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Categories: Pubs, American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: Cobble HillBergen St (F, G)
Court St-Borough Hall (2, 3, 4, 5, M, R, W)
Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts (A, C, G)
Mon-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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okay, I do not want to be Mr. Ranty-Rant Hates Everything. So, I am here, before you all today, to say I really liked Downtown Bar & Grill.
This place is priced too high, but the food stands up to it. We started with the fried goat cheese & apple salad for $14. Which is a lot of damn money for a salad. But...it was really amazing. perfect melty discs of goat cheese, sweet but pungent balsamic, just enough bacon to poke through it all. I asked for well-done fries, bam, my fries are extra crispy, ready to be painted with a perfect ribbon of ketchup.
I've got a burger with gouda & mushrooms waiting for me.
A group of 14 of us went here last night for a bday dinner & drinks, and I must say, all the negative reviews below describe the opposite of our experience. We had a great time! For a Sat. night, it was not crowded (I never hang out in BK Heights, maybe that's standard?) so maybe we lucked out, but service was excellent. They put tables together and sat us immediately, took our orders and everything came out quickly.
Their beer list is unbeatable and comes in a binder, plus there is a draft list and a list of specials on sale. It helped that one of our friends is the most knowledgeable beer enthusiast I've ever met; she gave us all great recommendations to try, and even ordered the $50 Allagash Interlude, the holy grail of beer, for the bday girl who generously shared. Oh man is it good. The waitress brought out free shots for the bday girl and the bartender (owner or manager, possibly?) came to the table to personally pour the Allagash. I'll stress again that in my experience, service was excellent.
On to food: I got a burger with blue cheese & bacon. It was pretty pricey for a burger ($11 + $2 for each topping) but very good - not epic, but good, and so were the fries. Going with a big group of people is always awesome for tasting things; I also tried onion rings, calamari, hot buffalo wings, and mussels. The wings were the biggest hit, deliciously tangy with a not-overly-spicy kick, and slightly crunchy texture. I'd really like the recipe for them, they were so good. Onion rings were kickass; whatever beer they use to batter them is delicious. The beer broth for the mussels was yummy. Clearly this place knows what it's doing when it comes to beer, both for drinking and for cooking.
The food is a little overpriced but the drink prices were reasonable for such an extensive beer list, and it was all worth it for a wonderful celebratory evening. It's not in a neighborhood I frequent, but next time I find myself thirsty in BK Heights, I will definitely go here again. And probably order some wings.
I, too, want to like this place. We live in the neighborhood and my beer-loving husband was attracted to the selection. Sadly, it's literally the only thing they have going for them.
The food is sub par and TERRIBLY overpriced -- $18 for a burger? It's a pub!
The service is atrocious. They bark at you and disappear forever after they deliver your food.
Do yourself and your wallet a favor and head over to Pete's Waterfront on Atlantic Ave for a similar atmosphere and beer selection but good food and worlds better service. The pulled chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries is excellent.
I've been here three times. Three times too many.
I have never been one to dislike a place because of its service. But the service here was so bad each time I came that I will never go back. They are slow, rude, and charge $2 per card to split a check between two credit cards.
On the plus side, their veggie burgers are tasty, if not overpriced.
Food is pretty good, but a bit expensive. However the service can be HORRIBLE! If you get the female waitress, she's great, but the male servers are incredibly lazy and will take 30-45 minutes to come back and check on you - even when you're not eating anything - i.e. when the food is gone and you just want your check. And whatever you don't, don't sit outside with a male waiter - they'll forget you're even there!
I really want to like this place. I spend a lot of time in this neighborhood and Downtown Bar and Grill always looks so inviting from the outside. However, I'm pretty disappointed with the food and service.
I've been here twice, and both times I've had to wait a really long time before someone even came to the table to take our drink order. (As for drinks, they do have an impressive selection of beers). Again, both times it took so long to get our main dishes that we had to ask the waiter if they'd forgotten about our order.
The food is actually pretty good. I had the veggie burger once (one of the best I've had in NYC) and the roasted vegetable and goat cheese wrap another time (also very good). But the prices are ridiculously high which really detracts from the experience, especially when you know you could walk another block or two and have equally good or better food for lower prices.
Stopped by this place after having pizza for drinks, simply because we had no choice. We were initially looking for a cafe....yeah, good luck with that! I can't believe it's impossible to find anything but Starbucks in New York, I will never again complain about Chicago, at least we have a number of alternatives here in the Chi! We sat outside while visiting in late September, which is always a plus for me since it's hard to find a place with outdoor seating. Sitting outside soaking up the sun was nice, service not so much. We sat for a good 20 minutes until we had to wave someone to come and help us. Overall, I think so-so pricey drinks. Would I go there again? Probably not.
This place has decent slightly overpriced American food and a nice beer selection. I really enjoyed their veggie burger and if this review was based on food only I'd give it a solid 4. However, the service is disappointing. Every time we come here it takes forever for anyone to take our order and the wait for the food becomes ridiculous. I KNOW it doesn't that long to make a veggie burger. Nor should it take multiple requests to get a glass of water. For that, you get a 2.
Very acceptable. Largest beer selection I've seen anywhere ever, literally.
I know I'm usually one to give a place a 4 or 5 star review based off of the quality of their beer/alcohol selection alone, but I just can't do it this time.
The boyfriend and I had 2 hours to kill before our movie started....we wanted food and we wanted some beers. Downtown has both, plus available outdoor seating on a gorgeous evening. Off to a decent start....we stand outside for a few minutes looking for someone to seat us....we're ignored. We go inside to the bar and look around for someone to seat us. No staff to be seen. We're just about to sit down at the bar when the bartender/server stands up from sitting down on the couch in the front of the restaurant where he was chatting with a friend and says "Oh, you want a table?" Well, yes, actually...we do, how nice of you to notice.
We're seated outside. Our menus arrive, but this wonderful 25 page beer menu that people have mentioned on here never appeared. Not that it mattered, because after seeing the prices on their regular beer menu, we both stuck with the basic [read: moderately priced to cheap] stuff.
I was actually shocked at how expensive their food was. $16 for a fucking salad? That better be one top quality plate of lettuce and veggies for that price! I settled for a $12 burger [add another $2 for cheese] but wasn't happy that it was pretty much my only affordable option on the menu. The whole place just doesn't seem to warrant those kind of prices....I mean, is it a low-key sports bar or a gastro-pub? I'm going with neither...it's just an overpriced bar in a yuppified neighborhood.
On to the service - one table next to us had been sitting there for about 15 to 20 minutes, their drinks empty, their food gone. They looked mildly annoyed. Finally, a server makes his way over and rudely asks "are you waiting for another drink or something?" to which they replied "no, we've been waiting for you to come back so we can get our check and pay you." I was honestly surprised that they didn't just get up and leave at that point...I would have.
The other table near us had ordered many rounds of drinks and plenty of food...you'd think this would make their waiter [same server as above] pleased, as he's going to be getting a decent tip, with the automatic gratuity they tac on. Nope. One of the women at the table asks the waiter if the bar delivers. This was his response:
"I told you 5 times, yes, we deliver! I'm not gonna tell you again..."
"....But sir, I've never been here before!"
"YES YOU HAVE!! 5 times, I tell you...go home and you'll see you have menus that I gave you! I'm not gonna tell you again!" and then he dramatically stormed off.
She was stunned and I was appalled.
Three words:
Not worth it.
After hearing so many good things about DBG,
my brother and i decide to stop on a recent visit to brooklyn. DBG may not be most people's idea everyday beer bar,but it is definitely worth an visit if you are a beer geek, the place was able to appease us both.
we had dogfish head ww stout vintage 2004
than after that we had goose imperial IPA 2005
and we top that with samuel adams utopia.
the food is superb, our server happy to make recommendation,i had Pulled pork sandwich with salad, my brother had ribeye steak.
i love this place the atmosphere very cozy,
the service very friendly and warm
great food great sevice we had very good time recomended
The upscale beer list is a staggering 25 pages long!!!!!
Um yeah we got ourselves an instant 5 star yelp here...oh wait take away one of those lil stars due to the lack of good service at this bar and grill. I have been here a few times and always feel like it takes forever to order food and pay the check. But that aside...try the burger (mmm) and try the beers (double mmm).
They serve the extremely rare Sam Adams Utopia...for $400! If you can not afford to drop half a months rent on the entire bottle, then pay $25 for a one ounce shot of it. Did I try this crazy expensive drink? Hell no...I may be a lush, but I am a frugal lush!
This a chill pub that has all around good food and an impressive list of beers (including about 20 on tap)
Highly recommend the veggie burger -- its one of the best I've had. It's topped with grilled eggplant, avocado, and some sort of aioli.
Def would go back.
Good lord, they have lots of beers here! We stopped by on our walk through Brooklyn to duck out of the rain and my beer-loving husband was happy to find a vast selection of brews from which to choose. He was happy with his choices; I was less pleased with my blueberry martini (I know, I know) that looked like Triaminic and tasted like a spiked version of the stuff.
Bland review, I know.
Basically, the place was fine. We scored a few couches and waited out the quick rain storm, our server was really very sweet, some of us loved our drinks and me--not so much. A fine place to hit up if you're looking for a wide variety of beers... or Triaminic.
Went back to the Downtown Bar & Grill for dessert and more drinks. The waitress we had weeks before remembered us; which doesn't happen too often! We had their chocolate brownie dessert, and it was freakin' delicious. Washed down with a couple chocolate stouts, which were washed down with several more various beers.
I learned this place closes at about 2, and gets pretty quiet after 12. So, that's worth considering. It's quickly becoming a go-to place for a chill night of drinks. Just be sure to plan ahead with the funds to splurge a little bit. It ain't cheap.
I went here for dinner before a saturday night movie at Cobble Hill Theater, and I really enjoyed… Read more »
One Saturday morning I was looking for both coffee and beer to fortify my stroll over the Brooklyn Bridge. Downtown fit the bill...in a single bottle!
It's true. Nestled in their sweeping glass case of glittering small-batch brews stood brown bottles of Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout! I grabbed the chilly steel handle to slide the door...and then, things went downhill.
The bartender stepped over and barked, "Nooo! Don't open that door; I'll get the bottle. You've got to order from the bar!"
Ooops! It's just that I've never been in a bar with grocer-style coolers that I can just walk up to. It's not like I tore into a stack of cardboard boxes or something. It's not like I'd reached behind the bar. I know better. I thought I'd just take a bottle to the register.
The bartender cooled-out as he retrieved a bottle from the "forbidden freezer of libation". He rang it up and I blanched a little 'cause I could find the same bottle in the LES for under $5. I guess $14 is the going rate for a beer AND a coffee?
Next time, I'll just suck it up and cross the bridge for Hitachino, where I won't get yelled at for walking up to the cooler.
food was overpriced and disappointing. I had the buffalo chicken wrap. It wasn't even a chicken cutlet inside, more like chicken mcnuggets. Beer list was deep, but everything was $1-$2 over normal price, at the least. This felt more like a local, dive type of place, so I was surprised at the prices. The person next to me at the bar got the nachos and they looked pretty good. Actually, noticed many people ordering the nachos, so maybe that's there secret treasure.
This place should be knocking it out of the park, on the surface, it should be Carroll Garden's premiere beer bar since the beer list is not dissimilar to a small town's phone book (if, that is, the small town's inhabitants were named after German and Belgian breweries). The food, which is mostly above average sports bar food (burgers, wings, etc), is quite good, including a big tasty burger that I've never been able to finish. There are even plenty of tv's for a sports fan to catch the game, or a couch or two in the corner if you just want to hang out and swap micro brews. Sounds inviting, right?
Unfortunately, Downtown Bar & Grill squanders all of this, assuming that's all they need to do to keep you coming back. The food, while very solid, is incredibly over priced - a burger can ring up for $20 after you garnish it, and that's just the top of the menu. The service is pretty lousy, while there is one Irish bloke who is quite friendly, even he commented on the cold service of the rest of the staff, one notoriously sour server in particular. However, friendly or not, even on a busy night they still only have one behind the bar, and even he took until never to get a refill of suds for us before we couldn't take it and moved on to Ceol for beers AND smiles.
But hey, you can either reward service or not, right? Nope, as if anticipating that savvy move by the dissatisfied customer, Downtown Bar & Grill charges a gratuity based on price, I believe if your bill is over $50. Now if a business is going to charge a gratuity for parties of 5 or 6 or more, that's totally understandable, standard operating procedure. But with food going for $20 and beers starting at $7, it's easy for a party of two (or 1 if you enjoy beer like I do) to go over $50 pretty fast, no smiles included. So be sure to ask for a price for a beer off of the list before they open it (they aren't listed as I recall) and some are over $20 for a 12 oz bottle. Skip the appetizers if you want your wallet to get out of there alive.
But say you're just going to watch the game on one of their many tv's, in theory this should be the place to go, right? Nope. The layout of the bar makes it nearly impossible to enjoy a game if more than 10 people have the same idea. Even though the space seems cavernous, most of the floor plan is for their dinner tables (and they squeeze in as many as they can, inside and out) with an uncomfortable wall immediately behind the bar stools. If you don't get a stool, you'll probably be standing by the bathroom, and even if you do get a stool, you'll have a crowd of thirsty patrons squeezing in next to you for the next round (or to close out their tab and jet).
Somehow I notice Downtown continues to pack them in, but that may just be due to the optical illusion of the deceptively confined space, since I have yet to meet anyone that's been in a big hurry to go back Downtown. It's no mistake that football fans would rather put up with the dank smell of Angry Wade's on a Sunday afternoon than drop a pile of cash, plus tip, on a few beers and a scowl.
Cafeteria-quality burger with an $11 price tag. Burger served with a puddle of grease sitting on top. Cheese will cost you extra, but do not bother as it will certainly slide off due to aforementioned grease pool. Brioche bun was the highlight. God-awful music. If I am paying $20 for a burger and a beer, I really don't want to be subjected to a 10-minute rendition of "Mony Mony". Extensive beer list, yes, but be prepared to pay 9-10 bucks per bottle. $9 for a bottle of Fat Tire? Really? Once again, I am disappointed with the drivel that is served up in this neighborhood. Looking for good beer & burgers? Try Pete's Waterfront Ale House on Atlantic.
My experience here was SO BAD I made a list of the problems while I was seated. The only reason we didnt leave was because the Super Bowl was on and they have decent TVs.
Food is terrible. The wings, nachos, potato skins and the burger were all bland. They were also extremely overpriced. $9 for four bland potato skins, im not kidding. That's two potatoes. Burger was $13, flavorless, and on stale bread. I didnt know stale bread was possible to get in NYC until I came here.
Service is poor. The nachos were so bland we asked for salsa and jalapenos and extra cheese. They didnt have salsa and didnt bring the other items. So, we asked for 3 things and got zero. Getting beer was equally difficult. We were a table of 5 and dude would get us beers one at a time, even though we were all drinking the same thing.
Staff doesnt care. I brought up my concerns to other members of the staff, including the manager, and it was like talking to a wall. Nothing changed. We spent $215, which is apparently all this place cares about -- taking your money. Oh, and that $215 included a forced 20% gratuity even though it was only 5 people. I think they knew we weren't going to tip well and decided to sneak in automatic gratuity. Isn't that cute?
I sincerely hope people stop going here despite it's lengthy beer list. It doesn't deserve to be called a bar or a restaurant. The people working here have no interest in the service industry. This hole should be banned from a block that is otherwise full of great spots.
This is your best bet in this part of Brooklyn to watch a game or multiple games and drink GOOD/ higher end beer. They have tons of beer in bottle and tap and multiple tvs.
I have had good experiences here on multiple occasions so I am not sure why there is such discrepancies in the reviews, but I think the food here is pretty delicious (incl. wings and sandwiches)... especially compared to regular bar food that you would find in another place. I do agree that your tab can definitely creep up on you, especially if you are used to drinking domestic during games. It can get pricey, but if you like the good stuff -- it is worth it! If you are not into craft beer, then another bar might be better for you.
If I am watching games in Brooklyn, Downtown is my top choice!
This place has undergone a few iterations over the years, struggling to find its identity. It never quite served good enough food or had enough TVs to make it a decent sports bar, but now it seems to have found its stride as a beer bar.
Literally hundreds of bottles of beer, a rotating selection of a dozen or so excellent draughts from all around the world, and riding high on the latest cask beer trend. While I cannot and do not recommend the food, I will tout it as a nice pre- or post-dinner or pre- or post-movie spot to grab an expensive, high-alcohol beer, with the outdoor seating being a nice perk and the many sports packages the clincher.
This is a cool place to grab a spaten and watch the soccer match on TV. This place has the best veggie burger and if you are a soccer fan, this is a great place to be. Can't wait to enjoy this downtown during the world cup.
One and only one reason to come here. Sure, there are televisions and bottles of liquor. But this is a BEER BAR, amigos. And an excellent one at that. Not a great many titles on tap, but 600+ in bottles, domestic and foreign. The extensive list is updated every couple of weeks.
So, don't order a Guinness, laddie. Get something interesting for once.
Funny, I don't even remember if they offer food or not...
A chill sports bar with a welcoming atmosphere, and intense beer selection, and a full and somewhat gourmet menu. I think this is one of my favorite, if not my favorite (!) veggie burgers in nyc. It's a tasty blend of veggies (no mushrooms or grainy grains thank god), topped with smoked gouda and avocado! yum yum!
Yes it's a sports bar, and no I don't like to watch sports, but for some reason I still like to go here -- the sports, although on *many* tvs throughout, are not overwhelming and in your face. There's also a few 'patio' seats if you want to skip the sports all together. I actually really dig this place, and so I'm also really surprised by the low ratings here. But I guess to each their own.
The menu comes with helpful beer suggestions for your meal, but of course there's also the extended bottled beer list and rotating 13 or so taps. It's hard not to like this place!
Good beer selection on tap and an amazing selection of bottles. Friendly service, plenty of screens to watch football, and the burger with smoked gouda is up there with the best I've ever had. Your bill can get up there pretty quickly (and don't expect any free rounds), but I guess you get what you pay for.
Very nice beer bar, but BE CAREFUL!!!...This place can get expensive!!!
This bar is an old fashioned type of saloon, not a dive at all, but it's an old bar that has been refurbished to it's original charm.
They have food on the menu, but I didn't eat there because when I saw the price tag of $10 for Chicken Fingers, I decided to take my dinner options elsewhere.
They have quite a few beers on tap, including Belgians. The bottle selection boasts over 500 beers, but the blackboard on the wall doesn't show all the prices.
ASK FIRST BEFORE BUYING ANY BEER...which I did do, or else I would have been going for my lungs.
I saw "Gulden-Draak" on tap and the bartender wanted a hefty price of $12, I'm not sure if it was for a pint sized glass or a goblet, which is how most Belgians on tap are served. I inquired about another beer that was on tap and he quoted a price of $10.
I ended up drinking an Ommengang Hennepin for $6 a pint followed by a bottle of Anderson Valley IPA which went for another $6.
I mentioned this place to someone else that I know from another bar and he told me that he ended up having the "$40 lunch" as he quoted...meaning $10 for a hamburger deluxe and $30 for 3 beers...Reason why he paid that much for 3 tap beers was because he didn't ask the price when ordering, so he was somewhat taken back when he got the check.
Don't get me wrong...I'm not trying to come off cheap, but I think they are overpricing themselves. I visit quite a few beer bars and I know what the going prices are regarding taps and bottles and these people are a little high-end.
Although the food here is pretty decent (good burger selections and above average bar/grill fare), and the number of beers available are vast and rotate frequently on tap (and feature a stocked bottle selection) the service is atrocious.
I've gone here several times and usually end up needing to get up from seat and company to grab a waiter for service. I've seen people walk off and not pay the bill out of sheer frustration in waiting for it to arrive. In fact, one time we sat down at a table right after a couple stormed off. It took about 20 minutes to get someone to bus their dirty dishes. How this place stays in business or keeps clientele after service like this I guess is something that only works in New York.
If you want to go it's best to scope it out first. Find the female waitress, she seems on the ball. There is one dark haired angry waiter. I don't know if he's the owner's useless brother or what, but he's been there for awhile. You'll know you got him if he doesn't show up in the first 15 minutes of being seated. Then he won't speak, at all, just stare at you with his pen and pad in hand. Then he storms off because grr his job is so bad and he was the one good at sports he should be the rich one in the family! Oh, and you will need to get up to get another beer, and the check, if you decide to.
I really, really, really wanted my first boerum hill review to be positive because i love this neighborhood so much and am so happy i moved here. BUT FUCK THIS SHIT!!! I got the burger four times in a row. 10 dollars. pretty good. of course after 10:45 the invisible, fucking unannounced, NOWHERE ON THE FUCKING MENU burger fairies invade and make it 20 fucking dollars. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Thanks for ending the honeymoon "downtown", and throwing the thousands of dollars I was planning on spending here over the coming football season down the drain or at least down the block to Cody's Ale House.
Last night was "try new stuff in the neighborhood" night. Our apartment was a mess after some furniture staining and I needed some time away from the fumes. This place has been here for years as "cousins" but has changed to Downtown Bar and upped the sports and beer factors as a noticeable change. I was pretty excited about the beer menu I must admit.
Unlike the new beer bar phenomenon, Spitzer's Corner (in the LES), this has very few beers on tap compared to the ridiculous amount of bottles (or cans) in their menu.
I love beer. And I love beer bars. But I also want my beer fresh from the tap if I'm not drinking at home. I was a little sad to see so few options on tap and did just as I was advised not to by a fellow yelper: I ordered a Guiness. They had several microbrews on tap but nothing really looked that great or wasn't something I'd at least tried before. And we were asked if we wanted to start a tab immediately. Which is kind of weird, but then I realized the only way you can afford ANY amount of drinking in this place is to put it on a card. You're going to run out of cash quick. Just as an example, if you did want, say, the 750ml bottle of Chimay Rouge you would pay $22.00. That sells at a store for 10-12 dollars per bottle and the highest I've seen it at a bar is $17.00. The markup is a bit crazy on everything. We didn't get food or see the menu but $10 chicken fingers is crazy. The potential of this place gets a four but the enjoyment factor was a 2.5 to three.
Downtown B&G has a phenomenal beer assortment. The 20 taps include some interesting selections (even in Brooklyn, you don't see many places stocking Brooklyn Brewery's Brewmaster Reserve beers, as they do here), and the list of bottles is some 25 pages long, including tons of regional microbrews. (The fact that there are two great beer wholesalers within a five block radius must help in this regard.) The main drawback is that the bottle prices are a bit high; maybe $1 or $2 more than you might see elsewhere for bottles that you would find elsewhere, and while it's difficult to compare, some of the more obscure stuff can be pretty steep.
This place has a good selection of high-quality beers, both draft and bottled. It also has good food, including multiple veggie options (veggie burger with gouda is my favorite and is $12, have also liked chili and a couple salads). It's expensive, but not outrageous by the neighborhood's standards. There are enough televisions that it's often possible to watch a relatively obscure sporting event on DirecTV even while the Yanks or Knicks are also playing.
I am amending my review based on coming here regularly and realizing that poor service reflected not just an off night or two, but the norm. The red-haired bartender is very nice and responsive, but nobody else seems to give a crap what befalls their customers. It is common to be ignored by the wait staff for 20 minutes after you sit down at an indoor table, and then for another 20+ minutes after entrees are served. The manager has stepped on my foot without acknowledging it. I have on occasion given up on my table's waiter noticing our empty glasses and waving arms and walked up to the bar to order a second round...which is not exactly a major sacrifice, but doesn't fit with the high prices.
Birthday Person Drinks Free!
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Tues nights allyoucan eat…
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South…
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Category: American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Category: Bars
Brooklyn, NY
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: Carroll Gardens
Category: Lounges
This Second City girl loves to wander NYC... but…
