Jackbar is the bar you go to when you want a date that feels nothing like a date — which is sometimes exactly right. The concept is straightforward: beer, shots, and fifteen pinball machines lined up against the walls of a loud Williamsburg dive. The shot-and-a-beer combo keeps the tab honest. Nobody is pretending to be anywhere else.
The Vibe
A life-size mermaid mural marks the door. Inside, it's dim, grunge-adjacent, and loud enough that conversation happens in bursts between turns. Fifteen machines — Stranger Things, Spider-Man, King Kong among them — run on quarters or dollar bills at three plays for two dollars. The bartender will break bills without being asked. There's no kitchen, but the bar allows outside food, which is either charming or chaotic depending on who shows up with what. In summer, a small back patio opens up and gives you somewhere to breathe.
What to Order
- Draft beer — eighteen lines, well-kept, and the point of the whole operation. Order whatever's local.
- Shot and a beer — the move, full stop. The price makes it easy to commit to a second round.
- Cocktails — skip them. This is not that bar, and the margarita will remind you of that immediately.
When to Come
Best on a weeknight when the machines have room to breathe. Friday and Saturday fill up fast and the noise climbs to a level that makes talking optional. A second or third date works better than a first — the format rewards comfort over performance. No reservations, open until 4am.
The Bottom Line
A genuinely fun bar if you go in knowing what it is: loud, cheap, pinball-forward, and completely unpretentious — which earns it more credit than most places asking twice the price for half the personality.