Bar of the Week (Don't Forget Edition): Abilene

New York City bars are famously deep, narrow and dark. At the shallow and wide Carroll Gardens bar Abilene, however, almost every seat is a window seat, and an orange glow from the street is filtered through the half-open blinds and reflected onto bar patrons, creating a Edward Hopper-style sense of urban isolation that probably hasn't existed since the 1940s. But on this particular Saturday night, in lieu of saucy dames and mysterious men in felt hats, there were groups of cool-enough-for-school Brooklynites huddled over games of Connect Four at the white wood tables, as well as others drinking cheap beer at the Formica-topped bar (the cheapest, Gennesee Cream Ale, will only set you back $2.50) and lounging in the cushion-heavy chill-out area in the back. Abilene actually takes up almost half of its Court Street block. But not unlike owner Leah Allen's other bar Lolita, which inconspicuously straddles the Lower East Side/Chinatown border on Broome Street, Abilene is coy and unobtrusive, with only a simple Stella Artois sign indicating its presence. We don't know about you, but we think it's sexy when our bars play hard to get. 442 Court St., Brooklyn, (718) 522-6900.