elNico Rooftop

elNico Rooftop might be one of the more understated rooftops in Williamsburg. It sort of hides in plain sight inside The Penny Hotel Williamsburg, which perhaps makes sense, since graduate students at Bard College also call his hybrid hotel home. It sits 11 stories up, its interior looking a little like a gallery loft where your eccentric friend just moved in, as marble pillars and white floors stand in the background of velvet green couches, colorful rugs and a sculpture that looks like a cloud of colorful confetti thrown above the bar in glee. But the roof is where you'll find most of the clientele, whether it's at the open-air lounge in the summer or the all-season covered terrace, nicknamed the greenhouse, both touting amazing shots of Brooklyn and the skyline in the distance. It makes a great landing spot for visitors and locals who remember it exists, whether you climb up for a daytime brunch of birria benedicts and chilaquiles or wind down with plates of tacos and chicken mole by dusk. But coming here for a drink and a chill by the DJ stand is just as good, particularly if that tipple is the excellent tomatillo Gibson.