The Abbey Pub

The Scene – Serving a mix of Columbia students and neighborhood residents for more than 50 years, the Abbey Pub is a veritable Morningside Heights institution. Its woodblock prints, stained glass and dark wood booths carved to resemble church pews lend the look of an old-school eating club to the bar, which attracts earnest English students and recent Columbia grads looking to recapture the intense discussions of their college years. – – The Draw – With an excellent selection of inexpensive beers on tap and friendly bartenders who can fix a mean drink, the pub is a…

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When to Go:: Food is served until 11:30pm during the week and 1:30am on the weekends.

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User Reviews (14)

ambiance	100.0% positive	“Just comfortable and awesome people!” “The food is only ok, but the beer is moderatly priced and the atmosphere is perfect.” “The Abbey is my local hangout and hidey-hole, and everything from the atmosphere to the patrons to the staff is great.” “The location is nice, esp.”
drinks	100.0% positive	“Cheap drinks, nice staff, good space.” “Great beer for cheap, fantastic wait staff, and a wonderful vibe.” “This is more of a pub than a restaurant necessarily, but they serve food and have a decent variety of beer on tap.” “also like wide beer and bourbon selections, and this has both.” “the perfect place for a quiet drink and yummy burger on a weeknight.” “The bartenders are pretty friendly and you get buybacks on your 4th beer.” “The food is only ok, but the beer is moderatly priced and the atmosphere is perfect.”
food quality	90.0% positive	“There's a food menu, which is a little limited, but overall the food is not bad.” “Don't go for the food, although the burgers are quite good.” “The food is good if you stick to the basics, I like the burgers, wings and fries.” “true local pub - great burgers!” “Their burgers are excellent.” “This is more of a pub than a restaurant necessarily, but they serve food and have a decent variety of beer on tap.” “The food is only ok, but the beer is moderatly priced and the atmosphere is perfect.” “The two times I have tried this place, the service was as awful as the food.” “When they have it as a special, their salad with avocado and olives is delicious, and good to share with someone as an appetizer.” “the perfect place for a quiet drink and yummy burger on a weeknight.”
menu variety	100.0% positive	“There's a food menu, which is a little limited, but overall the food is not bad.” “This is more of a pub than a restaurant necessarily, but they serve food and have a decent variety of beer on tap.” “also like wide beer and bourbon selections, and this has both.”
overall	66.66999816894531% positive	“It is a great place full of great people.”
service	85.19000053405762% positive	“understand people cutting slack for a casual, local favorite place, but any appeal to Abbey is entirely lost on me.” “Just comfortable and awesome people!” “Cheap drinks, nice staff, good space.” “The Abbey is my local hangout and hidey-hole, and everything from the atmosphere to the patrons to the staff is great.” “The two times I have tried this place, the service was as awful as the food.” “Great beer for cheap, fantastic wait staff, and a wonderful vibe.” “The bartenders are pretty friendly and you get buybacks on your 4th beer.” “Brian the bartender is teh best and remembers my name, occupation and even which teams I support.” “It is a great place full of great people.”
value	100.0% positive	“Great beer for cheap, fantastic wait staff, and a wonderful vibe.”

05/19/11

Really Unique Place

by ASmi

Has the look and feel of an Irish pub, but also has intimate booths - great and unique combination of boisterous bar and quiet, conversational seating area. I've been here before, but what convinced me to go again was NookOut (www.nookout). They have two awesome deals for the place: an all-you-can-drink one and a food-and-drink one

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11/06/08

I found my Cheers!

by blondblond

I love this place. It is a great place full of great people. IT is a dive bar where "everyone knows your name" and is even on the lower level just like Cheers. The bartenders serve it up with either a nice welcome or jeering remark depending on the costumer and it is clear they have a relationship with each and every person at the bar. I felt right at home and have been back many many times. Brian the bartender is teh best and remembers my name, occupation and even which teams I support. The food is only ok, but the beer is moderatly priced and the atmosphere is perfect. Finally a bar that knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything but that. Just comfortable and awesome people!

Pros: The staff and clientele all party together!
Cons: food is a tad below par

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12/17/06

a true local pub - great burgers!

by trinity27

I have lived in Morning Side Heights (it's not the Upper West Side OR Harlem OR ?SoHa? it's the Heights... okay?) my entire life and went to the Abbey as a child for burgers with my parents and their friends. My mother went as a young person also and can't actually remember when it opened, just that it was always kind of 'there'. It is the quintessential local pub and I still go often with my husband. The food is good if you stick to the basics, I like the burgers, wings and fries. My husband is really into the popcorn chicken. The drinks are inexpensive and well made. The beer selection is excellent. The service can be mildly surly if you act a fool and I LIKE that. It?s the perfect place for a quiet drink and yummy burger on a weeknight. Weekends introduce a slightly rowdy vibe which I enjoy in calculated measures.

Not everyone gets the Abbey, but that?s okay, more room for the rest of us.

Pros: burgers and wings, price, atmosphere

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08/24/06

Standard Pub

by yukster11

Good mix of young and old frequent this place. The bartenders are pretty friendly and you get buybacks on your 4th beer. There are 2 tv's on each side of the bar. The jukebox is a pretty eclectic mix of old R&B, rock and country. There's a food menu, which is a little limited, but overall the food is not bad. Comes off as kind of divey due to the lighting, but not bad.

Pros: Buybacks
Cons: None

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08/01/06

Usually good pub

by gijoerice

My girlfriend lived near Abby's and it was our go-to pub. Their burgers have always pleased picky-old-me, though my sister in law claims she recently had a bad one. Their pasta is to be avoided, but their special once-a-year seafood day was amazing. You get the feeling the place is a family, really, and I like that in a bar. I also like wide beer and bourbon selections, and this has both.

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Editor's Tips

05/19/11

Really Unique Place

by ASmi

11/06/08

I found my Cheers!

by blondblond

12/17/06

a true local pub - great burgers!

by trinity27

08/24/06

Standard Pub

by yukster11

08/01/06

Usually good pub

by gijoerice

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