Fresh Kills Bar: Williamsburg Happy Hour with $10 craft cocktails
A Milk & Honey–pedigree cocktail bar on Grand Street where the ice is hand-cut, the syrups are housemade, and the room feels like a ship’s under-cabin. Here’s the happy hour and what to order.
Happy hour runs Daily 5pm–7pm.
$10 cocktails
About Fresh Kills Bar
Fresh Kills opened at the tail end of March 2016 — quietly, with no press release — from Richard Boccato, whose résumé runs through Milk & Honey and his own Long Island City bar, Dutch Kills. The space at 161 Grand Street has deep roots: Boccato’s partners Garo Yellin and Jesse Moore bought it in the early 1990s and once lived on the first floor, and the bar was designed to feel “as if we had always been here.”
The result is a serious, brass-tacks cocktail program in an intimate, speakeasy-leaning room. Drinks are built with fresh-squeezed juices, housemade syrups, hand-cut ice, and good spirits, with an average cocktail around $14 — a price that reflects the labor behind the glass.
The Happy Hour
Happy hour runs daily from 5pm to 7pm, with $10 cocktails — a genuine bargain at a bar where the standard pour runs closer to $14 and the craft is the entire point. Arriving right at 5pm is also the move for seating: the room is small, and regulars happily queue later in the night to watch the bartenders work.
What to Order
There’s a menu with abridged histories of the classics, plus a list of low-ABV options worth starting on. Signatures include the United Service Punch (Arrack and tea syrup finished with lemon, nutmeg, and smoked sea salt, sourced from an 1862 drinks guide) and the Dragon’s Breath (calvados, dry vermouth, and apricot liqueur with a few drops of hot sauce and a pickled walnut on the side). You can also simply tell the bartender what you’re in the mood for and let them build something classic to your taste. Food is limited to traditional bar snacks — olives, a nut mix, beef jerky.
The Space and Vibe
The shotgun-style room is awash in nautical pewter tones, with hand-stitched leather booths, exposed brick, and a long marble bar that curves inward like a ship’s carriage. It’s dim, intimate, and built for date nights or quiet conversation, with a soundtrack that wanders from Sinatra to hip-hop. Seating is limited, which is part of the charm.
The Williamsburg Angle
Fresh Kills is on Grand Street on the North Side — take the L to Bedford Avenue and walk about six blocks south. For a neighborhood this dense with cocktail bars, this is one of the most pedigreed, and the daily $10-cocktail window makes a normally splurgy room an easy first stop on a Williamsburg evening.
Who It’s For
| Good for | Why it works |
|---|---|
| After-work drinks | Daily 5pm–7pm — $10 cocktails |
| Pre-dinner drinks & bites | Hit the bar for the Daily 5pm–7pm happy hour before your table |
| Catch-up over small plates | $10 cocktails keeps the first round cheap |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fresh Kills Bar have a happy hour?
Yes. Fresh Kills runs a daily happy hour from 5pm to 7pm with $10 cocktails — a strong deal given the bar’s roughly $14 standard pour.
What time is happy hour at Fresh Kills?
Every day, 5pm to 7pm. Hours can change — confirm with the bar before you go.
Does Fresh Kills have a cocktail menu?
Yes, with classics and low-ABV options and short histories of each drink — but you can also describe what you like and have the bartender make something to taste. Food is limited to bar snacks like olives, nuts, and jerky.
Where is Fresh Kills Bar?
161 Grand St in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — about six blocks south of the Bedford Avenue L.
Happy-hour details verified June 2026. Deals change — confirm with Fresh Kills Bar before heading over.
Happy Hour
Daily 5pm–7pm
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