Don Pedro

Dark and Smoky
First off, the general vibe of this place is «laid-​back, hole-​in-​the-​wall, off-​the-​beaten-​path, hipster bar». Meet a date here for a non-​pretentious* start to your evening, maybe catch a local band while you’re at it.
(*if your date likes slick Manhattan nightlife with pulsing techno, a Gucci dress code & $ 15 cocktails, this is NOT the spot for you).
I wouldn’t go so far as to classify Don Pedro’s as a restaurant, per se. It does have a bar-​style menu of some pretty good burgers, pulled pork sliders, wings, and of course, the aforementioned tasty niblets. * When the kitchen is open.
Tip:
— A great, late happy hour that gives you a buck off all the already reasonably-​priced drinks, til 9 PM!!!
— An array of local and some touring bands that any true live music aficionado would appreciate, who play on a stage about 3′ high, so there’s a very intimate feel about the shows here.
Cool Spot!
Thanks

Neat bar with arcade games and skeeball. The other reviews hit the nail on the head, this place is grimy, but in the best possible way. $ 5 pints, weird shows and events, and a taco kitchen (with vegan/​GF options) in the back make Don Pedro a fun bar to frequent.

I went here to here some bands play. That part was great. Good sound system. It gets really loud by the stage, so if you are super sensitive to loud music, bring some earplugs. Don Pedro is a dive bar to the max! But this is a dive bar is actually endearing. It’s not all bad. I could actually use the bathroom at this place without gagging.
They have a kitchen in the back and they serve really good Mexican fare. They serve really strong cheap drinks too. The staff is really nice. Go here early for a great start to a fun night.

Really hate to have to write this negative for a place that I truly enjoy. I’ve attended a fair number of shows here and was very pleased with the affordable drinks and surprisingly great acoustics.
However, I ordered food for the first time here last night and I was incredibly displeased with how I was treated. I ordered my food from the young woman in the kitchen which was a simple order of 2 tacos. She handed me a table marker and said she’d bring it over to me when it was ready. Since I was dining in I was given a handful of chips with my order. 45 – 50 minutes pass and I decide to ask for a manager. The manager is just the other cook apparently. He passive-​aggressively tries to explain to me why it’s taking so long to make. He tells me, «this aint Chipotle bro, it’s only us back here.» He reluctantly hands me my money back saying that «someone should’ve told me it was going to be a long wait.» (well yes, they should have. But I was not informed). He ended the interaction with, «I hope you enjoyed your free chips.»
Unprofessional and unacceptable. What a shame because I’m sure the food is great, but with service like that I refuse to eat here.

This place turned out to be S***! There used to be a DJ here back in 2004, now there are live bands performing here. I don’t mind listening to some bands play a little of their music but at least play some music others would enjoy.
Downstairs is as filthy as it is upstairs. They did have pool tables down there at one point, I’m not sure how it is now as I couldn’t go down there but you can still see the filth. It Always have been filthy and seems like it always will be. I was a regular here when Med was the owner, I’m not sure who runs this place now and frankly I don’t care, I just know this place isn’t worthy of another visit. It turned out to be worse than when I stopped coming here. I can’t even begin to imagine the roaches that crawl through the food. Yuck!
My suggestion is to clean this place up, renovate it and make it a little more welcoming. Drunk hipsters and dirty old tables and bathrooms are not cool. I’m not surprised that the grade here is a B, this place is like a dumpster. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

LOVE this place. Great prices, great bands, great dive bar food. Great space to hang out.

This place is a simple punk/​rock dive. Located on an unassuming block, teal paint and black doors shutter a dark, dingy bar. Pull open the door and in front of you stretches the bar, tables sit against the other wall up to skee ball machines. The bar opens further back to a stage area and where Brooklyn Burro (a well reviewed) burrito and mexican place hides in the back corner. The bar itself is long, somehow always mildly damp and a bit grimy. The bartenders are nice enough but take a leisurely pace in doing their jobs. What do you expect though? its a dive.
Don Pedro is cheap with a long happy hour all the way until 9PM. Budweisers during happy time are $ 2.50 which means. Lots of them. Rail shot and rolling rock special too.
The place is dark, dirty, cheap but gets the job done. If the job is to get cheap drinks at a no frills kind of atmosphere. Can’t say I’m not a fan of that.

Really love playing here and seeing shows here.
Great DIY feel.
Good beer and food. Normal Brooklyn prices for food/​drink.
The only drawback to throwing a show here was a backline communication snafu with the sound engineer.
In the days leading up to our show, bands were told venue had drums, a bass cab, and a bass head.
We made arrangements to bring all other needed gear.
When we arrived the night of the show, we asked about the bass head and were told by both the bartender and the sound guy, «It’s broken, it’s in the shop, you should have known that.»
While the bands were pretty shocked by this news, and by the way the bartender and sound guy told us the news, i will say that the sound guy was helpful in improvising a solution: running the bass through the PA, pretty close to loud enough for our purposes.
SO: Good venue, backline communication could use work, good overall. Would definitely come back.

So HERE’S where the actual fun and interesting things are happening in Brooklyn! I’ve been wondering for a few years why I bothered moving to this neighborhood. Don Pedro has given me some hope for the most overrated borough. In the last few weeks I have seen queer feminist punk rock bands, a Synthpop/​goth band, and a burlesque/​BDSM show. Every experience has been super fun. The people are nice, the drinks relatively affordable and the atmosphere beautifully grimey. Love it.

I’ve been here twice to grab a beer with a friend. Both times it’s been an interesting but friendly mix of people. I think it might fit the textbook description of a dive bar (which doesn’t bother me one bit). They have $ 1 off all drinks during happy hour which also happens to go til 9p!

Don Pedro’s surprised me. in a good way!
I came here for an event my boyfriend’s friends were having with a bunch of bands lined up to play. We got there early with the intention to set up but there seemed to be some weird mexican crust punk club watching youtube videos on a projector happening, after they finished their event a van came and swooped them away (i’m not even kidding about any of that).
It was a great atmosphere, everyone was really nice including the bartenders and they serve tacos and burritos in the back. there’s so much room it’s the perfect venue for a show. It’s located across the street from the projects and unfortunately one of the bands got their car broken into and EVERYTHING got stolen (guitars, amps everything). I tried using their photobooth and it worked fine but they pictures didn’t print and the bartender (i’m assuming he was the manager) didn’t blink and eye and gave me my $ 5 and a beer. I just had a great time there in general, i wouldn’t make it a habbit to go there just because it’s a little far from where I live, but If i find myself going there again I won’t fight it.

Had a whiskey and coke. It was strong.

How in the world have I not reviewed Don Pedro yet? I’ve only played in, like, five bands that have gigged here, and I only used to live down the street.
I’m actually glad that I’ve held off on reviewing DP, because it’s that rare Brooklyn establishment that has, over time, gotten both a) CLEANER/​CLASSIER/​MORE LEGIT and b) BETTER. It is a straight-​up dive bar frequented by local garage rock/​powerpop/​punk people, and it always has been. But the ambiance, the food, the décor and the entertainment have all improved in the last few years. Meanwhile, prices have remained consistently low. While the brands rotate over time, there’s always a token cheap draft beer (holding steady most nights at $ 3.50 a pint), and beer-​and-​shot specials. As of the summer of 2014, there is a new sound board and a house talent buyer/​booking agent who lives balls deep in the rock’n’roll scene — but cover charge to see four bands on a weekend night is still low, like $ 5, or $zero.
I have memories of a night when my whole band decided to do shots of DP’s serrano pepper-​soaked tequila. It burned so hard that I had to cut it with a bunch of deep-​fried mac’n’cheese balls. Good thing the kitchen was open.
There have been some other nights here about which I have essentially no memory at all.
DP has always felt very free and open to me, especially as a «band guy» (i.e., «Eh, whatever happens, we can always book a gig at Don Pedro»). It’s more structured now, but in a good way, a way that serves its core clientele.
The kitchen isn’t always open, but when it is, utilize these tasty-​ass tacos and burritos. Or the mac’n’cheese balls. That s – t scratches an itch, my friend.
Okay, yeah, that’s another review whereby I REALLY hope the act of simply posting the review doesn’t f — in’ ruin the place.

Disgusting! !! At night beware of the water bugs upon entering. The bar Is filthy, which probably explains there B not to mention They make their margaritas with orange juice? ???

The other night I went to a show at The Spectrum, and leave it to me, I met the one straight dude there, who was having a midlife crisis and also happened to live around the corner from me and drove. So, we went to Don Pedro and talked about his life and I convinced him to give me a lift.
(I wasn’t drunk, but it was raining, and the late night train takes forever.)
We sat close to the door to hear each other better, since there was a band loudly playing Devo covers in the next room. A guy further down the bar just walked up to me and asked me for my phone number. He was like, «I’ve gotta go, but can I call you some other night?» I thought that was hilarious. For all he knew I could have been on a date.
So, I gave him my number :) I’m glad I did, because the next day, I couldn’t remember where I locked my bicycle.
I texted him, «What was that bar where I met you?» It was hot out when I went back to Bushwick and wandered around. Another guy was smoking a cigarette, and I asked him where the dive bar with skee ball and a stage was, and he said, «Oh, you mean Don Pedro?»
YES I DO.
Then I got on my bike and rode home. The guy from the bar texted me back. «Don Pedro.» Thank you!

The burritos are seriously, to quote a wise man, «off the chain.» It also has a kind of Chuck E. Cheese for adults vibe going on. The place has gone a long way since «the old days» although those old days were cool in their own sweaty, grimy way. I wish the burritos delivered so I could eat them every day and turn into a half man half burrito beast.

Hipster dive bar with all the requisite characteristics — $ 5 beer and shot special, upbeat cute punk bartender, punks, skeeball, drag queens, cheap mix drinks, eatable not exceptional Mexican food, a Colt 45 bar light and Chrismas lights all year long. It is exactly what you expect it to be and if that is what you are looking for you will be head over heels in love. It’s pretty cute, especially if you are under 25 or really committed to living the punk/​hipster kid lyfe!

Atmospheric dive bar. Recently reviewed in the NY Times for it’s outsider vibe, drag and rock performances. Brooklyn Burrito is good stuff.

Just saw my best friend’s band (check out Surfacing!) this past Saturday at Don Pedro’s. Nice size stage, good sound. Drink prices were really good, $ 4 for a well, $ 2 for a beer (Bud draft).
Bartender was super friendly and nice! Guys at the door don’t really pay much attention to people entering and going. Bathrooms are clean.
All in all, place is chill. Only downfall is that they don’t accept cards.

A sub-​par dive bar with an interesting scene for live music.
My gf and I came here to see a couple of Taiwanese bands playing live. The headliners were the Hsu-nami[1]; a progressive-​metal band characterized by the presence of an amplified «erhu“[2]. Unfortunately the sound was pretty appalling: the room was too small for such a wall of sound, and as a result you could only hear the erhu and the lead guitar. Too bad, because the band was also incorporating a rhythm guitar, drum, bass, and keyboards, i.e. a pretty rich sound.
As far as the bar in concerned, that evening they were out of Guinness, and out of Sierra Nevada. I opted for a Bit Burger. Not a good choice. Otherwise, if PBR is what you drink, you’ll be fine.
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[1] These people are relatively famous: according to wikipedia «The band’s first successful song was «Rising of the Sun.» It was featured in the 2008 Summer Olympic in Beijing. It was used specifically as the entrance theme for the Chinese Basketball team. The song was also used during walk-​ins, timeouts, and was incorporated with a martial arts routine during halftime.» That’s pretty cool to me.
[2] A two-​string spike fiddle used in Chinese classical and folk music. You not familiar with Chinese classical and folk music? No worries: you probably have seen people playing this instrument in the subway.