Earlier this year, we lost Goodbye Blue Monday (GBM), a staple of the local music and dive scene in Bushwick for nine years. I was lucky enough to have barged in on many of GBM’s nightly dives into the weird and lesser known musical spectacles (I once saw a traveling Japanese five-piece Jazz orchestra there). And from the very first moment I stumbled through what looked like the entrance to a scrap metal yard designed by Tim Burton and into a hoarder’s rented storage space serving beer, I declared it “the divest dive to end all dives.”
But out with the old and in with the new. Looking Glass takes advantage of the immense space that was hidden under the previous mess of miscellaneous mannequin pieces, records and other oddities of GBM, and attempts to hit every dive bar shtick to please an array of tastes. From the faux low-culture decor, cavernous atmosphere, tunes (new and old) and brightly lit stage, it is everything I’d expect at a punk rock venue.
Looking Glass is nonetheless a great place to grab a drink from their all-day Happy Hour specials and late night noms that are available until 3 a.m. everyday. If you like drinks on the sweeter side, you’ll enjoy their mixed drinks and sangria presented with the obligatory tacky cocktail umbrella. But you can’t go wrong with their mix of local, domestic and non-domestic beers on tap and surprisingly ample liquor selection.
If you do make it out to Looking Glass, I recommend coming with a big group and enjoying the back patio before Bushwick turns into a winter wonderland. There you’ll find a lot of space to converse and drink, beer pong tables, and a place to meet your neighbors.
Looking Glass has some big shoes to fill, but it’s definitely worth a peak and a drink.
Looking Glass, 1087 Broadway, Bushwick. Hours: Monday-Thursday 6pm-4am, Friday-Sunday 5pm-4am. (917) 966-9674.