Common Ground

We felt kind of helpless, when our favorite Friday night hangout Bar on A was closed for renovations. It didn't exactly seem to be scheduled, so we guess a certain New York City agency might be involved in this sudden closure. (Later we discovered that Nice Guy Eddie's was closed as well, so maybe there was a crack down on Avenue A last week).
Anyway, something like this is always a good moment to break habits and so we tried Keybar (which was packed with seemingly non-locals), Mug, that went through a recent renovation and served terrific Schneider Weisse from the bottle (for $8 though) and then finally Common Ground, a new pub on Avenue B.
Although Common Ground is new, it's a very traditional place, with chandeliers and a large, dark wooden bar. They have a nice selection of beers, most notably the two brands that make us happy: Brooklyn Lager and Sierra Nevada. A CD-driven jukebox runs the gamut from oldies and brand new stuff and our two last CD purchases, the Kaiserchiefs and The Killers were power-played by others and us. The specialty of this place is the bar food, though. Since there's no real kitchen, the chef had to be creative for the better. No burgers (which we came for originally, because what is a common ground food if not burgers), but quesadilla, french pizza, various dips and everything usually with a nice twist. We enjoyed it very much.
The downturn were the two barkeepers. Both were really nice girls, but they were intensely engaged with some guests, which made us feel like outsiders. With one of the girls we weren't even sure if she was on shift, because she exclusively served two friends sitting next to us. There was not much business, so we cannot complain about being neglected, but the vibe the two bartenders created doesn't really make us want to come back. The food however does.
And another thing (if any bartender reads this): please do not offer "the next one is on me" after we order our third beer. It's certainly meant as a nice gesture, but it also makes us drinking more than we want to.