Harlem Bar To Debut ‘Bitter’ Sibling Location This Fall

HARLEM, NY - Harlem’s Sugar Monk craft cocktail bar is in for a "bitter" reveal in another borough this fall.

The owners behind the jazz speakeasy-themed bar on Frederick Douglass Boulevard are slated to open a sister location, aptly titled Bitter Monk, in Brooklyn’s Industry City in the coming months.

The space at 68 34th Street, Building Six will feature 18 seats and offer spirit-forward cocktails featuring co-founder Ektoras Binikos’ housemade amari and liqueurs, as well as liquors made in New York State.

Founders Binikos and Simon Jutras aim to open a production space next to the bar where they’ll craft and bottle amari, herbal liqueurs, and bitters for sale.

Bitter Monk's moody interior will draw inspiration from Sugar Monk’s green-and-midnight-blue color palette paired with industrial leather chairs and low marble tables.

The duo opened the dimly-lit Harlem jazz bar in 2019, quickly garnering praise from some tastemakers:

"A lot of cocktail bars pretend to [have] depth, uniqueness and complexity. Sugar Monk in Harlem actually is,” wrote Robert Simonson, cocktail writer of The New York Times newsletter The Mix.

But the duo behind Sugar Monk aren't just an overnight success. Binikos previously worked at Aureole, Oceana and Gabriel Kreuther, as well as the former 2nd Floor On Clinton bar.

An estimated Bitter Monk debut is set for November 2023.