Iona
180 Grand Street
(between 1st St & Bedford Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 384-5008
- Nearest Transit:
Bedford Ave(L) - Price Range: $$
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Music: DJ
- Best Nights: Fri
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: Outdoor Area/Patio Only
- Coat Check: No
39 Reviews for Iona
The enjoyment one experiences at Iona is directly related to the day of the week. The weekends (Thursday-Saturday, more specifically) draw a decidedly hipper-than-thou crowd. However, during the week, it is a pleasant neighbourhood bar with an excellent selection of import and domestic beers, comfortable nook seating in the front or tables along the bar and the back, and a chill atmosphere. The old skool tele, which usually airs an Euro league soccer match, gives it a living room feel. It's so cozy and nice during the week that it's hard to believe that this quaint Dr. Jekyll turns into such a fugly Mr. Hide.
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This must be Williamsburg's answer to Cheers. Iona is one of those bars that the first time you go there you feel like you've been before. It's just so comfortable and laid back that you feel at home once you step inside. This is the type of bar that ya hang out with friends at and don't worry about what you look like, who's looking at you, etc. Ya just enjoy the atmosphere, your company and the cheap drinks; just like a great neighborhood bar should be!
I like to play Pacman... and they have a good selection of beer on tap.... not really my scene though.
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Iona is why I moved to Brooklyn. Thought I didn't know it at the time.
+it is to Irish pubs as Animal House is to frat parties (I don't really know what any of that meant except that this place is fun and welcoming and a good version of something that's generally crap)
+Really friendly neighborhood crowd. (Think older than your last frat party and younger than your company Chrismas party)
+ Very cozy back patio.
+Umm. Ping Pong table (Be warned, you might get schooled)
+ Impromptu BBQs out back.
+ Oh...Bring your own food (I recommend grabing snacks at the Bedford Cheese Shop)
-No drawbacks that I can think of except to say it's not the most interesting/ecciting place. (It does have the ping pong table thing going for it, but if you're out to really party, this is probably not the place)
It's places like this that Long Island could never offer.
More and more I'm getting to appreciate the backyard scene at these bars. They are never crowded back there and are a nice change of scenery especially in the warmer weather. They even have ping pong back there! The crowd is always random, but they leave you alone for the most part aside from the occasional creepy lurkers.
When I'm in a place like this I just want a good beer, good music and to enjoy the company of who I'm with, which never seems to be a problem when I'm here. The beer selection is ridiculous and the last time I was here they had a sick girl DJ spinning jazzy/funk music. It was great!! Not what I'm used to so I'm always down to be surprised.
Love coming here when I'm in the area.
Sky*
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This bar is really whitewashed. It threw me off my game, and I went home with no phone numbers. It's a cute place though. I guess I'm just still bitter about the phone numbers thing. Seriously, what a kick in the vag.
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One of my all time favorite places to chill. Don't come here with an agenda.
I had a magical moment at Iona when the Giants were playing to get into the Super Bowl. They had a DJ and the most eclectic crowd had just wandered in off the street to watch the game. It was really a demographic slice of the neighborhood and we were all bound by Eli and a couple of missed field goals that could have closed the game. Still, the drama made victory all sweeter in the end. Iona is just one of those places that puts out great vibes and brings people together.
And, for some reason, Guinness always tastes better here.
This bar had a very "Williamsburg" type feel to it. The patrons were your typical eccentric types ranging in age from just out of college to early 40's. I originally went to this place because I like trying bars with large beer selections. I was happy to try a beer I'd never even heard of called Old Engine Oil, and it was a very good porter.
The music was a bit louder than I expected, making conversation slightly more difficult than I had anticipated. None the less, I enjoyed the relaxed nature of the place, and would be interested in going back when it is warm enough to go hang out on the outdoor patio.
One of the highlights of this place for me was the puppy that was running around! I noticed in a review that someone else mentioned dogs. Having a friendly dog in a bar is definitely a plus.
If I'm in trouble and I need help, I look for Superman or Batman. At times, I may get stuck with Robin or even the Wonder Twins, Zan and Jana (accompanied by Gleep). If I get Aquaman, I may have to just expect doom and gloom.
My wife and I wanted to try Spuyten Duyvil. We ended up at Iona on a Friday night.
Don't ask, we really couldn't find it. By the time we parked I was defeated and needed a drink.
We walked in and asked a patron what he was drinking. He ended up teaching us on different types of beer and how it's made. Very garrulous, but cool. He even bothered the bartender and asked for a sample. I think the bartender was annoyed and didn't pay much attention to me afterwards. No worries. I ordered a Smithwick's (a major plus) and some Hefeweizen-like beer and moved to the rear.
I saw a few board games and realized that the only previously open connect four didn't seem appealing. I opened a chess game (see photos) and we played for an hour... we didn't finish as we had to meet family for dinner at Peter Luger's.
One bathroom was operational that night. You could imagine the line. I did notice a big dog chilling in the middle of the bar. That was cool.
Overall, the beer selection and the board games made this place fun for me. If it weren't for the bathroom situation and the uptight female bartender, I would have given more love.
On a Superfriends scale, Iona is only good enough to be Robin.
One interesting note. A man smoking outside Iona, whom had a European accent asked me and my wife our ethnicity. We obliged and he acknowledged that we weren't the "de facto Chinese" due to our eyes/face structure. He was drunk. I was not. I let him live. Pedro rules.
IFHTP 1
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A good bar for a beer and conversation. I don't go that often, but it always seems sort of comfortable and familiar. They used to have board games, not sure if they still do. Played an amazing game of Othello there with my brother and his friend one night.
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Incredible, extensive beer selection, great crowd of mixed people, cozy decor inside and lovely, quaint back patio with a hearth and ping-pong table. Yes, in February.
I like this bar - they have a great beer selection and the back patio is nice. They make you go inside though around 11pm because of the neighbors (I think?).
It's sweet that they have a ping pong table even though I've never played but it can be fun to watch. I'm sure I'll try to play sometime soon although I think I secretly have a fear of getting up there and just getting destroyed!
Now that it's winter the allure of the back patio is temporarily defunct but come spring, I'm sure I'll be back.
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Really good neighborhood bar. Lots of choices of beer on tap, great backyard, games to play, ping pong, bowls of free NYC condoms -you could make water balloons!
And the best patrons? DOGS!!!
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Why did I stop coming here? Good beer selection, fun atmosphere, good music, lively crowd, good bartenders, and on and on. Great bar. I mean great.
Never had any problems with Williamsburg trash here, but I don't doubt it doesn't drop in.
Regardless, it's the coolest Irish pub I've ever been to stateside. Cool and Irish pub don't sit well together, but here they do.
Nae tae shabby. Rob sports the occasional black eye from time tae time. Usually the result of a wee encounter with an overzealous patron the night before.
I do love Lucozade in the morning.
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This is a pretty good bar. I come here with friends after work sometimes for a beer, before we decide where we're going for dinner (usually DuMont Burger which is a few blocks away).
They have a garden, which is why this place gets 4 stars. Oh, and they have the free NYC condoms!
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I practically live here... not only is it around the corner from my apartment, but they have excellent beer on tap and a ping-pong table!
The staff are awesome, I love all the dogs that come in.
Great happy hour. What more could you want?
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beer. ping pong. what more do you want?
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It's a pretty good bar. The garden in the back is nice and potsmoke dissapates quickly. But sometimes you're playing chess with a real douchebag that you and your friends each thinks is a friend of someone else. So none of you talk shit to him but later realize no one knew or liked him. That is a story about Iona.
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I have been coming to Iona for years. I LOVE this bar, I am a lifer and I will go back. But people, watch out for the stagnant fixtures on the scene. They are rude as hell and will either spout nasty verbiage your way for no reason or just sit at the end of the bar staring at you and your friends and just creeping about so you don't even feel comfortable going to the restroom.
What ever happened to minding one's own business?
Sweet-ass backyard. Scrabble. Fullers London Pride on tap. Bring in some Kam Sing Chinese from next door and chow and hang with your friends. Ping-pong table in the back and the joint is even pet-friendly. So bring your pup, grill your own meat in the backyard on the grill, and have a Hoegaarden. Good times all around.
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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk into a bar while carrying a bar? What? No?
Nevermind then.
Iona is a nifty (that's right, I said nifty) bar located in Hipstertania. A great selection of beers and drinks, good service, a lovely garden out back (perfect for summertime or for tricking your friends outside during winter and locking them out), makes Iona a perfect little spot to hang out on a Sunday evening. The bar has good space though maybe not enough little booths to hang out in. The men's room is a little small so if you're as fat as a cow, you're going to have to suck in your gut. I did like how the sink was detached from the wall and there were 3 different soap dispensers inside the sink.
Iona loses 1 star though because of the mirrors. The mirror in the male bathroom is completely unusable if you're under 5 feet 6 inches. All you are going to see if the top of your head and if you're awesome like me (i.e. bad genetic material), the shine from the light reflecting off your skull and into the mirror might blind you. You have been warned.
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I didn't think bars existed where everybody knows your name. Apparently, they do.
Great neighborhood bar. Awesome backyard patio. Good selection of beer. They make their own mulled wine which was pretty good too. I didn't make it to their dub reggae night on Sunday, but I've heard good things.
As my boyfriend exclaimed to me on our first night there, "this place reminds me of my favorite bar back home." Anything that reminds us of our favorite places back in good ole MN is gold in my book.
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my favorite place for afternoon drinking with a little ping pong or jenga on the side.
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Hmm....where do I begin? I first found Iona back in 2003 or 2003 with some friends and since I don't live in that neighborhood, I was happy to find it again, completely accidentally, after checking out a show at nearby Lucky Cat. To be completely honest when I first walked in I thought it was a gay bar, and not because anyone seemed overly "queenie", but just because of the relatively nasty/cunty attitude I sensed from patrons inside -- not unlike the vibe you would get as a cute straight girl at, say, Eastern Block on a Friday night.
In my first five minutes at Iona I encountered an obnoxious obvious "regular" and his date, both brimming with a false sense of entitlement and so rude (I believe these people have been referred to by other Yelpers as "stagnant fixtures")-- not only did he stop and speak to his lady in between my friend and I, he did not excuse himself, nor did she, when I was pushed aside so they could get their coats. Shame on you, Williamsburg!
Secondly, a girl with facial piercings, including the septum (yuck, what year are we in?) sat at the bar with her (seemingly -- based on attempted asymmetrical haircut/fauxhawk) gay friend and apparently she thought it was incredibly funny to touch/stir my drink when I was having a look around and attempt to terrorize us for merely standing at the bar near them. Classy! No stranger should ever be permitted to touch your drink, and if one mentions this to the barman, a replacement should be delivered immediately. Anyway, after I witnessed her go into a restroom and fill two shot glasses (which the bartender gave her) with toilet water, I asked for a new drink, not knowing what this crazy bitch did to mine (if anything) since I definitely saw her hand touching the stirrer. Let's just say she's incredibly lucky I'm preparing for a beauty pageant or I would have felt less ladylike and more likely to be an equally vindictive person.
The bartender Connor was amazing and sweet, the night's saving grace. Had I been working there last night, however, I would definitely have kicked the weird/ugly/troublemaking girl out, and had I been having some sort of weak moment I probably would have kicked her ass. I am impressed with my self-control for not confronting her ... but should I really have to think about all of this when I was just so excited about having a glass of mulled wine with my friend?
Shame on you, Williamsburg! Sorry, but I stand by my position that Williamsburg is NOT really "Brooklyn". And in case you think I'M completely batty for saying this, I know that director Noah Baumbach understands me and is on my side, and that's enough for me.
Will I go back to Iona? Sure. But next time I'm bringing mace.
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Not being a Williamsburger, I don't frequent the bars scene there nearly as much. So when a friend's sister suggested that the lot of us head over to Williamsburg to her local favorite, Iona, I was a tad skeptical.
Upon first appearance the indoor space was a bit too narrow for my taste. However, when our fellow patron whose home turf we were on suggested we take it outside, despite it being winter, I thought she was crazy. Turns out Iona's outdoor space is equipped with severable moveable outdoor fireplaces. When my friend, a visiting Idaho woodsman picked up a pile of wood and began to start a fire I thought first that we should ask the proprietor of said establishment. Silly me, that's what the wood and fireplaces were there for.
In any case, an outdoor space that is equipped for winter is a rare find and makes the atmosphere that much more pleasant. The beer selection isn't so bad either but there's no better smell than burning wood in the cold winter air, unless your house is burning down and you're standing outside, then it's not so pleasant.
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What a great bar. Very good beer selection. Had fun playing dominoes with my girls there. The back was pretty filled, a little hard to find a spot but I will be back.
Yup, pretty much the perfect place to grab a drink. It's got atmosphere, seats in the windows, a garden with a ping-pong table. Basically it's got everything your wee little heart could ever want out of a pub.
Tip: Try their hot toddie on a cold night with warm friends.
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I used to dislike this place, but it has grown on me. They have a better-than-average beer selection, good music (sometimes), and decent clientele. The "Remember Bannockburn" banner on the wall made me want to watch Braveheart when I got home.
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Iona is one of my favorite pubs in the city. I lived in Williamsburg when they opened and have been coming here ever since. It is everything you want your neighborhood bar to be: friendly and warm, filled with regulars, good beers on tap. The outdoor garden is an absolute sanctuary in the summer. And being Irish myself I am always a sucker for cute Irish bartenders.
And most importantly- the best pint of Guinness in Williamsburg.
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The perfect pub.
Great beer selection, friendly staff, beautiful bar, lovely garden, fun games (connect four, trivial pursuit) what more could you ask for in a pub?
On Tap: Old Speckled Hen, London Pride, Belhaven, recent addition Dentergems this place has excellent taste.
Two insider tips- if you want to make a friend drink whiskey with the owner on Friday or Saturday nights, if you get hungry Nelson the empanada man normally rolls in late night Friday and Saturday.
****Update- This place no longer carries Dentergems but still kicks ass. God Bless a pint of Belhaven and a game of Ping Pong
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hooray for the garden out back!
this place is pretty laid back. there are ping pong tables out back, & good beers on tap.
the front windows are fun to sit in, except if your friend is farting up a storm, which happened to me once. it was like constant dutch ovening with no relief.
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I must say, when I visited Iona, I didn't even notice the fact that it is an Irish bar, so reading the other reviews was certainly a surprise. But what I did notice was the fun atmosphere at Iona. While the inside part of the bar is a bit small, the garden/patio in back is enormous, and seems to be filled with great people! There is plenty of seating, and is very conducive to big groups. And even if I wasn't with a group of friends, I would more than happy to go here an people watch. Also, the ping pong table really makes this place. I'll take ping pong over darts or pool, any day. All in all, this is a really fun bar, with reasonably priced drinks and a great atmosphere. Definitely check it out.
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I love this bar, but then again my Irish bias leads me to say so.
Truly run by the Irish, not by some fat guy who dyes his hair red on occasion to march in the St. Patricks Day parade.
Drinks are cheap and well mixed, environment is not too light not too dark, just right for smashing things and not having too many people notice.
There is an outside to this as well through the back of the bar where you can get a little more rowdy. Also, my roommates doggy Roark happens to visit this place quite alot. So if you're in the mood to drink with a pooch this is the place to be.
Oh, most importantly. When you ask for a pint you get a real pint!
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they have fuller's london pride and esb!
i don't actually drink either of these beers, but any bar that has them on tap is my kind of bar (i lived across the street from the brewery in london for two weeks).
i really enjoyed my time here; what everybody else said.
great bar for anyone that has a dog or friends with dogs....usually at least 1 around...lovely selection of draught beer and their wine selection is much better than other near by establishments. the outdoor area is beautiful...makes you almost forget you're in brooklyn. plus they have ping pong which is always entertaining. as for bartenders conner is a hoot!
At Iona, the beer is the thing. With dozens of varieties, much of it on tap, that beer snob friend of yours will certainly find something to love. A pleasant evening finds the crowd islanded about the spacious back garden. The barroom itself is long and narrow and can get crowded on weekends, so be sure to find yourself in the garden or the big front window booths with a cold pint and some friends early enough to avoid the mob.
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Too often Irish pubs try to be "authentic", resulting only in cheesy decor and an overzealous bar staff. I knew I was gonna like this place when I walked in and was instantly comforted by the soft lights and the gently worn wood furniture. Quirky artwork lines the way to the back garden, which has already tempted me to come back on a warm day.
The beer selection is top-notch: 20 varieties on tap, including Stella, Guinness and Old Speckled Hen, and 30 bottles such as Hoegaarden and Duvel. Small chalk boards advertise small plates and an assortment of wines. But oh, go for the beer selection. For me.
Iona is a charming addition to Williamsburg. The next time you are on Grand St., curl up in one of the front window seats with a pint of beer and watch the passersby.
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A good beer bar, with a touch of scothland or something, but most importantly in the summer, with a nice yard, and and and a PING PONG table (ackwardly placed but still usable)
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