08/02/08

Best place to start your pub crawl on a Friday

by drcrowley

Cheap beverages. Knowledgable barstaff. Great jukebox. Pool Table, they even have board gamese.g. connect four, scrabble. Best time to go there is Tuesdays thru Thursdays. Bathrooms are go at your own risk. Great drink selection.

• Pros: Inexpensive, Pool Table,
• Cons: No Food

07/07/08

It is what it is, and what it ain't is some corny, trendy nest of newly arrived dooshbags

by ukininja

I've been going to Blue and Gold since Verchovynya (aka Bar 81) next door closed around 2002. Not as cool, but certainly cheap and a great place to start the night. Service is adequate, but I usually go when it's empty. Very simple formula for success: You order, he/she pours, you pay. Mission accomplished.

• Pros: cheap
• Cons: ugly

04/30/08

the woman who works weeknights is unhappy with how her life turned out

by windsor13

Overall, good bar, very cheap, good music, and a laid-back vibe...

until you have to deal with the service. A lot of reviews have mentioned how hard the weekend guy is to get a hold of, but I wouldn't recommend this place for weeknights if only for the horrible woman who tends the bar. Seriously the most aggressively hostile and unprofessional service I've ever seen in the city.

My friend gets a 3.50 beer and leaves the change from a 5 = a 1.50 tip. The bartender starts screaming, genuinely screaming at her that she can keep her .50 cents and that "she doesn't play that!" So, in addition to manners that would have made a Flavor of Love contestant uncomfortable, she can't count. When my friend clarified she was temporarily chastened but the rudeness returned soon enough.

I don't expect a bartender at a dive to be my best friend, or even be attentive, but this woman is actively mean and exudes bitterness. Overall a kind of depressing lady. Her vitriol wasn't reserved for our group either, we saw her chew out a couple who hadn't finished the the food they had paid for. I know serving NYU kids probably isn't the most fulifilling thing in the world but as someone with a lot of experience in the service industry I was very embarassed for her.

• Pros: value, music
• Cons: astonishly rude bartender

09/20/07

An old-school bar meets well-schooled boozers.

by Contributor

The Scene
This Ukrainian family-owned bar has been an East Village fixture since the early '60s. As you step into the tiny joint, you'll find a dark wooden bar, nine well-worn booths, a pool table and a jukebox. In the early evening hours neighborhood regulars drink and play pool; later on, the under-25 set takes over, upping the decibel level with loud talk and laughter.

The Draw
The Blue & Gold is a popular college bar for one simple reason: Cheap booze. Draft beers, including McSorley's and Bass Ale, and bottled beers can be had for between $3 and $4. A chalkboard lists over a dozen drinks that go for $3, ranging from a shot of Jack Daniels to an Absolut screwdriver to Chivas Regal on the rocks.

06/20/07

this place has it and always will

by livehappy1

I'm not sure what the heck altj/whateverhisnameis is talking about. Anyone who manages a bar in the East Village knows how hard it is to keep the prices down and B&G has been doing it for years. Also-what true East Village bar has a "GM" ? You'd never find me in a coporate McBar-couldn't be one of the newer bars that just popped up in the neighborhood, could it? You know the kind-no personality, likely low-cut and pancake makeup faced servers who they smile at their "regulars" and rob 'em blind at $6 a pint (or more!) Whatever I'd rather hang in the chillest place in the East Village that people have been turning to for years for a relaxed time. I for one love that the bartender doesn't bother talking to me -I'm there for the booze and my friends.

So to people looking for a great time head here like everyone always has and will...great booze, awesome atmosphere and chill people.

06/15/07

Here's the Scoop...

by altamuratj

Okay so I'm a GM at a bar in the village, so what big deal, right? But that does mean I understand the business from a behind the scenes perspective and I'm telling you this: the cheap shots, the cute little "happy meal" drink combos, the 15 dollar pitchers all sound very enticing, and when you go in for the first time they are. And when the bartender doesn't exactly acknoweldge you you chalk it up to being a first timer. So what if the guy has no personality or idea of service, so what if the supposed "generous" buybacks actually do not exist, so what if the bartender always seems to be making out with his girlfriend...it's because you're a first timer and hey, we in the business take care of our regulars. So the prices and hopes of being treated like a "regular" lure you back in...again...again, hell and maybe again. Then the pattern becomes obvious - your not important, the money is the goal, service is non-existent, you will suffer to get a buyback, and the neighborhood feel you hope for isn't there. You may save some money, you might have fun on the pool table, hell the jukebox is even pretty interesting, but doesn't getting poor service time after time and feeling as if your money means nothing to the ONE SINGLE bartender who works get old after awhile? Yes...yes it does.

• Pros: Seriously, it can be cheap...nice juke...board games at the bar and boothes
• Cons: HORRIBLE, non-existent service, ZERO buybacks, you'll feel like a number...

11/03/05

Still hanging in there

by cdobbelaere

I remember this place from back in the day and although the setup has changed, it is still a friendly and totally unpretentious neighborhood bar. With an absolutely godlike blond, blue eyed barkeep. Mmmmmm. Relaxing booth seats, relatively clean bathroom.

• Pros: not crowded, inexpensive, pool table
• Cons: can't see outside

09/30/05

Avoid weekends

by diamonddaev

A good hangout on weeknights . No, it's not clean - it's dive bar !! Drinks are cheap, & the buybacks are generous as well . The pool table has seen better days if you're a competitive player (like me). Otherwise, a solid old school dive with alot bang for the buck.

• Pros: Cheap drinks, divey
• Cons: weekend crowd

04/06/05

What a dump!

by angelicadwsn

I hate this place! Yes... Yes.. the drinks are cheap, but they are the smallest I have ever seen. At any rate, who cares? The service is appaling. The guy behind the bar was rude and beyond obnoxious. This place felt like combat camp instead of a place to chill. Don't bother!

• Pros: none...sorry
• Cons: all of it

03/07/05

Cheap Beer

by ilovethesox

Cheap beer in the East Village - classic East Village bar - booth, basement level... chill

• Pros: cheap beer, cheap shots
• Cons: college crowd, very drunk people