these plays, sometimes. It is as cheesy & awesome as you can imagine. Anyhow-- we rehearse in the back of the Royal Oak. The spacious, awesome back. Yeah-- chuck a bunch of cheap happy hour drinks & say our lines. I've got a real fondness for this place; I usually seek it out if I'm in Williamsburg.
Have they fixed the speakers yet?
Listen, I'm not gonna lie. Was the reason I loved this place so much because they played only the hits? Was it because I had passed out in the booth and woke up declaring, "I'm not drunk, I'm only drinking shots!" Was it because weird men line up to do fake strip teases at my friend's bachelorette party? No, it was ALL of those things.
I could totally see some hipsters thinking they were too cool for school going to this place. Why? Cause it was kind of a meat market and filled with drunk people dancing. To be honest, this place is probably not even set up to be a dance club--but, if you want to dance to great music and drink cheap (for Brooklyn) this place was it! We had the best time, it never got too crowded and we didn't break the bank drinking there. Now, there were people in the crowd sneaking in flasks and their own cans of beer but that's not my style (you NYC peeps need to come to affordable Philly). The bartender was awesome, the bouncer was awesome and the DJ was awesome. He even agreed to play Hall and Oates when he knew Sara Smile would clear out the dance floor, which it did.
Overall, it was a great place to dance with people who were looking to dance. I can't wait to go back!
I was having a perfectly rad Monday night at Union Pool, enjoying the dirty gospel show, when a friend of mine who hadn't been as into it started texting me, telling me to come to Royal Oak. She said it wasn't as crowded, was super chill, and I'd be really into the bartender. So when the show was over, my gospel buddy and I went to check it out. Verdict? No. When we walked in my wasted friend and one other dude were at the bar, talking to the bartender. They were the only three people in the entire place, there was nothing going on, and the bartender wasn't even rad. We had one drink and then went back to Union Pool, where life is always good.
I like you Royal Oak!! I was recently here to celebrate my birthday with friends and had a blast. If your not too into crowds I would definitely say to head in early because after midnight this place gets pretty packed. The music was good a lot of new wave, alternative, funk and so on.....so you can dance or you can chill!! Drinks are strong and farely reasonable. There are also nice big booths so you can sit and drink you your friends!! Its also super close to my apartment, which makes it all the better.
About the only person giving me compliments these days is Yelp. "Looking good, Brett." "You're looking smart today, Brett." Thanks, boo. If it weren't for you, I might be stuck in a corner, crying, like a baby, listening to "Hungry Eyes" on repeat all night.*
But since Yelp and I aren't monogamous**, I decided to go out and maybe, just maybe, impress something other than my computer for once.
Royal Oak, as it turns out, is really just a lot of white people dancing. I don't have anything against either of the two, but it can be an interesting combo. Unfortunately, I still haven't learned the value of pre-gaming, so I arrived as the Sober Sister, and I don't dance without being heavily intoxicated.***
After downing a beer as quickly as I could, I was ready to at least move my hips a little. The backroom was extremely crowded (Friday night), so I barely had room to show off my moves. Worse, I was stuck. No, literally, I was stuck. My feet had the misfortune of meeting the floor right in a spot where someone had clearly spilled a drink. I could barely lift my shoes!
But nobody puts Baby in a corner, so I fought through and grooved a little. I became just another white person dancing. Not bad, Royal Oak, not bad.
__________
* Too soon?
** Yelp's been around the block (EVERY block) a few times.
*** Anyone watch True Blood? I sort of dance like Andy, that is, like I'm having an epileptic seizure. I could also be compared to Elaine on Seinfeld. It's not pretty.
My singular experience here so far was gloriously low-key. It was 7 pm on a Tuesday night, my girl friends had shop talk with mix drinks, and I talked Japanese cinema with the awesome bartender while he played some Beck and served me Kronenbourg beer. I'm returning tonight hoping for some peace, quiet, and an excuse to get trashed.
Went the night Michael Jackson died.
It was off the hook, the floor was so filled with people with fake IDs that I couldn't move anything but my head. Got my butt pinched, but I was drunk so it was all good.
After about an hour or so my date insisted we leave... I obliged like a true lady. Something about the vibe was rubbing him the wrong way--- the people here were just acting, "too cool" or just rather douchechill.
I had fun but the crowd was a little too young for me and I'm 21... no bueno.
Went for a friend's show. Was put off by the mediocre beer selection, but even more put off that the bartender refused to explain what "Sweet Ups" was and where it came from.
It's cute that they try to make their cheap beer offering more appealing to the hipster crowd by giving it a cutesy name, but that means less than nothing to someone who actually appreciates good beer. Friends later pointed out that it's likely a domestic light beer (Miller or Bud Light) but I don't see why the bartender couldn't just say so when asked.
I opted not to get anything. The show was good, and the decor is cool, but if I go back for future shows I'll be sure to stop by Mugs Alehouse for drinks before and after.
This is my new fav dance spot in williamsburg. Went there about a year ago, was pretty dead, now it seems to be happening from like early afternoon on some weekends. Some really good djs be playing there, there's always plenty of seating room n the bar out front makes for a nice escape from the ruckus in the back.
Gorgeous and spacious place in Williamsburg, named after a hip, gay neighborhood in the Motor City. Lots of fun dj nights (Monday karaoke) and inexpensive drinks: beers from Germany, England and Belgium and their specialty the Bramble: made from fresh berries. The place attracts plenty of locals. Shih, the owner tends bar. Local hipsters (originally from Ohio and other midwest states) like it here cause it doesn't get too touristy.
Cash Only
Read more at my blog:
http://iheartnycbars.w...
I heard a rumor from the cashier guy at Trader Joe's that this place has a $1 pitcher special in the afternoons.. if this is true my rating might go up a lot higher.
Otherwise, this bar struck me as nothing special. Not sure what I was imagining, but it's just a typical overcrowded, kinda cheap, slightly trashy bar. A place for the young and hip, without much to offer on its own other than to check people out. It's nice that they have booths. The bartenders are pretty attentive.
Pfft. The crowd sucks and the DJ sucks. There's really no reason to come here.
That is, unless you're trying to pick up a lonely self esteem challenged female. My friends and I tolerated a DJ that doesn't know how to transition and a ton of wasted hipsters so that our newly single buddy could try his luck. While it wasn't the most painful experience EVER, my night was far from ideal.
If this had been my first bad experience here I would cut the place some slack, but it has consistently been shitty. Unless you are a single male. Good luck!
Found out about DJ Full Time Fun, through a friend. Turns out he DJ's there often and was throwing a huge Valentine's Day dance party at Royal Oak with tunes including Michael Jackson, Prince, MGMT, Madonna, Journey - good time throw down dance party tracks and fun mashups. My brother was in town and this was just what we were looking for, not to mention they were offering FREE cocktail hour featuring Raspberry Berets, FREE gift bags, FREE photo opp area from Brooklyn Royalty.. I was like is this really too good to be true? I called the bar to see if there was a cover, and they said there is never a cover - Oh Snap indeed!
So a bunch of us piled in, danced our pants off, met some new friends, got some fun photos taken and had a very lovely Valentine's day.
Check their myspace page for the real deal party updates: http://www.myspace.com...
If you want to feel like your in an old speak easy and you can deal with the hipster aesthetic, this is the place for you,
Well maintained.
I went the other night with a friend. Definitely a great spot. I felt like most of the people there looked identical, but that's okay. No cover, great music and SPACIOUS. There are 3 rooms... one with the bar, one with foosball tables/chairs and a dance area... the lighting was perfect in each room.
As for the bathrooms... I felt like I waited an eternity, but while I was waiting online I met a nice chick to have a conversation with... about fetuses? I guess that was because the bathroom was embryo-yellow... Hey, any place where I can talk about fetuses with a random stranger is A-Okay in my book.
Okay, back to the music... Michael Jackson, Madonna, Marilyn Manson, Orgy... fun to dance to. The DJ also looked like Borat... haha... I had a good time, I'd go back definitely...
Clean, relaxed, fun. good bartenders and good prices... and just 10 feet from my apartment!
just -1 star for the abundance of hipsters, but i knew that I would have to put up with those asses when I moved here.
I'm a fan of this place. There's a little something for almost everyone. You can dance, you can play foosball, sit in a little booth, etc etc. I had my birthday here and it seemed like everyone was genuinely having a good time. Sure, there are some really young kids here but for the most part, if you're with a good group of people, you barely notice (alcohol also helps).
The bartenders were really friendly and also generous with the birthday drinks.
The DJ played a bunch of awesome 90s hip hop/rap music.
Drinks were cheap.
No cover.
I really don't think I have anything to complain about. Awesometown.
Did you ever live in Boston? If so, just show up and you're GUARANTEED to know someone from your past here. Or some 2343 people from your past. It's kind of like an episode of Three's Company where you walk in like Jack Tripper and fall on your ass because you're so overwhelmed on how cliché you feel. But hey, such is Brooklyn.
However, it is a cool space, lots of neat nooks, and people moving their bodies around in a fashion not too unlike dancing.
Great North Billville/almost-Greenpoint dance bar! I can count on one hand the number of occasions I've been this far north in Billville, but I was definitely glad to get the chance to check this place out at the end of a night of fun restaurant and bar-hopping around the nabe.
By the time we made it to Royal Oak, it was already after 2am, as we'd been sampling the high-end cocktails around Billville. As such, we really didn't need much in the way of EtOH. Instead, we chose to drop our coats and hit the dance floor straightaway. The music was great, varying between light house, dance rock, and some 80s electro. Really, really fun DJ, even if the friend-of-a-friend who was meant to be the night's DJ was nowhere to be found.
When we stumbled out after 4, tired and happy, we discovered the drawbacks of hanging out in a place like this: if you don't live in the nabe, you're faced with the daunting task of taking a subway that requires a transfer (unless you happen to live along 14th Street) or finding a cab in the wasteland of McCarren Park. Finally, luckily, as the snow began to fall, we succeeded in the latter course of action.
Really fun place. I'd recommend, especially if you have reliable means of transport out of the nabe, or if you happen to live there.
Walking through the wasteland between Lorimer Street subway and the Royal Oak, one could be forgiven for thinking they'd got their instructions wrong. The streets are vacated and quiet, the factories lay closed or abandoned and traffic is minimal. Even standing out the front of the Royal Oak the first time I went there, I didn't know it was there!
Inside however, is a superbly appointed uber-bar. The scale of the establishment is one thing but it's also dark, with rich wood features adding to the character of the place. Drinks are reasonable and the crowd seems to be a healthy mix of locals and "tourists" from surrounding areas.
There's been a genuinely easy-going attitude amongst the patrons the few times I've been and that in itself is very appealing. Heck, I even recall seeing a guy bring his dog in who seemed quite happy to stand up at the bar and be patted by his new-found human lackeys.
A very good spot to meet new people or tuck yourself away in a corner for a drink. Comfortable booth seating, a long bar and roomy dancefloor make this a must for your next Williamsburg crawl.
My only memory of this place:
Pissing in the urinal at 4am while water spilled out onto my shoes and into the rest of the bathroom, which was already holding a few inches of piss water. While I was going this dude in the stall kept bugging me to come snort some cane.
There are many reasons why this is one of my favorite bars, and why I usually end every Williamsburg night here. (And why I can show up at 3am and still manage to salvage any less than fantastic night)
First of all, thank god for this bar, because I can actually convince my Manhattan friends to come out around my area. And trust me, that's no easy task.
Another big advantage is that Royal Oak is so large that it never feels overly crowded. As in you can actually stand around without being shoved. There are 3 sections to the bar.. when you first walk in, there are booths and people can hang out and talk. The next room houses a foosball table and there is a tiny room with a table that is pretty much not worth even mentioning, because it's doubtful you'll ever get it. And finally, a large room with DJ in the back where the dancing happens. So there's something for everyone.
Foosball is awesome because it's one of those bar games that doesn't take forever to play, so you can claim next game and have your turn pretty quickly. And it's free! The only other foosball tables I know of in the city take quarters and are at awful frat bars, so Royal Oak wins just for this.
I loathe this douchey hellhole. It's always packed with Williamsburg's finest (sarcasm), always pitch black inside and too hot. There's usually a corny dance party in the back with a terrible DJ . VETO!
oh, royal oak
always drunk
always (most of the time) good music
always dancing
always decent priced drinks
even if i always don't remember it
i always have fun
As a person of advancing years, I feel the need to qualify my presence in this bistro: I was there for a friend of a friend's thirtieth birthday party (I being quite a few years beyond this landmark myself.) So, under semi-legitimate pretense, I was able to view the establishment from a removed, sociological experiment point of view.
The Royal has a rather cavernous floor space with ample interior room for mulling around. At ten pm it still seemed open enough to run pass patterns with a Nerf football, but a few hours later if felt as though eight bus loads of high school seniors had been escorted in, fresh from their field trip at a thrift shop. Plenty of consciously unconscious facial hair and jaunty, stingy brimmed pork pie hats. Actually, I've been in several bars where the hipster mystique was more tangible. This one had more of an air of hipsters in training and junior varsity footballers looking for a little action. A place where even the younger crowd likely feels a little old.
There's a big "B" in the tile of the mosaic floor .. either for Brooklyn, or the owner's name, or the raspberry bramble drink they serve here .. but definitely not for "Bring a legitimate ID." Seems like a neat place to go if you happen upon it on an uncrowded weeknight. Or, as another reviewer noted upon seeing his 32 year old pal hook up with a 17 year old girl "this place is pretty dope." I suppose all's fair in love and underaged hipster bars, as long as he had her in her civics class the next Monday.
If, like me, you're slanting toward the "should probably be married and have a family by now" demographic, this would be a fine place to pop in and reassure yourself that you're not missing much.
My boy hooked up with a 17 year-old the night we were here.
My boy is 32.
With a little first-grade math, it's not hard to figure out that this place is pretty dope.
5 stars for Zombie A-Go-Go, the best (and only) Zombie experience I've ever had.
It was right around halloween, but I forgot to review it until now. I think they're having a Bloody Valentine zombie event as well. I will see you there!
Pro makeup artists (Robbin, I love you) plus awesome people equals best night ever.
I got too drunk, but I have great photos of myself as a sexy zombie.
And my friend Roman rocks the turntables every Monday night (without zombie makeup artists).
He has amazing taste in music.
I heart him forever.
Was here for a friend's birthday. The place was really spacious. Bar in the front, bathrooms, foosball table, and dance area. Tons of seating, which I love. Nice bartenders. Cheap drinks! Great beats. I liked that it wasn't overcrowded, but it was also a summer holiday weekend - not sure if it was better than usual.
*sigh*
This place is ranked really high for a place where I believe the theme is "YO, I AM DIRTY, THEREFORE I AM COOL!"
Someone once labeled me as a Hipster in my face but I don't consider myself Hipster.
Sure I have that messy hair - it's because I don't like to brush my hair and I am obsessed with BIG HAIR. But my hair is always CLEAN and no matter what the state of condition of my hair appears to be - it's NOT DIRTY.
Since I am not a Hipster - I did not enjoy this crowd. I don't like to get dirty and nor do I enjoy places where it super duper dark.
Super dark room + alcohol = You're F'ed! (Worse than having beer goggle vision!)
I came here because it was somebody's bright idea to come here and since I didn't know where we were going - I didn't object to this newfound idea.
This place looks like an abandon apartment from the outside and the place inside doesn't look any better.
I believe people will give a high rank to any place as long as they get cheap booze. (i.e Kenka - nasty food but cheap booze, and Akina - again nasty food but BYOB!)
Hmm I am sure Rocky P. would enjoy a place like this since he loves them Hipsters.
Hipster-pop anthems rule as another spot with a lot of potential can be somewhat of a hit but also big time miss on a given night, which seems to be about as good as it gets at most of the night spots around the city that don't tout big name DJs.
I find this to be a divine tragedy, yet for recent residents of the city, into hipster-pop culture (and I am actually a self-defined supporter of hipster culture) that have recently graduated college, and like 80s (sometimes the most cheesy) pop, late 90's hip-hop, M.I.A., J.U.S.T.I.C.E. and Diplo then this may be a place you dig.
Sometimes it works for me, and if you're really desperate for a place to shake your booty whilst in Williamsburg it can serve such late night cravings, but it gets old after a while. I was there recently, and the two DJ's were pretty generic in their music selection. The fact that mobile/wedding DJing has become the staple of DJ "culture" in NYC clubs/lounges is quite saddening. I swear the place used to be better, but I think demographics changes in the city are really hitting the "underground" spots hard, and turning them pop.
I'd like to see the standards for "underground" to be raised at least above the level of pop, even if it's for those who identify themselves as "outsiders." I believe that we as a city have to do a better job of supporting DJs who actually play dance-able songs we can't all sing along to the lyrics with!
It's such a pretty bar, but sadly, that's about all.
Everytime I've gone I've been miserbaly disappointed, and ended up somewhere else down the street.
The most recent example was last Friday night. I'd heard that there was some dancing to be had at Royal Oak, so some friends and I went to check it out. The DJ was totally confused, playing a bunch of house music, and then throwing in a random Pixies song. I tried so hard to get with it, but just couldn't.
I'm taking it as a huge sign that every time I go, I end up leaving after 30 minutes. In fact, I don't think I've ever even finished an entire drink here.
(Also, the dirty, little secret is true: the girls are all in the bathroom throwing up.)
Boo, Royal Oak. Boo.
This is a very hipster Brooklyn area. The music was very good, i just wish a) the the DJ would transition the songs a little better and b) that the music was louder. Since this bar has 3 rooms, I could barely hear the music sometimes because there was so much noise from the other rooms. Overall, I had a fun time getting buzzed on semi-cheap drinks and watching uncoordinated hipsters dance. Ha. I've never seen moshing to hip-hop music! The middle room had a foos stable and the front was bar area. The best pro: no Cover! Can't beat that.
This place was really cool. I remember getting trashed and dancing into walls. Roomy and played rad music. One of the venues that really stuck in my mind when thinking back on my trip to New York...
I do not like the whole hipster crowd and definitely do not enjoy most of the hipster bars that are around, yet still find myself sometimes attending them, where my friends and I stick out like sore thumbs and look more like rowdy frat guys. Oh well. Royal Oak is one of the few that I actually enjoy. I never have high hopes for it, which I guess makes me actually have a better time in retrospect. The music is usually pretty good and the drinks tend to be on the cheap side. I always tend to get wrecked here and ruin everybodys time that im with so it works for me.
Good to know, that after a few dreary years, Royal Oak is back on its game. Sure the space needs updating, but hard to grouse when slurping down the $7 house drink - The Bramble. A concoction of gin, blackberry brandy and more, this cocktail is not only a deal, it's tasty as hell. Fridays are fun for ever-so-slightly retro electro with plenty of dancing . . . and after one too many Brambles, retire to the excellent choice of reasonably priced beers on tap.
Happy Hours every weekday…
Neighborhood: TriBeCa
Daily Happy Hour: 4 - 7 PM
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side
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