Wreck Room at 940 Flushing. — Photo by Diego Cupolo

We haven’t quite reached the point at which someone would make a Thursday evening proposal to “go to Flushing Avenue” in the same sense that one might propose to his or her friends that they “go to Bedford;” the portion of Flushing that runs through Bushwick is still flanked mostly by vacant warehouses, tortilla factories, and import/export firms that are either out of business or doing very well (it’s hard to tell with import/export firms). But the little stretch between Evergreen and Bogart shows promise. On one side, of course, we find Life Cafe. On the other, we find Wreck Room, a fine little bar that is perhaps best thought of as Life Cafe’s evil twin.

Whereas Life gives off a suitably wholesome vibe — perky people dining with friends, consuming food first and drinking only as an afterthought — Wreck Room is a drinking person’s bar, darker and more fun than its competitor across the street. Life is the place where you order a ten dollar salmon burger when money is reliable and you’re on a protein kick because you’ve been working out; Wreck Room is the place where you borrow a few bucks from a friend because you blew all your money on salmon burgers at Life, or would have if you hadn’t blown all of your money at Wreck Room first.

Your friend won’t have to lend you much; pricing is one of Wreck Room’s great charms, with the beer in particular being as cheap as you’ll find in any bar above the equator. From six to ten, one may partake of a Tecate or some other such fine thing for a scant two bucks; better yet, you can order one of several drink combo deals of the Tecate-and-Sauza variety for five. Chief among resident bargains, though, is the Genny-and-Beam special comprised of a Genesee Cream Ale alongside a shot of Jim Beam, priced at only four dollars and thereby economically comparable to drinking bodega-bought beer on one’s stoop.

But it’s easy to overstate the joint’s dive-esque attributes, as I’ve been doing for three paragraphs. Wreck Room is a cheerful place in its own way, often very much so, and the bar offers a range of nifty activities aside from borrowing money from friends. Bartenders lead weekly games of bingo and other such improbable things, for instance, and it’s also one of the few spots in the area with pool tables. When it’s on, the TV hanging above the bar itself is generally tuned to either The Simpsons or some appropriately bizarre film like Dune (Sunday evenings are officially given over to viewings of Adult Swim, which would have been a nice feature several years ago when Adult Swim was good). For the most part, music is care of a bartender’s laptop hooked up to the stereo, though weekend nights bring in local DJs and the occasional live band with an emphasis on punk, which apparently still exists.

Though Wreck Room doesn’t look like the sort of place that would sport a nuanced food menu or any food menu, the edible offerings include all of the things you’d expect to find (fried pickles) along with plenty of things that you wouldn’t (Korean sandwiches). Even the more mundane items are generally served with flair; popcorn shrimp comes served with thai chili lime sauce, for instance, and the BBQ ribs are made with guava. Wreck Room, like Bushwick, is filled with such pleasant surprises.

Wreck Room
940 Flushing | 718-418-6347
6pm-4am daily
Price range: food, about $5-12; drinks, about $2-5

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