The Sunken Harbor Club sits on the second floor above the historic chophouse Gage & Tollner on Fulton Street, a wood-clad nautical room from St. John Frizell and bartender Garret Richard. It ran for eight years as a weekly pop-up at Red Hook's Fort Defiance before settling into this permanent home in 2021.
Who would love it: rum drinkers and tiki obsessives who want classic tropical cocktails built with real technique. Who would hate it: large groups and reservation planners, since the small room is walk-in only and fills early on weekends.
The space is dressed like the inside of a ship, with antique Japanese fishing floats, hemp mooring lines and taxidermied fish covering the walls. Rum is the star of the backbar, with more than 50 bottles in rotation and a Commodore's Collection of rare pours for serious drinkers. Garret Richard's program has made the room a fixture on World's 50 Best Discovery lists.
The menu is organized by depth. Lighter, refreshing drinks sit In the Shallows, stronger builds wait in The Abyss, and the most adventurous pours live in The Twilight Zone. Start with the Mai Tai, a benchmark for the room, then move to a Zombie Punch if the night calls for it. The cocktails land in the mid-to-upper range for a Brooklyn destination bar, which suits the technique going into each glass.
Among the city's best cocktail bars in New York, this is the one to send rum lovers to first, and it pairs well with dinner downstairs at Gage & Tollner. The tiki credentials also put it near the top of any tiki bars shortlist.
Best time to go is a weekday evening or right at the 5pm open, since the bar takes no reservations and the small room turns people away once it fills. Friday and Saturday run latest, to midnight, and draw the longest waits.
Plan the rest of the night with the wider cocktail bars guide or the full New York bar guide. The bar sits steps from the Jay Street and Hoyt-Schermerhorn stations in Downtown Brooklyn.
The room
The decor commits fully to the conceit. Antique Japanese glass fishing floats hang overhead, hemp mooring lines and taxidermied fish line the walls, and the wood cladding makes the upstairs room feel like a ship's cabin. It is small and immersive, a deliberate world apart from the grand chophouse downstairs.
Rum drives the backbar, with more than 50 bottles in rotation and a rare-pour Commodore's Collection for the obsessives. Time Out and PUNCH have both credited Garret Richard's program for treating tiki as a craft discipline rather than a kitsch theme, and the seasonal menu reflects that seriousness.
What regulars say
- Time Out New York ranks it among the city's top cocktail rooms, citing the rum depth and the immersive design.
- Yelp reviewers warn the room is small and walk-in only, so weekend nights mean an early arrival or a wait.
- Regulars point to the Mai Tai as the benchmark order and the Commodore's Collection as the reason rum lovers linger.
Who it is for
- Rum drinkers and tiki fans who want technique, not kitsch.
- A pre or post-dinner cocktail above Gage & Tollner.
- Skip it for big groups or anyone who needs a reservation.
Getting in takes patience. The bar holds no reservations and the small upstairs room fills early, so the line forms before the 5pm open on Fridays and Saturdays. A weeknight visit, or an early-evening arrival before the dinner crowd at Gage & Tollner spills upstairs, is the difference between a stool and a wait on the stairs.
It ranks among our best cocktail bars in New York for rum and tiki.
