Drinking at the movies: I’m in favor of it. But barring a trip to Europe, the only action around has been the kind of trashy, second-run, suds-n-cinema-type shitholes that helped prop up dying strip malls in the 90’s. As anyone who’s ever been to one knows, such places are aggressively inhospitable to the film-viewing experience. So it was with more than a little trepidation that I ventured out to investigate Brooklyn’s own answer to the bar/theater hybrid, the reRun Gastropub Theater. Pleasantly surprised was I.

Part of the larger reBar complex at 147 Street in Dumbo, the theater (which is on the mezzanine level, toward the back) manages to get around New York’s prohibitive no-booze-in-theaters law by operating as a bar that just happens to screen movies. A cozy little room that I’d guess accommodates around a hundred, the seating is comprised of recovered automobile chairs, and the bar covered in old hubcaps. But don’t let the down-at-heel vibe fool you—the reRun carters to recherché tastes. They serve the kind of beer (Piraat, Victory Pilsner) that you might find at The Blind Tiger or The Gate, and show the kinds of worthy, festival circuit gems (Audrey the Trainwreck, The New Year) that might not otherwise have a New York City run. Why didn’t anyone (outside of Austin, anyway) think of this before?

I will admit, the screening I attended yesterday was not especially to my liking, but then the cold Racer 5 IPA in my hand did wonders for my patience level. Like I said: I’m in favor of it.