A subterranean complex for booze, games, and grub

Brothers often outgrow the competitive streaks of their youth, whether due to maturity, mutual respect, or the fact that Dad's never going to love either of you. For brothers giving you a place to get competitive with anyone, check out The Whiskey Brooklyn. The brohams behind Whiskey Town and Whiskey Tavern have teamed up with another set of bros (origin: Tulsa) to turn a former tonic water factory into a massive adult rec room/rathskeller time machine, with concrete floors, old brick walls, dark wooden booths, and a central U-shaped bar ("for eye [sexing] across") dimly cast in an orange glow alongside modern touches like seven huge LCDs, and a DJ booth siding an elevated stripper pole (though whether your pole's elevated depends on who's on it). For gamesmanship, a pair of hand-built shuffleboard tables nestle in one corner, while an adjacent room's filled with foosball, Buck Hunter, mini-basketball, and an Arcade Legends machine housing 100 classics from Rampage to Street Fighter II, so you don't get Shunned Li by your Guile-less friends for Blanka-ing out. Suiting the vibe're gratifyingly manly beer options -- domestic cans, Hi-Life bottles, and McSorley's-esque "light" and "dark" drafts -- but it's the brown that steals the spotlight, showing up in Pickle Backs, 'tails made from family made Tom Lawless American whiskey, and straight pours from a 50-plus-strong collection broken down by provenance, including America (Colorado, Michter's...), Japan (Suntory Yamakazi), and Scotland, whose Famous Grouse is just upset it can't get into Canadian clubs. Sustenance need not require braving the light of day, as the kitchen's handling variously topped mini dogs called Coneys, deep fried bacon w/ blue cheese, a Bowl of Meatballs, and gravy-cheese smothered tots -- smart kids, as absent love, it's nice to be smothered in something.