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Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: East Village2nd Ave-Houston St (F, V)
Uptown Bleecker St-Lafayette St (6)
Downtown Bleecker St-Lafayette St (6, B, D, F, V)
Mon-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 a.m.
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i thought that this place was fantastic!
the bartenders/servers are super friendly (had a conversation with one about dodgeball... how random)... the food is quite decent for pub food. my friend and i ordered the fries... which turned out to be a huge bowl of tasty sweet potato fries with three dipping sauces! try the chipotle... it's awesome! the chicken sliders left a lot to be desired... but i don't care, i just won't order them again. the drinks were especially tasty... delicious delicious margaritas. mmmmmm.
i'll definitely be back when the weather warms up so i can sit outside without feeling and looking crazy. this place is great for knocking a couple back and people watching.
A friend of mine took me here on a Tuesday night to listen to their weekly Irish music jam. They didn't disappoint... We got there at 11pm, and they were still going strong - I think they went well past midnight - at least that's about when we left!
I didn't have any food there, so I can't speak to that, but everyone was friendly, and we had a great discussion on Irish politics and history with the bartender - he was great!
A great stop for locals and tourists - recommended!
I feel like I should write an update here since I have not only been contacted by the waitress in question, but also the owner of Dempsey's; both with very apologetic messages. The fact that they each took the time out to write to me about my bad experience speaks volumes. Though I was heated when I wrote the previous review, I should have mentioned that the waitress in question was extremely pleasant up until the incident. Also, the place was jam packed, so it probably wasn't intentional.
As for the trivia, my stance really doesn't change. Though we did get there an hour early and all the tables were already full, so I don't think they'll have any problems with that in the future. Not my cup of tea, but to each their own.
Another thing that I didn't mention in the previous review, the food here is also very good. Yes, it's bar food; but who doesn't love bar food? The bowl of fries with 3 different dipping sauces = A+.
So basically, I can't really retract my story, because it did happen; but at least the people here care enough to make things right with a scorned customer; even after I had said that I wouldn't go back. To be honest, I might find myself at a sidewalk table with a few friends, a few beers, and a bowl of fries one sunny afternoon. I wouldn't rule it out.
Terrible.
The bar itself, not so bad. The beer was decent. The first waitress we had was very nice.…
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This is a pretty solid pub costumed with dark wood, friendly Irish bartenders, alcoves, benches, a dark board, pool table, big TVs, quiz night and weekly Irish music, apparently. They also serve good food, I hear? What else can you possibly want from a comfortable neighborhood pub? A good standby.
The Drunken Smartass Olympics. Awesome name for the quiz night here at Dempsey's... although the game leaves something to be desired. To be fair, they seemed to put a lot of work into the themes for the different rounds. There wasn't even a single science question (come on!). The guy (Tony) was decent, but the lady's sense of humor didn't really click with me and I thought many of her questions were really obscure. Anyway, maybe I'm too harsh of a critic. I still ended up getting drunk and having a good time so I would recommend it if you're nearby and bored. Just not my top pick.
I love to hang out on Second Avenue in the East Village, and have probably been to every bar from 14h Street to 3rd Street. Dempsey's is one of my favorite pubs in the E Vill and the city as a whole.
To me, what makes a great bar is the alcohol selection, the staff and the atmosphere. At Dempsey's, there is a pretty good beer selection and they make great mixed drinks. The staff is very friendly and corteous, never had any problems with them. And the atmosphere is fantastic. The bar is nice and the crowd is on the younger side. The place is not very busy during the week, but on Friday and Saturday it does get packed. Great bar!
One of my favorite bars, honestly.
Where can you go, where after a few weeks of coming in on trivia night, the waitress sees you walk in and immediately has a cold beer waiting for you at your regular table before you even have a chance to sit down?
If we miss a week and come in, she greets us like we're her long-lost relative.
Happy hour consists of buy one, get one free beers, they play good music, have great trivia on Wednesday nights (even though Janet is ridiculous-if you've been, you know what I'm talking about), have an incredibly friendly staff, and they have great food.
$5 gets you a giant basket of crispy fries served with three different dipping sauces, which is always our go-to food. The sliders are also great, as well as the macaroni and cheese.
Just a solid, great bar, fun to hang out and just chill. I recommend weeknights, though. Weekends can get a little crowded and annoying. Weeknights are definitely more low key.
So the website says: "Everyday from 4pm - 7:45pm except Saterday [sic] and Sunday enjoy Happy Hour buy-one-get-one and on your second round get a free bowl of fries."
The buy-one-get-one-free deal is real, however the free fries is apparently only on Thursdays and Fridays. However, the bowls are huge and pretty cheap, $5, for the amount you get out so it doesn't hurt too much to buy your own (especially since you're getting a free (or half-priced, depending on how you look at it) beer). But false advertising still sucks.
The website also says: "Tuesdays: Enjoy traditional live irish music at 8:00pm. All musicians are welcome."
This is true, actually. And there were tons of musicians, most of them with Bodhrans. I'm not a connoisseur of Irish music, but I did recognize the song that was playing during the steerage party in "Titanic." (Are you noticing a trend of me liking some savagely cheesy movies/tv?). It was fun background music for carousing.
There are plenty of places to sit. I recommend the alcove near the Employee's Only door. Especially the wall opposite said door, it vibrates (I think from the hand-dryer in the men's bathroom). And what Irish bar would be complete without bartenders with accents? None, I tell you.
Ugg... I was hungry it was happy hour and this place was closest to where I had to be in at 8 so I stopped in and got a sandwich...
now I know this is bar food so I did not have high expectations... but I didnt expect it to be that bad...
I hear the burgers and buff wings are decent... do not order an $11 chicken sandwich... poor chicken didn't even die for a worthy meal.
Stick with the beers and the bartender was quite charming...
I work around the corner from Dempsey's but had never been until a few days ago. Friends and I went in around 10 on a weeknight to an almost-deserted pub, save for a table of older guys who appeared to be playing cards. I like gambling or vestiges thereof in my bars, so that was a plus right there.
The bartender pulled us our pints of Guinness and they were pretty delicious. Six bucks for a beer always makes me cringe, because apparently I have a hard time remembering that I live in New York City.
Quiet, calm, place to sip our beers without any bother. It's big in there so I can imagine it being good even when super-crowded in the weekend East Village fashion. I'd go back. It's a nice alternative to Stillwater, which is the other bar I frequent due to its proximity to my work.
Boring. Some dude tried to pick a fight with my friend, who stands at 6'2". the picker was 5'9". What a moron. At least they had darts?
We hit this place for the first time after celebrating my birthday with dinner at Brick Lane and enjoyed it. Although we weren't even aware that it was Trivia Night, so the place was completely packed. We also didn't know that said Trivia Night started at 7:30, so when we were given forms to fill in the answers, we were already a good 20-30 points behind everyone else.
But that's alright because we will definitely be back at Dempsey's for trivia. It is a fun atmosphere and the trivia participants are really, REALLY competitive. I mean down to the point where they pack trivia books with them! Maybe we'll get a consolation prize at some point.
Anyway, to back up what cass said, the part about this place that is especially good is the fact that you can get pitchers. It really can be hard to find a nice, comfortable place like this where you can just plunk down $15 for a pitcher of Yuengling and you are good for the rest of the night, so if that's your thing, you should definitely come here.
I didn't try the food, I assume it's typical pub fare (the fries seemed popular), they have a pool table and a dartboard and they have plenty of TV's and I believe they show NFL Sunday Ticket, so that's something to keep in mind for the weekends.
Overall it's a pretty sharp crowd who goes there and it's a good place to just take it easy and not have to pay Midtown prices for drinks.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to dump a bit on Dempsey's, in spite of the love fest that precedes me. I'll start with a few brief remarks on the food and drink, and then comment on the Friday evening scene a bit.
The menu is fairly decent with a fair array of pub fare. The prices are also pretty reasonable, so these are good things. I ordered the quesadillas, mentioned by some below. The good part of the quesadillas is that the portion is pretty generous. Most places give you just one tortilla filled with cheese and other items. Dempsey's, however, provides two and it's under ten dollars. The quesadillas also come with three additional toppings to work with: guacamole, pico, and some sauce. All in all, this is actually a decent offering as either a large appetizer that you might split, or as a meal itself. On the downside, I felt like the flavor was a little lacking. Not bad, just not there at all.
That sort of typifies the menu in general, in my opinion. As a general proposition, "pub grub" and "unexciting" food sort of go hand in hand and that's not necessarily the worst thing in the world. Perhaps this is a little unfair, but I tend to expect slightly above average food from Irish pubs as compared to typical bar food offerings. I'm not sure why, perhaps it's because a number of Irish pubs have a slightly more restaurant feel to them and the kitchen offerings are accordingly a slight step up. Dempsey's, I think, is fairly typical bar food and perhaps a step below what you can get at some other Irish pubs.
The beer offerings are solid, if standard, Irish pub fare. I like something a little lighter and crisper when I'm eating stuff like quesadillas, so it was Harp for me the other night. But they have the usual array of Guinness (of course), Smithwick's, a few required crappy American macros, and a couple others to round out the taps. So that's fine. The bartenders were pleasant and friendly, if a little slow on the uptake when it came to keeping my tipple topped off.
On food and drink alone, Dempsey's is a perfectly good, if mostly unremarkable bar. A good place to go on any given evening (or afternoon if you're ducking out of work or class) and the prices aren't unreasonable so it'll be a bit easier on your wallet than many East Village options (save perhaps, Cheap Shots, if that's your sort of thing).
Returning to the crowd, and one reason that I'm knocking it a bit, owes less to Dempsey's itself and more to the "scene," such as there is. I was prepared to weep for humanity after watching the tragicomedy of human interaction taking place. A curious mix of obnoxious students, fratty 20-somethings, and prowling cougars populates Dempsey's on busy evenings. The intoxicated woman in her mid 30s sitting next to me was being physically compelled by her married friend to kiss the bartender, even though she didn't want to, which I thought might actually happen for a minute (the married woman did the honors herself an hour or two later). Interpersonal drama ensues. The former was also loudly encouraged by the guys sitting on my right to "show your tits." I actually thought this might happen as well; not quite. Girls Gone Wild: The Later Years.
A couple of the guys were law students, which explains their clever offers of pro bono work. Get it? Pro bono? A lousy pun that wasn't funny the first time got played out in several variations over the course of about five minutes. I wanted to puncture my eardrums with a pen: it would have been less painful. Perhaps this experience also helps to explain a recent article suggesting that lawyers no longer hold the social esteem or class once conferred by their profession. Although anyone who has spent significant time interacting with law students won't be surprised: we've known this for years.
This sort of thing might actually be desirable to some. Perhaps you read my description and think "that sounds awesome" and in that case, I suppose you can just upgrade my rating to four stars and plan accordingly. Realistically, I don't actually mind going to Dempsey's from time to time, but the busy evenings are, well, ridiculous. And maybe that's not so bad sometimes either.
This place is always a riot; it seems to attract such a random mix of people, which makes for a lot of comedy. If you need a meeting place in the EV, close to the train -- this is your joint! There are plenty of TVs to catch games at the bar and in the back out of the way. I must say that I liked the bar better when you could order in any food from the hood, before they opened their own kitchen. Greasy bar food is not my thing though...
Oh, and I agree with one of the postings, a few of the bartenders are a bit "skeaz-i-flirty" (especially the ones working late). But, hey - that could be a good or bad thing, depending on what you're lookin for, ladies! :-P
Nevertheless, I pop in every few months to meet friends for a few beers and a ton of laughs!
They all start to blur together but I think I saw they have pitchers of Yuengling for $15.
I have a confession to make: I love getting tipsy in the afternoon. Not frequently, and not because I'm a lush, but just because I take great pleasure in doing things I feel I shouldn't be doing.
Yesterday, due to the snow, our office closed at three, leaving me three hours to hang around the city until my hair appointment at 6 pm. My first thought was to have a coffee, until I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to get tipsy in the afternoon. Hurrah!
I happened upon Dempsey's haphazardly and entered because of their advertised two-for-one happy hour. I was one of two customers and the only woman in the place. But for $4 I was able to stay warm for an hour, get tipsy on two pints of their own beer, listen to old men with heavy New York accents tell jokes (always fun for a girl from Ohio), and eat free day-old Dean & Deluca sushi (cooked) given me by the only other customer. He said he gets it the night they're getting rid of it because he works next door and he keeps it refrigerated. Didn't make me sick, anyway. He's at Dempsey's almost every afternoon, so if you're feeling lucky, stop by around 4 pm for some free old sushi and good beer.
Dempsey's is a classic pub with a good selection of beer and classic greasy pub food. The crowd is a mixed bag of people, which can be fun, and their "Drunken Smartass Olympics" trivia night is one of the best (and most challenging) in the city, even though the bar gets absolutely jam-packed.
So its a pub. I went with some friends for a little bar trivia on Wednesday, and learned this, "we will not win, ever." They've got some hard core trivia types in there, and despite being a fairly coherent, over-educated group of four, we came in fourth (out of ten.) That's right, slightly above the mean....er, median.
But eyeing our competition tells the whole story, there were tables of 7 or 8 (good luck splitting the prize, folks) and then the table of trivia superheros sitting front and center. The Dow opened at $39.18 (back in 1896) and you 'guessed' $40? the only way I'm that smart is with an internet connection near by, and even that comes up short sometimes. Oh, and pitchers of Yuengling are $15.
WARM PUBBY GOODNESS
Dempsey's is one of my favorite East Village Pubs. It's a great place to grab a pint and throw some darts. Bring your A-game though, because there's only one board and you'll likely have to challenge the current occupant.
I usually avoid the East Village on a Saturday but I hit a pals B-day bash here and I was not impressed...well actually the $3 PBR in bottles did impress me but the white-bread crowd did not! A dude was actually wearing a bow tie.
Anyway as far as Irish pubs go, I found this place to be boring but we did get a table on a Saturday night so I cannot complain too much.
I absolutely love Irish pubs. Especially, dark, lively one with a great selection of beer and cute bartenders charming you with their sexy accents. None of that beer pong loving, popped collar sporting young crowd from New Jersey on a Saturday night, please.
Dempsey's has everything I want from a bar. It became my favorite place after beloved Rocky Sullivan's, where I accomplished most of my under-aged drinking back in the day and grew tremendously as a person (or an alcoholic), closed down in August of 2007.
Recently, their kitchen reopened. And while they don't have a wide selection of dishes, what they do have is delicious. Mmmmm, sweet potato fries!! More importantly, they have a great happy hour during weekdays. 4-8 pm buy one get one free on draft beers. Come on now, two pints of Yuengling for $5 (and tip) in the East Village is a great deal!
What a wonderful pub!
Dempsey's was just recently renovated and still reeks of varnish which is the only slightly negative thing I can comment on(thought I happen to enjoy the smell myself).
The beer selection is great, including their own delicious beer brewed by Red Hook brewery .
The service is out of this world, including an incredibly friendly and attentive waitress who is very generous with the comps and seems to remember everything thrown at her.
The seating is ample, the vibe is friendly and the crowd is young.
It may be just a pub, but for those of us who love pubs, this one is a gem.
I love this bar. Especially since it's about 2 feet from my house, and it's Irish. Can't beat that.
Great pool table/jukebox/darts action. You can hide in the back and play darts all night, pretending you are the next national champion who happens to throw underhanded like our old high school yard duty, Robbie.
It's too bad that right now I'm kind of embarrassed to go back there, since I drunkenly left my phone number for the bartender Terry from Derry. But, the bartenders are all extemely nice and willing to chat with the drunk bums like myself that come in!
I go to Dempsey's to play darts. The bartenders and bouncers are friendly and the drinks are reasonably priced ($5 draught beers). UPDATE: They removed the dart boards! 4 stars down to 2 stars
Once when I was there on a Tuesday there were a bunch of people gathered to play Irish music. There was a wide variety of instruments and it was a pretty fun and unexpected form of entertainment.
This place was quite nice for an Irish bar. We were drawn in by the 2-1 domestic draft happy hour special. They had a decent beer selection, and plenty of seating. Clean and fun.
We enjoyed our beers, over some pool and darts.
I had a birthday party at Dempsey's a few weeks ago on a Saturday night and it was awesome. The $35 open bar for three hrs is pretty standard in the city, but they have shots included which is unheard of. To say the least everyone had a great time. The bartenders are all really good dudes. In all we had about 60 or so people come and the place was packed, but no one really had issues getting a drink or moving around. I highly recommend if you're looking to throw a party or special event.
Ended up heading back a week later to watch football on a Sunday afternoon. We ordered a bunch of tizers from the menu and everything we got was pretty good. Really good wings, sweet potato fries and nachos. Also they have several flat screens playing different games which is key. Real mix of fans there too which was cool. It was a far cry from the b-day party but confirmed to me that the place is legit. Definitely one of the best Irish pubs in the city I've been to, will definitely return in the near future.
My problem with this pub is that I find its absolutely boring on weekends. There's no sense of people mixing here, and its good to go on a weekday or to chat with a friend or two or 6, but if you're looking for a more high energy time, I don't find it condusive to that. The waitress was extremely friendly and nice.
We had a grand ole time here, and how could you not? I'm leaving off one star because it's really no different from any of the other pubs down this stretch of 2nd Avenue, but it was still a whopping good time. Good place to stop by while bouncing around the area, or to just grab a seat and get sloshed at. Like most things, better with a good group of friends!
Slightly subterranean, Dempsey's gives you the feeling that you're stepping down into neighborhood hospitality. The brightly-painted walls counter the requisite dark wood of an Irish pub, and the bartenders and waitress were quick with a smile and a beer. There was a music session going on in front (mandolin, guitar, bodhran, even a woman singing an Irish tune), a couple of games of darts in the back, friendly conversation all around, and a sense that you could join in any and all of it even as a stranger. And that's what the best pubs are all about.
Hard to put your finger exactly on the reason why this bar is great...it just is! The bartenders are friendly and helpful and the place gets crowded on the weekends but I've always met great people there!
if you like pubs, like me, you'll like dempsey's. i like it because it's big, lots of places to sit, they have good beer selection, and, perhaps most of all, they have pitchers - which for anyone who doesnt live in nyc, is a rarity here. 5 stars, because its as good as pubs gets. didnt get to try their food, but i bet its good. ill get back on that
by the looks of it, i thought it would be a big nyu hang out, but it turned out to be a total random blend of random people, which works for me. I only noticed the 5 middle aged men playing poker when we left at 330.
Ladies, the drinks are inexpensive, but the bartenders are free, if you get my drift. Worth a late-night stop if you haven't pulled.
The large sign in front lures you down into this fair imitation of an Irish pub. The dark bar and lighting really help this place fit the bill, and with specials like $5 martinis and $4 Irish Reds, this place ends up being a pretty economical LES stop. The jukebox is extensive, which the right group of people can use to make all the choices, and the wrong group of people can use to detract from everyone's night.
Where did it all go wrong? I loved Dempseys back in the day. Carmen was the most welcoming, friendly but at the same time unobtrousive bartender in the e vill, I could sit at the bar by myself and speak to any number of the regulars that frequented the place. The music was always hit and miss depending on who was working.
Now...... cheap make over, the introduction of bad food and bartenders who seem dead against people having fun. During my last visit here I witnessed the new owner/manager scold young guys for laughing too loud, then told me of the horrors of alcoholism while promoting the smoking of pot. As a woman who likes Irish bars I think I'll go elsewhere in the neighbourhood.... Bua is alot better. When I asked about the old staff and costumers the bartender/owner/manager opened his mouth and let the insults fly.... They always seemed cool to me I said, then I got the wrath of this self rightous doucebag!
I can only hope that the good old days return to Dempseys and the new dude gets the help he needs or maybe he just needs to get laid sometimes so he will stop sleezing over the patrons.
Your run-of-the-mill East Village dive, this pleasantly dark pub is host to a variety of great promotions and events. Hoppin' happy hour; good-natured, young crowd. No pretension here.
Another good ol' pub. I came here with a group of Irish friends and didn't stop laughing the whole night. This pub promotes that type of environment. By the way, cheers is pronounced 'saloncha' in Galic.
I come here only for the trivia but it's a blast. Wednesday nights, good beer specials, always packed.
I love Dempsey's. This place was my grad school haunt back in the day. It was an old reliable that you could always find a place to sit, get a drink quickly, and hear yourself talk. It's still that place. They've done some major renovations over the years and the wall to wall bookshelves and old wood tables have been replaced with darker, sleeker fixtures and a few flat panel TVs over the bar. But it's still a place that, even at midnight on the weekend, you can come with a group of people, find some real-estate to occupy, and have a friendly cocktail waitress hustle to get you some reasonable priced drinks. The only reason they don't get five stars is that because with the renovations, it's going to take a little wear and tear before it has a full personality. Dimming the lights a little more might help. But over-all...if it's the weekend in NY, you don't give a shit about a "scene", and you just want a place you and your friends can hang.....Dempsey's.
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: East Village
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