Homestretch Makes Grub Street’s 50 Best NYC Dive Bars
Last summer, when I told the guys at Papa Pasquale‘s that I was planning to host a ravioli party at Homestretch Pub (214 Kings Highway), they said, “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a bar like that?”
The owners of the grimy Gravesend sports bar are not known for being particularly friendly and have no interest in courting new customers. So, while it is commendable that Grub Street was able to locate Gravesend on a map, it is surprising that our beloved — if somewhat sketchy — neighborhood watering hole made the site’s list of 50 Best Dive Bars in New York City.
The foodie site run by New York Magazine was rather charitable in its description of item #37:
Come for the Mets game and you’ll be privy to heavily Brooklyn-accented chats among regulars about the kids’ college plans, Easter suppers, and what the wife made for dinner. A man in a Jets T-shirt might be shooting darts next to the horse-race mural, $4 Coors in hand. Plus: perhaps the last popcorn ceiling in Brooklyn.
More like there’s always that one guy nodding off in the corner, it’s cash only, and no one’s in a particular rush to serve you or accept your money. The “bar and grill” sign out front is misleading — there are no food offerings at Homestretch — but beers are cheap and customers can order in and catch the game. The backyard is delightfully unmaintained — a discarded rocking horse inexplicably dangles on the edge of one mangled gate. But all that is part of the bar’s dumpy, unassuming charm.
Come to think of it, the only thing that could ruin the hideout is a swarm of northern Brooklyn hipsters on the hunt for “old time Brooklyn authenticity.” Thanks a lot, Grub Street.
