Sparrow: Will Have You Singing Its Praises

With its bordello-like wallpaper and crowd of regulars, Sparrow projects a slightly standoffish vibe that's promptly dispelled once you commandeer a bar stool. The scene is reminiscent of more out-of-the-way Brooklyn bars before that borough's great exodus of priced-out residents paved the way for young trust funders born in an era when Saved By the Bell was considered ironic.

The dinner menu far surpasses typical pub fare in both selection and quality. Exhibit A: The Bifteki comes as two sizable football-shaped portions of ground and marinated beef. With serious seasoning and a hearty yogurt-dill-cucumber dip, the Bifteki is nicely complimented by a heaping pile of herb fries that will have you shoveling them in by the fistful. The grilled cheese sandwich, famed among long-time Astoria residents, is nothing to laugh at with a mixture of quality ingredients and piping hot delivery. Most entrees ring up at a reasonable nine dollars and the service is good. Sparrow serves the kind of food that dinner companions will steal off your plate when you leave for the bathroom so you best hold it in or bid your herb fries goodbye.

Another reason to venture past Sparrow's matte-black door is, of course, the beer selection. You could throw a dart, blindfolded and tipsy, at a map of the world and there's a good chance it would land on a country whose beer is served at this bar. Japan, Jamaica, Italy, are just the beginning of a beer list that's rounded out by the brew titans of England, Germany and Belgium. Sparrow has also infused its wine list with enough flavor diversity to entice the causal guzzler.

INFO:
Sparrow Bar
24-01 29th St.
718-606-2260
Official Website