Union Pool

In 2000, Union Pool opened in a former pest control/swimming pool supply store on a street corner in the shadow of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Williamsburg. In the ensuing 20 years, the bar has seen and weathered dramatic and sometimes bewildering change as the surrounding neighborhood has gentrified, and Union Pool has grown from a neighborhood corner bar where regulars played darts and everyone knew each other, into a multi-bar entertainment hive with a little something for everybody.

THE BACK ROOM operates as a full-service live music venue.

And yet, despite the dizzying growth of both the bar and of the crowd it attracted over the years, the vibe and aesthetic of the place has remained consistent in a way that’s rare in New York City. This may be because many of the same bar staff, disc jockeys, and regular drinkers present from the first days of Union Pool are still around. It’s a habit-forming place.

Despite the name, Union Pool does not offer swimming or billiards.