Monday night Kuntry Karaoke at Hank’s:

Let me begin by saying my love for Hank’s is, to quote John Kennedy Toole’s epic Confederacy of Dunces, platonically intense.   Don’t know whether it’s the worn, pressed tin ceiling, the cheap booze, the free meat, the live music seven nights a week, or it’s location on a relatively ungentrified stretch of Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill that helps it attract all types of characters, or all of the above but the fact is I love Hank’s.

Kind of a slow Saturday for me yesterday.  After having stayed up too late drinking Elijah Craig bourbon while I watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High from beginning to end, I had a lazy day.  Sure, I made it to the Prospect Park Y to sweat out said bourbon and Steve’s C-Town on 9th Avenue to get some mussels to make for dinner but otherwise there wasn’t too much going on for me yesterday.

Then a friend, recently relocated to the BK from Bethlehem, PA, called and said he was taking his wife down to Hank’s to show it to her and would I like to tag along.  Quicker than you could say “Jameson,” I was out there the door and on my way down.  Got to Hank’s just as they were getting started on PBR round numero dos.  Wouldn’t you know, I jumped in, cut up, and probably passed them around PBR round numero siete.  Gotta say the cheap PBR’s, decent tunes — not sure who the band was but they covered The Seeker by The Who and played some other dirty 60s/70s songs — and all-around Hank’s vibe made for a pretty good Saturday night.

Like many dives in New York City, the night shift at Hank’s skews heavily toward the college-educated white folks in their 20s and 30s, which doesn’t necessarily detract from the drinking experience since Hank’s is all bout the rollicking country roadhouse atmosphere.

For the same experience but with a more diverse and less well-heeled crowd, check out Hank’s during the day and early evening.  That’s when the old-timey boozehounds and barflies do their drinking at Hank’s.  I’ve been there a few times and always enjoyed listening to the regular day-shifters at Hank’s shoot the shit.  The buyback policy is usually more generous at the time of the day too.

Happy Hour:  Whenever they’re cooking up free meat!

Cuento Cuesto:  PBR’s are $3, which ain’t the cheapest price in town but it’s cheap enough.  Beers on the pumps and cocktails run about $5.

Who Would Like It:  Cowboys and girls; old west gunslingers; ranch hands; oil field roustabouts; traveling troubadours; hipsters who like to western gear; and people who find the bathrooms on the Chinatown bus to be clean and comfortable.

Split Lip Factor:  Never seen a fight at Hank’s and unless something pretty wild goes down at Kuntry Karaoke, I doubt I will.   1-of-5.

Huckle Factor:  Surprisingly decent.  All those single girls from the Midwest and south who live in Brooklyn have to do their drinking at some place that reminds them of back home every now and then.  3-of-5.

If Hank’s Were A Celebrity:  It’d be Merle Haggard