It's the 1950s inside Crown Heights's newest booze addition Branch Ofc, which opened on Rogers Avenue last week. The floors are green and pink vinyl, the cash registers are pre-digital and the walls are decked out with old photos from the World War II-era. Just don't think too deeply about the Metallica pinball machine in the corner.
The new bar from ex-Franklin Park barkeep Christopher Buckley keeps it pretty simple, including the cocktail menu. Each of the $11 concoctions boasts fewer than three ingredients—an oddity in the ever more complex mixology trend—like the bar's namesake drink with Jameson, lime and bitters. Beers are either a draft ($7) of IPA, pilsner and a few others, or a can of Schaefer ($4), which was the official sponsored beer of Brooklyn's foregone baseball team the Dodgers, whose former home of Ebbet's Field is just a few blocks away.
There's an expansive, unadorned backyard area for a hurried smoke, at least until more mild seasons prevail. They're also doing a small food program, which consists of a few pressed sandwiches, bags of chips, cookies and other light snacks.
225 Rogers Avenue, Crown Heights, website
