The Bronx Beer Hall
2344 Arthur Ave., nr. 186th St., the Bronx; 347-396-0555
With just five taps at its disposal, the draw at the Bronx Beer Hall isn’t actually the beer. It’s the only–in–New York experience that comes with tossing back a few in the middle of a bustling Italian-American marketplace. Opened in the Arthur Avenue Market by a pair of Bronxite brothers, along with David Greco, the culinary force behind Mike’s Deli, the Bronx Beer Hall makes glugging Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold or Ithaca apricot wheat from a Mason jar ($4 to $9) amid cheese- and charcuterie-shopping locals seem almost natural. It’s one Sinatra hit after another, plate upon plate of fennel or hot sausage ($32 for six), and four-draft, half-pint flights ($12) served in hand-carved birchwood tree trunks. The deal sealer comes at 6 p.m., though, when the rest of the market vendors clear out and it’s just you, the gregarious bartenders, and a gaggle of locals, tickled pink that a destination-worthy beer bar has landed so far north.