Carrington's is the one true dive bar in what is otherwise a very upscale zip code. There are no hipsters at Carrington's, or even remotely young people. The bartenders and ragtag crew of townies are however quite friendly and surprisingly tolerant of the huge group of nerds that occasionally descend on this place from the nearby Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which is how I came to know Carrington's.
No food. Limited beer selection. Mixed drinks can be on the weak side. There is a single pool table in the back and a fairly popular dart board. I suppose this place is best appreciated if you come with the goal of escaping the stifling quiet of a research campus or the materialism of the north shore.
During my last visit, someone detonated a weapon of mass destruction in the men's bathroom. It threatened to kill us all until the bartender was kind enough to open the rear fire door. God bless him.