Marshall Stack
Categories: Bars, Music Venues [Edit]
Neighborhood: Manhattan/Lower East Side66 Rivington Street
(between Allen St & Eldridge St)
New York, NY 10002
- Nearest Transit:
Delancey-Essex Sts (F, J, M, Z)
2nd Ave-Houston St (F, V)
Grand St (B, D)
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Good for Groups: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: No
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Music: Juke Box
- Coat Check: No
18 Reviews for Marshall Stack
geez...the reviews here are kind of bad, i must redeem this place! I think that this place is really good because the owner (matt) is super nice and their food is great. It has less selection than Spitzer's sure, but there are definitely some great beers, like Kwak! I tried at least 5 different beers here for the first time and it's always fun, and not too crowded. I will agree that the crowd is super varied but I almost never pay attn to it bc I am just hanging out w friends.
This place is schizo. It's both a little rock and roll and a little yuppie at the same time. Both a beer bar offering sloppy joes and a wine bar with panini sandwiches. Almost stylish, yet almost a dive. The crowd is just as strange: kind of hipster-like, but a little too old and obviously career-oriented to be hipsters.
Marshall Stack is not bad, it's just not particularly good. I'll round up to three stars instead of down to two, but don't consider this a positive review. I feel completely neutral about this weird place.
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i really liked this place. went for a few drinks early on a thursday evening, and had a great time. love that the bartender let me taste beers before choosing (without even asking). had a fun canadian beer called ephemeree (sp?) at his suggestion.
the wine list could probably use a bit of tweaking, but i was happy with this place. i'm sure i'll be back. the bites smelled delicious...
Pretty good place to chill out after a LES show or a noisy club, and the food's delicious. Try the blueballs or the cheese board if you've got the munchies.
Part of the problem with the LES. Not part of the solution. Much like all the shoddy high priced "luxury" housing going up it *looks* inviting at first glance, until you see that it isn't *really* that great, just a kind of haphazardly slapped together place that is trying to be a beer and wine place and a rock-n-roll place and is failing miserably at all of those things.
Sid Vicious is turning over in his grave at having his photo on this menu, for sure.
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Boring yuppiefied pseudo "wine bar" with a weak selection of both wine and beer. The furniture is wobbly and uncomfortable and the 1950's-style jukebox is loaded with crappy dad rock that isn't funny anymore. I don't want to hear "Here I Go Again" four times in a row. Just stop.
There's nothing more fun than watching pretentious Murray Hill/Upper West Side types "slum it" by drinking overpriced red wine and playing Jenga in a bar that couldn't be less cool if it tried. Oh awesome, a fake dive bar that serves safe, lame brands of wine in the appropriate stemware! And look, honey! There's Whitesnake on the jukebox!
They serve Delirium and the service was quick and efficient, so they get two stars instead of the one they really deserve. But overall, Marshall Stack is one of those places that, if a friend told me they were a regular there, I would question our friendship and wonder what was wrong with them. It's just that bad.
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Eh, not so much. Came for a beer after a show last weekend and was not impressed. The surroundings are pseudo-cozy but not really all that inviting. The mis-matched furniture seems lazy instead of kitschy, and there's a broken window panel in the door that doesn't make me want to come inside for fear of being bashed in the head with a crowbar. But that's just me.
Also, unless you're Vol de Nuit or Burp Castle, i.e., an actual beer bar, having more than 4 beers on tap does not make you a "beer bar," and similarly having a couple of bottles of Turning Leaf does not make you a wine bar - it makes you cheap and lazy. Get a liquor license and spruce up your place a bit. The last thing this neighborhood needs is another "shabby-chic" beer haunt. In the words of Grease's Teen Angel: Marshall, you've got the dream, but not the drive. Next please.
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They've got a pretty good location, but I never got a great vibe from them. Their beer selection is good, but not great. I would expect a bit more from a place that's billed as a "beer bar." Also, the music is WAY too loud - like night club loud. I don't mind loud music, but really, if I wanted to scream my conversations, I would go out dancing. When I'm out drinking, I want loud music, but JUUUUUST at that point where I can still talk to my buds without harshing out my vocal cords.
That being said, the decor is nice enough and the bartenders were friendly.
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The only reason I don't give this place a fifth star is that they don't have a full liquor bar. This is NOT THEIR FAULT. There is a zoning issue at work says one of the great bartenders. My sister found this place when they first opened and the guys that run it are the real deal...two best friends who always dreamed of opening a cool bar in New York. Well, they have. The bathrooms are wallpapered with enormous Marshall Stack amplifiers and the bar itself is stylishly decorated, low lit, and features a wonderful beer and wine selection along with a great juke box full of obscure and wonderful music from the last twenty years. I really love this bar.
Went here with Eric S. for the nightcap last night, I agree it was okay, with a decidedly older crowd, or at least in the front of the bar. It's skinny, so unless it's not crowded don't bring a ton of people.
When Immigrant Song came on I started flashing my Zepplin wallet at people for no reason.
Anywho, the staff is quick, and they have Schaeffer cans all the way up to Delirium. It's a good spectrum of beer, so at least from that angle you'll never have a disappointed friend.
the crowd here was nice and boisterous, but I just couldn't get over how skinny the place was, when you throw in the tables you're going to be doing the side step so often you won't get through a conversation. However, sit down or grab a spot it's fine.
The decor was clean and homey, I'd go here early in the night or in the late afternoon if I was seeing the hardcore matinee at ABC No Rio or before a movie at Sunshine.
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Beer and wine only, fyi. But a damn good selection of both.
I like the low-key, neighborhood vibe here.
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I'm way late to this place -- all the cool kids have been dodgeballing in for months. But I finally had occasion to be on the Lower East Side, killing time before a show at the Mercury Lounge, so we tried it. Two things: a) loud. Try not to go if one of your companions has lost her voice. It will be a frustrating experience. This place is great for groups, with big, groupy tables, and it serves alcohol, so people in groups will be screaming. Be aware. b) It totally smells like farts in here. But after a good two hours, we realized it was literal cheese, and not people cutting same. The food menu looks fairly good, though we did not partake.
Extra points for the weird but cool bartender, who made a point of showing us the menu(s), explaining the wine selections (good wine at an LES bar! novel!) and being generally friendly. And having an unusual belt buckle. He's been around the block a few times, and we appreciate that.
I also just heard that the bar now opens at noon, has wi-fi access for all you wire-haters, and also serves coffee and tea for when getting shitfaced is not on the agenda.
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This is a beer bar. They have Delirium on tap. (So tasty. So freaking high in alcohol content.) Sammys are reasonably priced and tasty. Ordered the blue balls for our friend's birthday (quite tasty, actually). Had the duck sandwich. Pretty good.
Nice space for a group get together. Was NOT packed. Now keep quiet about it so it doesn't get packed. (Please?)
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Marshall Stack is the rare newbie LES bar/restaurant that, even when saddled with a pretentious, over-played concept, can execute all the small things correctly to make it an instant hit. Naming your bar after an amp (and plastering your men's room with matching wallpaper) is weak. Serving piping hot pressed sandwiches (made with Sullivan Street Bakery bread) and off-beat American microbrews and European classics is certainly not.
On a recent visit before a show at Mercury Lounge I sat at the bar with a friend and ate almost an entire bowl of mixed olives (she wasn't down) and shared the "Blue Balls," four seedless grapes battered in a goat cheese mixture then fried and dusted with pulverized candied nuts. Both plates looked great straight-out the adjacent table-top kitchen and started things right. On a previous trip I sampled the cheese plate, which is pricey at $14, but offers a nice variety of hard/soft/raw/goat/sheep staples.
The sandwiches were impressive as well, crusty with that Sullivan bread and filled with gooey American cheese/tomato (my pick) and goat cheese/asparagus (friend's pick). All "baskets" are served with kettle chips, industrial variety (ask about it!). I won the ordering contest by far --- the bar's riff on the diner classic grilled cheese and tomato will send me back at 2AM when that walk to Odessa seems a bit too far.
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I went to Marshall Stack for drinks with friends and will definitely go back. It's a laid back place with a good beer/wine selection and a classy but not stuffy atmosphere. It's also a bit separated from the main hustle and bustle of the LES, and feels miles away from the velvet rope-osity of the 'hood. There's a small menu with appetizers and sandwiches, which are quite tasty and served on brown butcher paper rather than a plate. The sandwiches are huge for the price, and you get a mound of nice crunchy potato chips too.
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I thought this place was okay. I had a good time for the moments I was there. It tries to be classy with pretty glasses even for mere beer, but then brings you back down to low-class with plain old cans of Schaefer. It is an interesting blend.
Great new bar - have only been once but need to return. The atmosphere is laid back and it's an eatery as well...not that I ate.
The bartenders are cool and prices are reasonable. They have prosecco, which I love but if you prefer your bubbles to be of the hoppy variety, they have a lot of great beers as well.
The place just totally rubs me the right way.
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Was walking by and the light of the jukebox drew me in like a moth to a lightbulb. The jukebox goes from Cash to Rush with more CD's to be added. The place - exposed brick, copper, wood, a long bar, personable folks, nice selection of beers. (About nine on tap including Delirium Tremens and for those that like tin - $2 cans of Schaeffers.) A lot of thought went into the place. Six speakers are arranged strategically throughout so that anywhere in the bar you get good sound. At the far end of the long bar is the kitchen. The menu isn't your standard pub fare either. A lot of thought went into it and it's clear they care about what they're serving up. Unfortunately I had already eaten but I'll get back there again for a beer and the cheese plate. Delish.
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