Brooklyn is already home to a combination yoga studio and bar, a bike shop that doubles as a boozy cafe, and Barcade, but it turns out it was missing a place where guitar lovers could shop vintage axes while pouring back pints.
Not any more, thanks to Ditmas Park’s Bar Chord, a pub and obscure guitar emporium which claimed the title of best double entendre business name in the borough when it opened this spring. But the tavern’s owners say the guitars and the live shows that happen beside them are no gimmick — they are a much-needed neighborhood asset.
“We’ve lived in the neighborhood for seven years,” said Christy Sheehan, who opened the bar with her husband Johnny in May. “And we just want to add to the growing and vibrant community with another casual spot to grab drinks close to home.”
When the pair, who work in video production, first moved to Ditmas Park from Boerum Hill, they noticed that the area was filled with “funky” people who loved music, Sheehan said, and they had long dreamed of swapping lens filters and long film shoots for kegs and jam sessions. The flood of new restaurants that opened on Cortelyou Road in the years since was a motivator, according to Sheehan, but it was the other hybrid bar business on the busy commercial strip that finally pushed the couple to make their bar dream a reality.
“Sycamore opened five years ago,” Sheehan said, referring to the combination flower shop and saloon up the street. “And we kept saying ‘we need another bar.’”
The booze and bluegrass buffs opened their rock shop with the help of their friend Stephen Lovekin, who is stocking the guitar shop portion of the public house with rare used guitars from his collection.
Bar Chord also includes a vintage jukebox stocked with the proprietors’ favorite tunes and the watering hole hosts live bands throughout the week. The line-up is always changing but patrons can count on a jazz jam session on Sunday nights and the Latin stylings of the Cooper Heffley Trio on Mondays.
Cortelyou Road Jazz Jam and Cooper Heffley Trio at Bar Chord [1008 Cortelyou Rd. between Coney Island Avenue and Stratford Road in Ditmas Park. (347) 240–6033, barchordnyc.com] Sundays and Mondays, 9 pm, free.
