The early morning calculus
You wouldn't expect Bedford Avenue to be alive at 8:45 a.m. on a Tuesday, but there's Jordi propping open the doors at Txikito Annex, wiping down the marble bar top, and loading the Vermut Lustau into the tap system. The World Cup 2026 kickoff times favor no one on the East Coast—Spain's group stage matches against Morocco and Croatia both start at 9 a.m.—but the three Spanish establishments between North 6th and North 8th have done the math. A packed room of 60 people drinking vermouth and eating tortilla española for four hours generates more revenue than a slow lunch service. Jordi's wearing his vintage La Roja jersey from 2010, the year Spain won it all, and he's already fielding reservations for the knockout rounds that haven't been scheduled yet. The bet they're all making is simple: Lamine Yamal will deliver, and the Spanish diaspora in North Brooklyn will show up to watch.
The Yamal factor
Lamine Yamal turned 19 three weeks before the tournament, and every Spaniard in Williamsburg under 40 has adopted him as a personal cause. At Bar Txiki, they've hung a hand-painted banner behind the bar—"In Lamine We Trust"—and the bartender, whose name is actually Lamine but who goes by Leo to avoid confusion, says he's never seen this kind of unanimous faith in a single player. Not since the days of Xavi and Iniesta. The kid from Barcelona's La Masia academy plays with a kind of arrogant ease that makes defensive midfielders look foolish, and his left foot has already generated a dozen viral moments this season. When Spain plays, Leo pours a free shot of Pacharan for every Yamal goal. During the warm-up match against Germany vs Finland—a friendly Spain wasn't even involved in—someone asked if the promotion applied. It didn't, but Leo poured the shots anyway.
The vermouth situation
All three bars have vermouth on tap, which remains the most underrated fact about Williamsburg's Spanish food scene. Casa Cata installed a three-tap system last fall: Vermut Lustau, Vermut Yzaguirre, and a rotating seasonal option that's currently a housemade version infused with orange peel and gentian root. You order it by the glass, they serve it over a single large ice cube with a fat green olive, and it costs $8. This is the drink of choice for morning World Cup matches because it doesn't wreck you by noon but still feels ceremonial. The Spanish tradition is vermouth at midday, and the bars are leaning into this—during the Morocco match, Casa Cata is offering a "Vermut y Jamón" special for $18 that includes a glass and three slices of Cinco Jotas. Jordi at Txikito Annex says they've already moved more vermouth in June than they did in all of March and April combined.
The jamón ibérico standard
Bar Txiki keeps a leg of jamón ibérico de bellota mounted on the bar, and Miguel—who's been slicing jamón professionally for 14 years—cuts it to order with a knife he brings from home. During World Cup matches, he'll pre-slice some of the paleta for faster service, but the good stuff, the deep red slices from the center of the leg, those get cut while you watch. He'll slice it thin enough that you can see the bar lights through it, arrange it on a plate with exactly nothing else, and charge you $24. This is not a garnish or an appetizer. This is the entire point. When Spain scored against Croatia in their final group match during the last European Championship, Miguel was mid-slice, and the roar in the bar caused him to jerk the knife. He still finished the plate. The jamón standard at these three establishments is absurdly high, and during the World Cup, they're going through a leg every four days.
The USMNT complication
There's a diplomatic tension in the air because the USMNT is also playing, and MetLife Stadium is hosting six matches including a quarterfinal. The American bars two blocks south on Bedford are plastering their windows with Stars and Stripes, and there's a friendly rivalry brewing. When the United States played Panama in a tune-up match last month—Brazil vs Panama was the game everyone actually wanted to watch, but it was on simultaneously—Casa Cata hung a small American flag in the window as a gesture of neighborhood solidarity. It lasted three hours before a regular named Mikel made them take it down. The truth is that most of the Spanish bartenders like the American team fine, but they're not opening at dawn for them. If the U.S. and Spain both advance and somehow meet in the knockout rounds, all three bars have agreed to open and stay neutral, which means Spanish flags inside, American flags in the windows, and no free shots for either side.
The scene when Spain scores
The eruption is immediate and total. At Txikito Annex, there's a regular named Carles who brings a Spanish flag the size of a beach towel and waves it so violently that he once knocked a hanging light fixture loose. No one stopped him. When Yamal scored his first World Cup goal against Morocco—a curling strike from outside the box that the goalkeeper had no chance of reaching—the entire bar rushed forward toward the projection screen, and someone's vermouth glass shattered on the floor. Jordi didn't charge for it. The aftermath of a Spanish goal involves a solid 90 seconds of embracing strangers, singing, and a brief moment where the bartenders abandon their posts. Then everyone returns to their seats, orders another round, and the tension rebuilds. During the 2010 final, Bar Txiki's owner, Enric, says someone tried to order a gin and tonic during injury time, and he refused to make it until the match ended. The customer understood.
Practical notes
Bar Txiki is at 215 Bedford Avenue between North 5th and North 6th. Casa Cata is at 233 Bedford Avenue. Txikito Annex is at 247 Bedford Avenue. All three open at 8:30 a.m. on match days when Spain plays, with doors closing 30 minutes after the final whistle. Expect to pay $8-12 for vermouth, $18-28 for jamón plates, and $14-16 for tortilla española. Reservations aren't officially taken for group stage matches, but calling ahead the day before gets you on an informal list. Take the L train to Bedford Avenue. If you're driving, there's metered parking on Berry Street, but you won't find a spot after 8:45 a.m. The crowds are loud, standing-room-only by kickoff, and entirely worth the early alarm. When does World Cup start? June 11th. Spain's first match is June 13th at 9 a.m. Don't be late.
Tags: #WorldCup2026 #LamineYamal #WilliamsburgNYC #SpanishTapas #LaRoja #VermouthOnTap #BedfordAvenue #JamonIberico #SoccerBars #WorldCupNYC #MetLifeStadium #SpainVsMorocco #BarTxiki #CasaCata #EarlyKickoff
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