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If you like a man in uniform or just have a deep appreciation for New York's Bravest, this lively, brick-walled sports bar and restaurant in Bay Ridge—modeled loosely after an old-school firehouse—may be just the place. Beyond a garage-style door is a room flanked by a floor-to-ceiling mahogany bar and a shiny red fire truck, which doubles as the DJ booth five nights a week. Since a real firehouse is only 10 blocks away, off-duty fighters frequent the place, relaxing with a plate from the happy hour buffet, or just a beer and a game on one of the flat-screen TVs. The massive menu spans pub, deli and light Italian fare: baked cheddar-and-bacon laden potato skins to hot pastrami sandwiches, brick-oven pizzas to seafood pastas. The behemoth burgers outdo rivals in the same class, and even seemingly over-ambitious specials—sautéed shrimp and scallops on a bed of saffron-infused rice with grilled chunks of honeydew and cantaloupe—are surprisingly well executed. Pre-boiled ribs make for easy eating, despite the vapid ketchup-like BBQ sauce that detracts from their overall flavor. Always dependable, though, are the 18 beers, kept extra cold by a high-tech chiller. — Brooke Barrier

The rotating, single-dish buffet, which runs weekdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., is one of the city's best freebies. The bar also caters and has a private party room.

Cheeseburger platter, $7.95; hot pastrami, $8.95