Bar Madonna

Bar Madonna opened in spring 2024 on Metropolitan Avenue and quickly became one of Williamsburg's liveliest nights out. The room is high-ceilinged and warm — green banquettes, globe lights, a long wooden bar — with a painting by the Brooklyn artist KidSuper as its centerpiece. The founders are clear that it is a bar first, with food that riffs on Italian-American red sauce, and the cocktails earned it a place on North America's 50 Best Bars list as a new entry.

Start with a Madonna Bellini or The Bialetti, two of the house signatures, then eat properly: the meatball parm, smashed flat with crisped edges under stretchy provolone, wings charred hard over the grill, prawns with polenta, and cannoli to finish. The soundtrack leans hip-hop and R&B and gets louder as the night goes on, so come early for dinner and conversation, or late for the party.