10/08/09

a place that the new NYC forgot

by BillySilo

Nearly every time I end up here it turns in to an event of some sort. We run in to friends and go there, then more friends show up from out of no where. Which is kind of too bad because it's the type of place that would be good to just park yourself on a barstool and soak in the atmosphere.

Sure, it's a dive, but there is something oddly grand about the place. Like it's a place that the new NYC forgot about.

It's got a good juke box and the drinks are a great price. I've stumbled out of this place many times.

• Pros: Cheap drinks, great atmosphere

01/27/09

Give unto Caesar

by omnipoe

Greatest dive bar, bar none! Cheap beer cheap shots!! Where else can you listen to Slayer while downing 5 dollar shots of Makers Mark and 5 dollar Amstels? Forget it's uptown location,this is what oldschool bars used to be like! The bartenders are the best ! AWESOME jukebox, dingy dirty gritty just like the people who drink there.Cash only and no draft beer so what. Remember tip your bartender (the way they dress it looks like they need it)

• Pros: bartenders attentive and knowledgible jukebox pours out molten metal
• Cons: Mcgraff but he's fired

09/29/08

A best kept secret

by Beefhooked

I proposed to my wife in this bar twenty years ago and I'm glad to see it hasn't changed, it still retains the same NY charm that it always had, from the plushness of the seating to it's intimate booths, this is THE place to bring that special date. This bar reminds me of Cheers, you know the place where everybody knows your name, and hey, if they don't when you walk in, you bet y'all will make friends before you leave, why you can even leave your phone number on the bathroom wall if you're not one of the Facebook generation!

In summary, great atmosphere, ideal location, great drink selection (they have a top notch sommolier) warn friendly faces all around :)

08/25/08

Needs Better Bartenders

by HannahSmith

Used to be great but now seems to employ useless bar tenders who look like they should be employed as part of a rapper's entourage or outside a nightclub as opposed to being behind a dive bar. Buy-backs? Nope! Waiting for 15 minutes to get served in a half empty bar while the bar tender pops peanuts into his mouth and increases the girth of his already flabby belly? Check!

Management - get some new bar keeps!

11/06/07

When only the very worst will do

by zadnor

Dive? More like an awkward belly flop. if you don't like dives, don't go near the place. It's dark, dirty, scuzzy, cheap, stale-smelling and utterly lacking in charm. Which is, of course, it's charm.

• Pros: Nasty
• Cons: Nasty

10/29/07

Manhattan's Finest!

by pfulcher

The Subway Inn, I found, to be one of the most Sophisticated and elitest boutique bars in all of Manhattan. Located in the center of New York's Midtown on Lexington Avenue across from Bloomingdales, the ambiance of this 5-star beverage aristocracy is sure to impress a fine date before a Broadway show, or perhaps an evening performance at Carneghie Hall, the Guggenheim Museum, or even a dessert just blocks away at Serendipity III. Romantic and Exclusive, wine and dine with Manhattan's finest at this to-die-for world class location!!!!

A monument to sweat and liquor skulking in the shadow of Bloomingdale's.

by Contributor

From the red neon curves and glass bricks of the exterior to the dust-encrusted deco veneer and mirrors of the bar, this place (which dates back to the 1930s) is classically dingy. Admire some of the worst amateur art known to man and rows of filthy, inexplicable tchotchkes. Drinks are cheap and the crowd is low-key, local and mostly drunk. A few hipsters might be found plunking quarters into the jukebox and tossing back recession-friendly $4 shots, but this is one of the few cool, old-New York places where youngsters are in the minority and old-timers reign supreme.

06/01/07

Still my favorite dive

by davant

It's great to see that the Subway Inn is still there and hasn't changed. I lived in the neighborhood in the 60's and was a regular at the "Subway". Only the bartender has changed. John and Jack are no longer there. Owners, Charkie Ackerman and Jack Schweller don't seem to be there either. "Oscar" the parannah also was not seen in the fish tank behind the bar. 15 cent beer is also a thing of the past. Everything else is the same, thank heavans. If Charlie were still there, he would make you a sandwich about 3 AM. That would ensure that the four or five of us regulars would stick around til 4 AM-closing time.

• Pros: Nostalgic NYC dive bar
• Cons: no food

12/14/06

Great Dive Bar

by breuter

Took my first trip to New York last week. We did the normal fare, dinner, Rockerfeller Plaza, the whole nine yards, and looking for a few last drinks before returning for the train ride home, we stumbled across The Subway Inn. I absolutely loved this bar, it is the quintisential dive bar. The bathrooms are not the cleanest, and they are covered in graffiti, and the bar area is dingy and dark. But I will never forget The Subway Inn. I had a great time. It was a Saturday night around 9:00 and there were plenty of seats at the bar, the Golden Tee game was open, and the drinks were cheap, $3.50 for beer, and $4.00 for Jameson on the rocks. If you are looking for somewhere nice, this may not be the place. If you are looking for a bar that has two TV's both showing "Full House" on Nick at Night, this is the bar for you.

• Pros: Not Crowded, Cheap Drinks
• Cons: None

08/24/05

Sorry to hear it was spruced up!

by jennnin

I always thought this place was GREAT. I used to go to happy hour with a co-worker years ago. It was dark, dank and the drinks were reasonable. The one complaint I had was that we got yelled at by some waiter for turning off the light in the booth we were sitting in. He got all nasty saying "this isn't your livingroom" or something to that effect. EW. Other than that, it was never overcrowded and it was a great place to vege, drink and be merry...or not.