FNYCRR Award: Best New Dive Bar
Mobilize – 486 7th St., Gowanus, Brooklyn
A Man, A Plan, A Canal…GOWANUS! Mobilize used to be your stereotypical by-the-waterfront dive bar. That is, until owner/bartendress Janine Wise took over. She knows a thing or two about what hipsters are looking for in a watering hole… her cousin happens to be the drummer/flautist for Les Savy Fav.
The place has assumed an almost-quaint retro feel, complete with a fake ox head hanging over the women’s bathroom, and giant bean bag PBR cans to sit on. Comfort food comes in the form of free personal Australian meat pies (one per drink until 4 a.m.). Try a lamb and curried ketchup pie and wash it down with a “Gingerbread Brooklyn” (a gingerbread syrup laced version of a Manhattan $14— Wise refuses to acknowledge the neighboring borough). The crowd is vintage Gowanus, with hoodies and pleather jackets predominating. Got a spare 4 bucks? Hop into the “fauxto booth” where a local precinct sketch artist will draw your portrait on a Mobilize napkin. Cool.
