Charlie Hooper's Brookside Bar   

Behind the unassuming wooden door on 63rd Street is Brookside's oasis. Pass through the portal and into its bustling, homey confines -- this is where you go to escape all of your worldly problems -- unless your worldly problems involve beer. Lined with taps and backed by massive coolers stocked with bottles, the bar at Charlie Hooper's offers more than 30 beers on draft and several dozen more in glass. They range from the blue collar (Pabst, Coors) to the white collar (Duvel, Peroni) to the exotic (Tsing Tao, Singha) to the utterly unpronounceable (a bottle of Hoegaarden or Staropramen, anyone?). Drinking these varied offerings -- indoors and on the back patio -- are an equally wide swath of humanity, including neighborhood residents, college kids, academics and sports fans. Some overhead TVs flicker with the latest sports games, scores and highlights. If you get inspired by the action, you can have a go at the Charlie Hooper triathalon: video golf, video poker and electronic darts.