d.b.a.

03/07/09

5 Stars For Selection, ZERO Stars For Service

by TheGrunk

When you read about d.b.a. there's the feeling it could possibly be the greatest bar in New York City. Then you walk through the door and get ignored by an inattentive staff.

During previous visits this was not the case, but now it seems to be the M.O. of the place. If there was one bartender and the place was packed I could understand having to wait, but when it seems like there are four people behind the bar serving (I'll use the term "serving" VERY loosely) customers and it's crowded, but not packed, 10 minutes to get a beer is far too long to wait. Oh, and while you're waiting you'll watch the bartenders do shots with their friends just to please you even more!

Do yourself a favor, search for other great beer bars if you're looking for great beers and go there. At one time d.b.a. had one of the best selections going, but now there's a bar with a great selection on almost every other corner. Find a place where you'll be treated like a valued customer, not some slob who's stupid enough to throw money away.

• Pros: Drink Selection, Location, Outdoor space
• Cons: Terrible, terrible, terrible service

01/06/09

great selection, poor service

by ernie118

worst service ever...bar is empty and it takes 5 minutes to flag down the bar tender who is having a personal conversation with friends

• Pros: good tap selection
• Cons: POOR serivce, attitude from staff

10/16/08

Beer lovers dream

by DyeYupster

not quite on par with the Blind Tiger but definitely takes second place for beer geeks. gets really packed in summer, but well worth it. alot of really good bars in the lower east side and this is one of them. definitely go by here if you love beer, hop devil (i heard that may have closed tho), east village tavern if you go to the alphabet streets, stanton public, spitzers corner, great bar crawl, & since I live in the neighborhood will I be hitting these spots regularly, yeah!

• Pros: beers beers beers & whiskey!!
• Cons: packed in the summer (but thats kind of a good thing)

07/31/08

AVOID AT ALLL COST!!!

by newyork2000

i generally love the LES bars for its relaxed and friendly atmosphere but THIS BAR WAS NEITHER OF THE 2, I have never met any more ruder waitresses/bartenders in my life. To get a drink by the bar you had to wait over 15 mins (and it wasn?t because the bar was overly crowded) I will never be going back to this bar again.

07/27/08

Disgusted

by carly123

I have been reading these reviews for awhile but have never been compelled to write one until now. I went to d.b.a last week just looking for a low key place to have a drink. The bouncer at the door was beyond rude to me for no apparent reason. After I entered not saying a word in response to his comments, although now I wish I would have, he came back to find me to now humiliate me in front of my friends and complete strangers. I will never go back and even though this rant won't do much I just needed to put the word out there. What a mean, miserable person and I am beyond angry that he ruined my night.

04/22/08

Excellent selection, very drunk people.

by ruben20078

My wife and I went to this place over the weekend and sat in the garden. It was extremely busy, but the service was fine. In fact, we were very impressed by how much our waitress knew about the beer selection and even more impressed by how many beers she could carry on one tray. The bad part about this place were the group of drunk men sitting at the table next to us. They were extremely loud and rude. One guy ran into the waitress, spilling an entire tray of beers on her and then not did not even apologize for his behavior. From reading other reviews on here I really wonder if it is the employees with the problem or the clientele. We probably will go back, but we will avoid the fraternity tables.

• Pros: Great outdoor area, knowledgeable staff.
• Cons: Drunk and loud people everywhere.

04/22/08

Great beer and hardworking staff.

by grettabvggg

I have been going to this bar for a year now and what I've noticed is that people get impatient when the weather gets warmer. This place gets ridiculously packed b/c of the outdoor garden; this means new people come by the hordes and they expect fast food style service (my way, right away). A couple of days ago I waited in the busy bar (five people deep) no longer than ten minutes for a drink and I saw people behaving terribly towards the bartenders. It's no wonder some of the staff loses their temper. I saw one drunk guy yell "hey b***" to a bartender after only waiting about two minutes for a drink. I know this place before the summer rush and I really like the staff and know they are doing their best. I will go back every time with patience and understanding.

• Pros: Great selection.
• Cons: Very crowded at peak hours and days so be prepared to wait.

04/17/08

Meanest bartender in NY

by nevergoingagain

...and not in a "NY attitude" kind of way. THE WORST SERVICE IN NYC. The meanest bartender I have ever had in 10yrs in NYC. I like their garden and have been repeatedly. The last time I went, the skinny little bartender with the beret was not just rude, she was horribly mean. She yelled at the men next to me when they raised their hands to get her attention and told them not to tell her how to do her job. When I asked for my bill a second time (15 mins after I asked the 1st time) she screamed at me and said that everyone was yelling at her. Honey pie- we all have bad days at work. And clearly you think yours is the hardest. However, in our society most people aren't crazy enough to take it out on all of the customers. As long as they have a psychotic bartender with a nasty temper, I will not go back.

04/15/08

Good luck

by MisterTibbs

There seems to be a theme on this page that the bartenders at DBA score consistently low marks. It's NYC, so I don't have a problem with rude, but I do have a problem with someone being inattentive and at the end of the day simply not doing their job. I'd read the review of the bar mainly to get the location and had planned to ignore the other negative reviews once getting to the bar. I remained invisible to the bartenders for at least 15 minutes which is hard to achieve for someone who's 6'4". They passed the time by serving themselves drinks and avoiding eye contact as they walked from one end of the bar to the other while I stood clearly in the center, next to the taps, where drinks come from. It was as though the bar was being run by bitter ex-girlfriends. A paragraph already and I haven't once mentioned the drinks they serve. From what I saw they have a great selection of beers, but that means f-all if I can't buy any of them.

• Pros: Good beer selection
• Cons: Indifferent service

03/31/08

bad service

by 75038209

Yes, I must say, I agree with the reviewers about rude bartenders. I like the ambience of this place, but there's a deep contradiction between the friendly, low key, decor and the attitude of some of the bartenders. Who needs to be hassled when you are paying 6 dollars plus for a beer. I don't know if it starts with hthe bartenders or the management or what, but here's something seriously wrong with this bar somewhere.