Archive · modern edition Every bar New York on Tap knew, as it stood around 2008, with a 2026 check on each one. This page in the 2008 edition
Zombie Hut, photographed for New York on Tap
Photo from the 2008 site

A New York on Tap pick

Zombie Hut

Formerly Boudoir Bar

Scorpion bowls on Smith street

273 Smith St. · btwn Degraw & Sacket St.
Boerum Hill, Brooklyn

In 2026

Still pouring

Checked October 18, 2026.

Overview

A tiny tiki bar with friendly bartenders and stiff drinks. Unfortunately on weekends those stiff drinks seem to bring out a surprisingly aggro-frat crowd.
This cozy Smith street bar is outfitted in full fledged tiki regalia - floor to ceiling bamboo, Polynesian masks, and a tropical fish tank. On most week nights the potent drinks and friendly bar tenders create a warm neighborhood atmosphere, but on weekends it's easy to get caught off guard by the coke and liquor crowd which flocks here for stiff drinks, 90s music, and an aggressive singles scene.

Why you should go

  • Take one group of friends add a scorpion bowl and a well tipped bartened, and you've got a cheap kick off to a night of excess.
  • On weekends the singles scene ranges from oppressive to just what the doctor ordered depending on how close to 4am it is.

What you should know

  • To get the maximum buzz for your buck try the "Miserable Bastard." $7 for 5 shots and one heck of a kick start to your night.
  • A selection of board games makes for a nice low-key spot to hang-out with a friend on a weekday, but the weekend crowd is anything but low key

History

Hard to kill, as a zombie should be

Renee McClure opened the Zombie Hut, a tiki bar inspired by the old Zombie Hut in Sacramento, on Smith Street in August 20021, 2. In 2009 we headlined it "Scorpion bowls on Smith street"; by 2015 the bowl cost $26 and arrived aflame, packed with Bacardi 1513. Out back, a straw-thatched yard made it best in warm weather3. In 2016 Brooklyn Magazine saw it as a holdover from the early days of today's Smith Street4, and in 2026 Time Out found it had outlived a changing neighborhood, hard times and a pandemic2.

Sources

  1. en.wikipedia.org
  2. timeout.com
  3. gothamist.com
  4. bkmag.com

Researched October 2026.

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