The Bar That Replaced Timboo's

Timboo's, one of the last great dive bars of Park Slope, was recently supplanted by a new joint called Skylark, run by the same people who operate Abilene, a bar in Carroll Gardens.

I was sad to see Timboo's go. I checked out Skylark the other day to see how much of the old place they had left intact.

The exterior is much the same. And God bless them for retaining the glass bricks that line the windows. I love a bar with glass bricks. The only other example of this once common facade style that I can think of is Montero's, the classic Atlantic Avenue dive.

The place has certainly been cleaned up. The overwhelming scent of human sweat has been scrubbed out of the walls. The bar is the same, but spruced up. The painted tin on the back wall, too. And the stools are certainly the same ones that were in Timboo's. The back area is no longer home to a pool table. And the collages dedicated to Elvis and The Beatles are gone.

I remember there being the the remnants of a kitchen in the back. This apparently is now a working kitchen, because Skylark offers a menu of bar food.

The owners have added a lot of tables and plush old couches and chairs, as well as lined the walls with a great number of old-timey and self-consciously kitschy old photographs, paintings and artworks. You know—that cozy, tongue-in-cheek cafe/bar style that was new and cute about 20 years ago. Still, it's not a bad bar. It retains some of Timboo's old personality. The draft list is good, and the bartender was friendly. Also, there appears to be wifi. I'll visit again. 

Oh, by the way, I found this great photo, published last December in the Daily Slope, of the former owners, Timmy Hodgens and Bobby Booras. Just look at those mugs!