East River Bar

Terrible, rude old lady bartender ruined my otherwise wonderful evening on Wednesday. After looking at other reviews here, I see many other people have dealt with this person. Would not recommend to my friends and would not return here.

The space is really spacious and very welcoming. I think they may have had video games, I know they had a pool table. There’s a massive outdoor space with picnic tables and lights almost directly under the bridge, but it was surprisingly peaceful and quiet. On a Saturday night around 11pm the place was still mostly empty, but the music was seemed to be gearing up for the weekend crowd.

I’ve been here a few times, but recently had a bad experience. I will never come back here. The people who work here are extremely rude. I was served a drink in a disgustingly dirty cup and when I asked the bartender to make a new one, she refused. I showed her the part of the cup that still had someone else’s lipstick on it and then she made a new one, but was so rude about it. Ive also seen the bouncer be really rude and aggressive with people. Not a place I feel comfortable going to anymore.

My experience here as a native New Yorker, who has been in and around Williamsburg my entire life was disgusting. I try to avoid writing bad reviews and only do when I feel as though others should be warned so here it goes: Last night was one of my friends birthday party at Bembe (an amazing spot by the way completely recommend it). Her husband left Bembe early and waited for us here at the east river bar. We left and came over and meet him here where he had been drinking for hours. The place was embarrassingly empty and I guess this made the bouncer upset… as soon as we found her husband and sat down and took of our jackets ect he said we needed to buy a drink. We explained we had planned to but to please give us a few minutes he walked away only to return in less than 5 minutes. When he returned again he explained that we needed to buy a drink… stunned and confused we looked at each other and the empty bar. It didn’t make sense the place was empty they had space and we genuinely wanted drinks soon. We didn’t know what to say so sat silent he said listen if you are not going to drink you need to leave. We tried to reassure him again when he became intrinsically angry and said LEAVE MY BAR angrily calling me a broke ass bitch. This then got my friends angry who he also called names. not one of us called him any names or threw any personal insults at him, but he attacked all of us. As he called each of us a bitch in different contexts, I turned to the female bartender knowing she surely wouldn’t be ok with a male treating females like this. I said to her I don’t know what we did but I am sorry do u hear him? she said listen you haven’t bought one drink from me yet. I was in stunned and just had to walk away. We had planned to buy a drink at some point however had only just arrived at the bar no more then 10 minutes before his name calling. As four females (husband in the bathroom) we didn’t know how to feel about a big bouncer who kept returning and hounding us that we drink alcohol. I have never been so disrespected and attacked in my life. Additionally him attacking my best friends added another element that frankly broke my heart. I worry for other females who might go here and strongly encourage they don’t for their own safety. I have never ever been treated so horribly by a stranger and the establishment that allows this is shameful.

After getting something to eat in the area we decide to stop by for drinks, A friend had mentioned this place so we decide to check it out.
it’s a little confusing to find since it’s kind of tucked away, on arrival not much to be said at first impression.
we got a round of drinks Bottle top beer I think it was called? not bad a bit of a bitter taste but not terrible over all.
we walked around a bit to check the place out & I have to say it’s pretty interesting kinda feels like those high school movies when u see specific groups of people hanging out in little groups too funny.
we made our way to the back yard area, hung out there for a bit then headed inside because it was a bit cold.
once we made our way inside we found seats by the bar & decide to hang there this place is the true definition of odd not in a bad way but definitely funky.
crowd wise i’d have to say everyone sort of looks the same ?? kinda funny not sure if this is done on purpose or its just the dynamic of the area.
standing by the bar is a bit of a hassle people are a bit rude basically all on top of u & in your face with their arms & bags seems like every one is in their own world & doesn’t bother to excuse themselves, I guess you can probably expect a lot of this here since it does seem to get pretty crowded.
not much to be said décor wise very funky & dive bar, service at the bar was good price wise not bad at all $ 12 dollars for two beer can’t go wrong.
unfortunately this place is cash only, I have to say I am always surprised when I come across something like this, this day & age am surprised anyone even carries cash.
This place serves its purpose to just hang out for a few either before or after your main plans for the evening.

Yo, eine St. Pauli Fan Kneipe in Brooklyn/​Williamsburg Welche das zu Hause der East River Pirates ist! Großartig! Hier werden alle St. Pauli Spiele zeitversetzt gezeigt und eine Mischung aus Amis, in Amerika lebender Deutscher sowie Touris kommt hie zusammen, um die Pauli Spiele zu schauen. Wohl dem, der das Ergebnis noch nicht kennt, denn die Spiele werden um 18 Uhr Ortszeit übertragen — genügend Möglichkeiten also, den Spielstand vorher zu erfahren.
Die Kneipe ist eher dunkel aber ziemlich cool gestaltet. Es gibt einen Billiard-​Tisch, einen Daddel-​Automaten und verschiedene Bereiche zum Sitzen. Die meiste Zeit spielt es sich aber vorne am Tresen ab, weil auch hier die Leinwand ist, auf der überragen wird. Die Stimmung ist grandios, es werden sämtliche Millerntor-​Chants gesungen und nach den ersten paar Runden muss auch kaum mehr für die Getränke bezahlt werden, der Barmann schenkt ziemlich viel einfach so aus!
Zur Halbzeit gibt es dann die Möglichkeit, Pauli-​Trikots mit den Emblemen von Brooklyn zu kaufen. Sehr cool, hat man gleich ein paar Mitbringsel für die Daheimgebliebenen! Es wird getrunken, gesabbelt und zusammen das Spiel geschaut. Das macht einfach Spaß! Hier komme ich definitiv wieder hin, sollte ich zu Fussi Zeiten mal wieder in NYC sein! Grandios!

Can’t complain about the prices here especially it being in Williamsburg, the vibes are always good and they have tons of space with the backyard patio and grill.

I have walked past this bar more than once and live in the area, but have never had the opportunity to try it.
Stopped in on a Thursday night after some food at OTB down the block. VERY dark, divey bar — the way I like it. Red vinyl and wood adorn 80% of the surfaces.
Bartender was really awesome — friendly and playing great music. We chatting along with my GF for a few drinks and called it a night. Drinks were cheap and pletiful. Definitely going to stop in here again.

Solid dive bar with cheap drinks, great tunes, and terrific bartenders. On a Sunday night (holiday weekend) outing with my gals, we stopped in here for a few drinks before seeing a show at Baby’s All Right. Took over a few bar stools and Kate took care of us at the bar. She was so fun, friendly and attentive and had a great taste in music perfect for the place — Velvet Underground, Talking Heads, The Cure — and she even gave us wet napkins for our temp tattoos (and did one with us). It was emptyish and Sunday so maybe we got some extra attention but it really had that favorite-​dive-​bar-​you-​can-​spend-​all-​night-​in vibe. At least until some rando guy started trying to get all too-​friendly/​handsy on us, which does speak to some of the clientele here I suppose, but Kate had our backs and called him out. I have been here before in the summer too, they have a great outdoor space as well. If only they had picklebacks!

One star the décor was the only shiny light (Sunday 12−28−14), but other than that (holly shit!) first of all my girl and I walk in, and right away hear all this commotion over a lost phone. Apparently one of the bar tenders got her phone stolen, and is punching the wall, while the other bar tender looks high as fuck (coked or cracked out.) It gets worst an argument between a black dude and a Dominican/​Puerto Rican breaks out, while 4 black dudes/​gangster/​drug dealers are testing the Dominican/​puerto ricans man hood. This Brooklyn bar is fucken wierd, (peace out!) we split asap after all that madness. We were tourists from L.A.; East L.A. to be exact, and we know ghetto when we see it. Who knows maybe we just had a bad experience here (I guess.)

I love this bar! I live on the block so that helps but I’d travel for this place. Great music, cheap drinks, pool table, and huge outdoor space out back with a grill you can use if you’re in the mood for a backyard BBQ with 100 of your closest friends. Bartenders are some of the nicest in Williamsburg. Also looking at the painting of the lion when you walk in is an instant mood booster. Places like this are exactly why I love the south side so much.

Our bar and home away from home. Great folks and a diverse clientele.
Grilling on patio is the best way to spend an evening when it’s warm.

Dope little bar, with a bangin patio, good music, and a friendly staff. Everyone knows I’m not a bar guy, but places like this would change my tune quickfast. Did I mention pool table and cheap drinks, too?

Honestly, This bar is hands down the go to place on any day! I walk home usually stress free after the cheap affordable strong drinks i‘ve had to forget a bad day i had at work, The crowd is mellow and just here to relax. Chris (one of the bartenders) is cool, down to earth guy. I really can‘t ask for more. I wouldn‘t really come on a weekend to party here because the weekdays are good for me, besides the fact that it‘s not a party bar, All the outsiders come on weekends and it just doesn‘t feel as natural and the laid back place i see it as, but deff try it! everyone has their days. It‘s a local dive bar for me, nuff said!

Great pool table. Outdoor patio. Cheap drinks. Need I say more?
Just wish it opened earlier…

I’ve been writing about dive bars a lot recently. I spend a great deal of time in many dive bars, especially in Brooklyn. There are a ton, and they’re all amazing. It takes a special skill to execute a dive bar that is high on dive and yet people still want to go there. Everyone needs their local dives for nights they don’t want to go into the city or out somewhere nicer in Brooklyn, and so cue – among a few others – East River Bar.
East River Bar hits all the pegs, so I’ll assemble this review as a walk-​through tour of sorts. Okay, so you walk in, there’s a Big Buck Hunter to your right, and a juke box, to your left– a large bar that serves up cheap beers, pints of nicer beers or the go-​to cheap Yuengling. What they also serve is the most potent Long Island Iced Tea I’ve ever laid eyes (and mouth) on. It’s a pint glass. Of liquors. With a splash of iced tea. No exaggeration from this side of the blog. They will get you drunk. Moving backwards, there’s an upwards bar area, some booths and a large pool table. Outside, there’s a huge covered back patio area, with lots of tables, grills, and… if you’re lucky… a FOOD TRUCK. Glory be, this is the best place in the world. Daytime, nighttime, summer, winter, rich, poor… We Brooklyn residents are thankful for a place like East River Bar.

I don’t think I can top Peter’s review, but I just wanna say that it was apparently a sock hop the night I was at East River Bar. I don’t think the bartender was a rockasilly (oh wait, I’m sorry, rockabilly) dude, but he was definitely dressed like he was a T-​Bird and playing all doo-​wop and suchlike. Which is fine; I love The Platters, but lettermen jackets and quaffed hair? I just had to LOL a little. Okay, a lot.
Despite his getup, our bartender was nice enough. It was evening, happy hour, and we got «one free on me,» which was an excellent deal for my tap beer and Erin M.‘s whiskey ginger. The funny part was, he didn’t tell us this right away, and so I thought it was $ 7 for my beer straight up, during happy hour-​time, and was a little traumatized for a moment until the bartender returned with free drink tickets for us. Sneak!
There seemed to be only dudes in here, and as Peter mentioned, and none of them were attractive. There were definitely snapaway pants.
I’d like to go back to see if it is always a sock hop, or if it was a special night, or if that particular bartender just refuses to believe that it is not 1951. This is a great location right on the border of hipster/​Hasidic Williamsburg, and it’s a nice dark bar to get lost in after work. As long as they have other music options, I’m good to go. Word from the bird, man!

My poetic journey continues at East River Bar to be one of the many feature performers.
A separate room on the upper level encompasses pool tables and two wall lighted Bingo boards. The DJ is incompetent who uphold extremely poor sound equipment as the microphone delay lag for the sound skips and is completely off. Technically difficulty, equipment malfunction, stereo on the blink, buffering… blah, blah all emit excuses! Ergo, avoid requesting the DJ to play tracks directly from a CD as the sound is also off for a Concorde to fly over one’s head by skipping lyrical versus. I highly advise to bring your own microphone with speakers and stand to avoid the house’s ill-​advised sound system. There is ample space for a 5-​pc band to perform and spectators to root, perhaps even possibly dance.
For one glass of Malbec at $ 7.00 the quality was good lasting all night. No food exist but patrons are permitted BYOF of choice. One unisex facility exist in true dive bar fashion as the wall is plastered with graffiti and writing in all offensive language imaginable, but contains the basic amenities in a relative clean state. This bar sits on a industrial-​like street of limited retailers and little to none restaurants/​cafes for food options. Prepare to intake food prior to venturing East River Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

I am for sure a fan. I walked in here with a bunch of friends on a Saturday afternoon as was like «um, can we use your grill?» and they let us use a big green ceramic egg to cook some burgers.
What is not to love?
Here’s the scoop on grilling here: Generally, you should call ahead to do so.
Bring your own charcoal and fixings.
Go to town.
Drink all the beers as a way of saying «Thank you for being my backyard when I can’t have one of my own.»

Dear East River Bar,
I write this as I look at photos from the Saturday before last. I am looking, with horror, at myself in a plastic bag, on the sidewalk, hamming it up for the camera.
I am now looking at myself AND my friend, together, in this clear plastic bag, hamming it up for the camera. Good thing I wore those bike shorts under my dress. WAIT — Is that a leaf on my crotch?
OKAY…
So, ERB (Can I call you that?), it looks as though you put me in a compromising position. Luckily I have a sense of humor. And an appreciation for a bar that plays awesome music for the dancing, serves up the booze real cheap (2 kamikaze shots for $ 4.00? Please remind me why I took advantage of this deal. Oh. I was DRUNK.), has BUCK HUNTER and a SIQQQQQQQ FOOD TRUCK!
Dude, seriously. This food truck. AMAZING! Yes, I was trashed. But this burger was JUICY! It had BACON! It was SAUCY! IT WAS EVERYTHING I NEEDED… and more. AND BY GOLLY — to my slurry surprise… the fries were fuckin’ badass! Seasoned to perfection, the insides melted in my mouth after I penetrated their magically golden crispy exterior. GAWDDAMN! And the truck dudes are fuckin’ awesome! They seriously made my night! They listened to a drunk girl bitch about her failing kidneys and didn’t outwardly judge me!
SUPERB!!! SUPERB!!!
THANK YOU… for the good times. And hey, bouncer. You still owe me a game. I’m going to bring the PERFECT SITES!!! JUST YOU WAIT!!!
Love,
Briana

This bar could be great. They have a pool table and Buck Hunter, and both take dollars. It’s $ 6 for a nice, strong mixed drink. They have a huge patio strung up with lights, equipped with a grill that looks like it’s open for anyone’s use.
But then there’s the clientele.
Now, I don’t want to call them unattractive, because we all know I’m no prize myself. And I don’t want to call them poorly dressed, because people in glass houses are extremely vulnerable to those bearing rocks. However, a snappier-​dressing, better-​looking man might say these things.
I, on the other hand, can only testify to the fact that they were fucking rude. I’m not sure if that’s the norm at East River Bar, but everyone I encountered or observed on this particular night was a dick. The night was full of them, but here are two specific examples.
1. As we sat and chatted on the patio, what appeared to be two old friends spotted each other from across the way. They decided to use our table as a meeting point, and suddenly three people decided to literally stand around my friend’s chair as they screamed over her in excitement about snapaway pants.
Oh, I get it. They’re fantastic, you just pull and suddenly you’re pantsless. It’s a dream come true. But the place was almost empty. Plenty of seating. Go have your inane conversation elsewhere.
2. There was an entire table of people who clearly had an all-​day BBQ. East River Bar, you ROCK for providing a grill for your patrons. These people obviously took advantage of this, and in the process, created an enormous mess.
When they were done, instead of cleaning up all the plates, plasticware, napkins, cans, condiments, etc., they just switched tables. They didn’t even leave. Just took their drinks to a different table, and the poor sweet bartender was forced to clean up after them because they decided the filth they created was too annoying to drink around.
Normally I don’t worry about what other people doing, but the entire bar seemed to have gone crazy on this night. Maybe MaryAnn the Clawed Bull Lady was casting some kind of spell outside in her car. Or maybe I’m getting old and crotchety.