Bar of the Week: The Habitat

Bars with outdoor seating are rare creatures in Greenpoint, but The Habitat, with its blue and green walls, hanging plants and porch-style seating, brings the outside in. The kitchen, where chef and co-owner Ashley Engmann (formerly of Park South and Lotus) serves up small plates like mac and cheese, empanadas and waffle fries, has been transformed into a little house with a façade of cedar siding and antique windows shipped from Maine. A few tables and built-in benches on an attached porch, made with pine salvaged from Williamsburg's Moon River Chattel, add to the illusion of being in the great outdoors. Just ignore the flat screen TV above the bar. Drink specialties include lazy afternoon classics like pink lemonade made with Absolut Citron and cranberry,($7) and an enjoyably potent rum punch. A dozen beers on tap, including Blanche de Bruxelles ($7) and Coney Island Lager ($6) leave plenty of options for the brew-drinking crowd (i.e., everyone there the night we visited), with red and white wines by the bottle and glass for the rest of us. When kicking back on a cozy deck isn't an option (fire escapes don't count), Habitat's a reliable go to. Extra! Bike-riders who take it to the max in the Five Boro Bike Tour can stop in this Sunday for Beers for Bikers, a $1 beer and empanada special. 988 Manhattan Ave., Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 383-5615.