Barrow Street Ale House

04/07/09

Good After Work Bar

by tutu123 at Citysearch

A decent beer selection kicks off this after work bar. Happy hour daily, 5 to 7 if I recall. $3 draughts on Tuesdays. The wings are simply excellent, try them!

There is extra seating downstairs, along with a non-level pool table. There is no bar downstairs, you gotta go up to get served, but I was told that by arrangement, the management will take of that for you.

Overall a really nice bar!

• Pros: Decent beer selection, good staff, great wings, lots of seat
• Cons: Booth seating limits group size

11/16/08

Best Sports Bar In NYC!!!!!

by villagemuse at Citysearch

I love this place & have been "haunting" it for quite a few years now...Ever since they renovated this place into a state of the art Sports Bar I have become more than a regular. I think they are up to 17 HD screens. What an incredible place to watch a game(Go Giants!!!!). What I love is that they don't cater to 1 specific team... they play ALL the games. If there's a game on they've got it. As for the beer... they have a pretty decent selection. The food... incredible bar food. I don't know who made up the new menu but they definitely know their stuff! And in closing... one of the hottest bar staffs I've ever seen!! Hands off Merry, I got dibs... i saw her first.

• Pros: Attentive & gorgeous staff. All sports. Great food. Great times.
• Cons: Very popular so it can get overly crowded.

09/07/08

Awesome Sportsbar

by w4thnative at Citysearch

Just wanted to say that this joint is awesome. I've been frequenting there for quite a few years now . People that work there are cool. Just to address the issue of last Saturday... I was sitting at the bar across from the 2 tables that had an issue... that dude, I think his name was "Horse", is a bouncer there... not an owner... totally abused his power. I think that the situation has been remedied because I have not seen him there since the incident. Give it a 2nd chance... u won't be disappointed.

• Pros: 17 games at a time
• Cons: gets too crowded

08/28/08

such a SHAME

by hometownnyc at Citysearch

When I first went to the Barrow St Ale House the walls were adorned with caricatures of the beloved staff and its loyal patrons. It was a home away from home where everyone was welcome. On Saturday night I witnessed what the Ale House has become. The bar manager mentioned in many below reviews is a pathetic bully who gets his jollies abusing his postion. Just to set the scene the bar tenders and the waitresses had no issues - in fact the bar tenders were sending free drinks during the brief moment we were there. I guess the owners of the Ale House don't care what happens at their establishment - and apparently don't care about profit. Hundred of dollars in drinks had to be voided because of one persons power trip. There is no reason to ever go back to the Ale House ,.. unless you want to hang out somewhere that allows their staff to bully and harass their paying guests. There are lots of other bars in downtown - the Ale House needs to clean up its act and send their staff to anger management

• Pros: used to be a fun place to hang out
• Cons: Abusive bullying staff

08/26/08

Unbelievably rude owner

by nyclocal12 at Citysearch

First let me start by saying I was a bartender in this city for over ten years at reputable establishments with high standards of service. Until this past Sat I might've claimed I'd seen it all. I know the places to avoid and thought I knew the places that were safe on the weekends. I was part of a group of 8 women for a bachelorette...a very composed group of women(not wasted freaks throwing up and causing trouble) who were just out to show our bride a good time. Most of us were from the city. The bride born and raised in Chelsea. You're getting the picture. Never, and I mean never, had any of us come across a more rude employee--believed to be either manager or owner(no one would give us a straight answer). There are not enough characters remaining to explain the variety of ways he was rude so suffice to say our group, along with a second group beside us(also being abused by this same person), left the establishment. I feel sorry for the rest of the staff who were actually quite nice. God forbid this person is actually the owner because he should truly be fired. Not only did he cause the staff to lose out on respectable customers that know how to tip and appreciate good service, but he drove out people who were spending money in his establishment! It's a shame. None of us will ever go back there. Unless you like being given the finger(ok that's one example).

08/26/08

I REALLY hope that the (mis)manager is not the owner...

by grewupinNYC at Citysearch

This past Saturday I went with a group of (very respectable) ladies to the Barrow Street Ale House for my sister's Bachelorette Party.We were in no way Out of Control (except that it was stated on the sash she wore), or even rambunctious at that. We were out to enjoy ourselves.Simple... or so one would think. In the booth next to us we ended up meeting a group of equally respectable guys who were out celebrating a bachelor party.We were fast friends.This was to the dismay of the (mis)manager who stood brooding at the end of the bar. He accused the gents of laughing too loud-what a crime!Our first interaction had been when one of the girls waved at him and he promptly flipped her the bird-his customer service oozing obviously out of every orifice.He also had a problem with people kneeling on the banquettes to to talk to one another. He came marching over and spewed his venom in a menacing way.There was no "please sit down, we worry about accidents", it was simply sit down and turn around-like you were misbehaving in church instead of hanging out in a bar.Not long after he accused one of the gents of having an attitude problem simply for asking what he'd done wrong (which was nothing). He then kicked them out, forcing the waitress void dozens of drinks that had just been served.We left with them in a display of unity.I can't properly describe his display of controlling, abusive behavior, but he should not be in the "hospitality" industry.It was such an unbelievable scene, I have never witnessed such disgraceful unprofessional behavior.When we left (yes, there was name calling, but deserved) we went down the street to the Four Faced Liar.We told the bouncer there what had just happened and he couldn't believe it-as no one was misbehaving! We enjoyed the rest of our evening there.So if you're in the village, skip Barrow Street and its socio, and head straight for the Four Faced Liar.I guarantee all you'll be missing is being able to write a review like this... Enjoy!

• Cons: Any pro it could have had was ruined by the manager/owner

03/05/08

Uncrowded Bar in Greenwich Village

by miskafied at Citysearch

I'm part of a weekly Wednesday drinking group of 30 or so regulars who love to drink, geek out, talk and eat after work. We check out a different bar each week. We've been kicking around the city for 12 years. In that time we've visited several hundred bars (with repeats of faves). We've been to Barrow Street Ale House a couple of times. I think the reason we return is because they have the space to accommodate us, the service is decent and the food is pretty good. The beer selection is average. No microbrews or standouts, just your usual bar selection. For a Greenwich Village pub, the atmosphere is friendly and gives off the vibe as being a nice neighborhood hangout for locals. It's kinda ominously uncrowded for the area, which is odd, but it serves our purpose just fine.

• Pros: Not Crowded
• Cons: Lackluster Ambiance, Beer Selection is Average

01/27/08

Great value -- just keep an eye on your tab

by green_emerald at Citysearch

Great value for drinks and food - cocktails are $5, food is served until 2:50am and is affordable (between $4-$10) It's a fun atmosphere and very unpretentious.

Here's my only concern: keep an eye on your credit card and tab. Two weeks ago, my boyfriend was given the wrong card back and didn't notice until the next morning. It looked exactly like his but had the wrong name on it. Last night, my friend closed out his tab and realized that he had been charged for $40 worth of drinks that we didn't order. The owner was extremely apologetic and fixed it immediatly.

All in all, a good place to start or end your night in convenient location in the village -- just keep an eye on your tab and credit card.

• Pros: Unpretentious, affordable (!), and great food
• Cons: Unreliable service if you open a tab

Editorial Review

by Contributor at Citysearch

West Village watering hole offers pool, darts and tunes from a jukebox, plus daily drink specials and a late-night food menu.

03/16/07

Rude Owner, Not Very Clean, Can Get Crowded, Good Food, Happy Hour

by soulyinclined at Citysearch

BSAH has a good location, good selection of beers, and better than good food, but with so many bars in NYC there are thousands of places that fit this bill. To recommend a place it has to set itself apart. Let me explain why I would NEVER Recommend this place to a friend.

After hearing BSAH had several flatscreens and subscribed to the March Madness TV package my friends and I decided to watch the Thur. games. During the day everything was great. The bartender was accomodating and attentive and she set up all the TVs so that all the games were shown. Basically we were taken care of very well and by the time she ended her shift at about 6pm we were happy campers. There were more games to go and our logic was, this is great why go anywhere else, right? Wrong.

The owner/bartender for the night arrived and everything went downhill very fast. The channels had all been reset to one station during the 6-7pm break so the TVs were only showing one game and several were broadcasting figure skating. When we politely requested that the owner flip a few channels to make use of the package that we had so thoroughly enjoyed all day we were completely blown off. The bartender/owner basically said, "I don't have time, get out of my face." After we explained we had been at his establishment all day lining his pockets he grew agitated and ended up balling us out for bothering him. I'm not sure what planet this guy is from but why would you have 15 flatscreens and the NCAA package and not show any of the games and why would you treat your customers like dirt, especially after they patronized your bar for the previous 7 hours.

Shocked, we obviously had to move on. Before doing so we chatted with a cocktail waitress about what had just happened. She acknowledged that her boss is an (insert expletive of choice). So despite the great food and the attractive and attentive staff I have to say steer clear, unless, of course, you're really into figure skating.

• Pros: Most the staff is friendly and attentive, Good Happy Hour, Good Bar Food
• Cons: Owner is Straight Up Rude, Gets Crowded, Not that clean