Full Circle Bar — Restaurant in New York

When you hear Skee-Ball bar in Williamsburg, you kind of can't help but be a little skeptical. I certainly was. I mean, sure, it'd be fun once, but how much skee ball can I play? And would there even be room to hang out with all the people crowded around the machines? And could I really deal with all the fanatics that were sure to turn out? These are the things I think about.

Well, it turns out my concerns were entirely misguided. Neither an arcade nor a dive, Full Circle is actually a stylish, accessible and welcoming bar. It's front room is a borderline lounge with several touches that make it one of the more unique spaces you'll find in any borough. With just one skee-ball machine along the exposed brick wall opposite the bar, the focus here is drinking and hanging out. The walk-in and beer cages bring drinking to the fore and the six taps and collection of quality, often micro-brewed cans show that the owners know a few things about imbibing. So if skee-ball's not your thing, this is still an excellent place to hang out, listen to great music and throw back a few cream stouts.

Now, if skee-ball is your thing, this may be your heaven. Accents along the bar and bathrooms provide only a hint of what's in store. The closed-circuit TV above the bar provides much more of a glimpse. The back room features three side-by-side skee-ball machines and tiered, stadium seating to watch the action. If you've ever enjoyed the PBA on Wide World of Sports, you know what it is like to have an arena dedicated to rolling. This room is dedicated to Brew-Skee-Ball and will make all of it's participants quite proud.

So, skee-ball or no, we're talking about a high quality bar just a few minutes walk from the Lorimer L/G stop. I'm a skeptic no more, I've already been a few times and I plan to trek down from the Upper West Side often. It's well worth...

Want to feel stereotyped and excluded? Then Full Circle Bar is the place for you!

My husband and I moved to Williamsburg a few months ago, and we happily discovered that most of the bars and restaurants in the neighborhood defied Williamsburg's reputation for hipster elitism (whatever that means these days). Annnd then there's Full Circle Bar.

We stopped by on July 4th with my husband's brother, sister and her boyfriend. To say the bouncer was unfriendly would be an understatement, but hey, maybe he was having a bad night? We walked immediately back to the skeeball area in the back because my husband's sister had never played before and we were pretty excited. I'm sure it's bad form not to buy a beer first, but we would have happily gone to the bar and bought a round—except that the second we stepped into the back area, the bartender immediately turned the music up by about a billion decibels (in the back area only). The message was pretty clear: Leave.

I can only speculate as to why we were deemed unworthy... because four members of our party had the wrong skin color? Or because the gentleman were nicely turned out in polo shirts instead of sporting ripped tees and tats?

It definitely wasn't because the bar was packed and they were trying to move us along. It was empty.

I emailed the manager about a week ago, and received no response, so needless to say, I won't be going back again. Fair warning: If you don't fit into a very specific demographic, expect a hostile...

Skee-ball, countless cans-o-beer choices and awesome bartenders make this place a true diamond in the ruff of Williamsburg. The 40+ choice cans of beer on the wall give you plenty of choices in the canned variety but the draught selection is not to be overlooked. They have every possible choice of Colorado's Dale's Beer on draught with only one thing missing the Dale's flight of beers. Lets talk guys! The skee-ball section in the back has hosted countless tournaments, appeared in at least a few hot-spot tv shows (1st Look on NBC), and continues to entertain the hip masses who flock to Brooklyn's coolest of cool neighborhoods. In the mixed crowd this place is a true standout I will be back to for birthday parties...