Clockwise from top left: The Habitat has a fairly nondescript storefront; the DIY bloody Mary station occupies a window perch; the English muffin egg sandwich is an Egg McMuffin to the tenth power. [Photograph: Adam Kuban]

This is all old hat to Greenpointers, I'm sure, but if the rest of you outside the neighborhood find yourself there on a weekend in need of brunch, may I suggest The Habitat?

For $15, this comfortable bar serves a prix fixe meal that includes coffee or tea and choice of mimosa, sangria, or bloody Mary. And those bloody Marys? You can either have the bartender mix it for you or craft one at the DIY bloody Mary station that's stocked with all the spices and add-ons you could want. This is a place for control freaks.

But control freaks can rest assured anyway — the food is great. The Habitat offers a good size menu of brunch comfort classics (two eggs with bacon, egg muffin sandwich, huevos, omelets) and some unexpected-for-a-bar options (lobster bisque, shrimp and grits). All those I tried with my dining companion over the last couple of weeks were solidly executed.

They get the eggs right, no matter how you order them, and the English muffin egg sandwich, with Canadian bacon, an over-easy egg, and American cheese, is what you wish you could grab from all the mediocre quick-serve delis.

The BLT club is insane, additionally loaded with avocado, potato hash, and a sunny side up egg, whose yolk, once broken when the sandwich is sliced, runs slowly down the cut face, making its way into the various layers. It is, as the bartender suggested, "a hangover killer."

Many of the dishes come with a choice of cheese grits or hash browns. Go for the cheese grits — not too thick and not too runny, they're just about right. (The hash browns are good but seem to be the prefab kind; good in a pinch, but when you can find good grits, go for 'em.)

The Habitat

988 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11222 (at Huron Street; map)
718-383-5815; thehabitatbrooklyn.com