Last Night: A BBQ Blowout At The Newly Christened, Vastly Improved Good Co.

Let’s be honest: No one really noticed when Hope closed down a few months ago. The Williamsburg bar’s large outdoor patio–an obvious draw on warm days–just wasn’t cutting it with Union Pool and the newly opened Woods within walking distance. The sound system likewise left a little something to be desired, and the carpeted space took about 50 people too many to look like a good time.

Photos from Nicky Digital, more below.

Luckily for the neighborhood, Ben Ward swooped in to save the day. In an astonishingly quick two months, the Lower East Side vet (you’ve seen him at Libation) revamped 10 Hope Street and re-opened the space as Good Co. When we heard that the space was now open for business (and that Roberta’s would be catering their first BBQ Blowout of the summer), we went over to have a look.

The changes, while subtle, make all the difference. The huge rugs and heavy leather couches that once clung to the wall have been replaced with a line of wooden picnic tables. Empty wooden beer barrels are spaced around the rest of the bar to serve as makeshift tables to prop up tipsy revelers. The DJ booth–once located in an awkward raised alcove next to the entrance–now looms over the entire bar, adorned by a gigantic pair of bullhorns. (DJs beware: You’ll be required to climb up a particularly terrifying-looking ladder to reach the turntables.) More tables fill the nooks next to the door for easy people-watching outside.

Naturally, the outdoor patio is where the party was Wednesday night. A collaboration between New York magazine and the Finger on the Pulse DJ crew, the BBQ Blowout series features a combination of local restaurants and electronic music (provided tonight by Modular DJs). A cash-only bar serves up $6 frozen piña coladas, strawberry daiquiris, and sangria, all topped with a cherry and served in a mason jar. PBRs go for $3, and adding a shot of whiskey to your order only costs a dollar more. Next to the bar is a smoking grill: Almost everyone had a heaping $5 plate of Roberta’s chicken, salad, and what looked like some sort of potato-slaw. “I came prepared to spend $10, but I’m too full off just this one,” groaned one patron.

Really though, the space outside looks almost exactly as it did before: lots and lots of patio furniture mixed in with more picnic tables, wrought-iron benches, and the occasional couch-like chair under a string of bulbs giving off a soft glow. “We have to close out the patio by 11 p.m.,” explains Ward. “We’re trying to be considerate of the neighbors.” For now, the BBQ Blowouts are scheduled to happen once a month, but you can expect DJs at Good Co. any night of the week. “We probably won’t have any big parties until the Fourth of July, but we’re definitely going to have DJs here as often as possible ” says Ward. “The goal is to build this up as a place for people to chill and hang out with good friends.”