237488 Wed Feb 27 15:55:16 -0800 2002 27 19 Outer Boroughs 0 1259050 Mugs Ale House is a wonderful spot for beer (one of the city's very best), and used to be good for pub food as well. It went south for a few years....probably hired the wrong chef. They're good again. Check 'em out. Mugs Ale House 125 Bedford Ave. Betw. 10th & 11th St.s 384-8494 Wed Feb 27 15:55:16 -0800 2002 0 Jim Leff 1 1259087 I agree wholeheartedly. Probably the best place in NYC for draft beer. I think they have 30 on tap at a time and no bud. miller lite or coors either. Wed Feb 27 18:22:25 -0800 2002 1259050 0 Edward Aretz 1 1259106 We were just talking about Mugs at work today. Someone recommended it to me for my husband, who is a bear snob. If the food is good, then we've got to check it out. Thanks for your tantrum Jim, I'll try not to lurk anymore and be more active. Wed Feb 27 23:21:46 -0800 2002 1259050 0 NoMoreLurkingLaura 2 1259112 food's not great in a "oh my god you've got to try this" way. But it's good pub food, and that has its uses. I'm pretty snobby about beer, and I consider this one of the five top beer bars in NY. Most of the most ardent Brooklyn homebrewers (there are many) hang out here. Thu Feb 28 00:39:27 -0800 2002 1259106 0 Jim Leff 3 1259123 Jim- OK, so in your opinion what are the top five beer bars? As an ex-brewer and competitive home brewer (I can't brew in my current habitat, just waiting until I move this summer after grad school)I have my own list and wonder how similar it is. I have been caught in a beer bar rut lately and I havn't been to Mugs. I will have to check it out this weekend and am also looking to do a few comparisons of other places. Jonathan Thu Feb 28 09:02:30 -0800 2002 1259112 0 The Rogue 4 1259127 I would vote for in Brooklyn: Mugs Sparky's The Gate Waterfront Ale House (the Brooklyn location is MUCH better than the Manhattan location) in Manhattan: d.b.a. (although I've had a lot of problems of late with ordering beers and then getting the reply "we're out of it" Blind Tiger Ale House Vol de Nuit Gingerman(good selection, but I don't like the crowd it attracts) Thu Feb 28 09:25:06 -0800 2002 1259123 0 DeeDee 5 1259131 Love your list. I've heard and gone to all of all them except for Vol de Nuit. What/where is that? Thu Feb 28 10:06:49 -0800 2002 1259127 0 Abbylovi 6 1259139 Vol de Nuit is on West 4th Street. It has a decent array of Belgian beers. I've only been there once this past fall. Good frites, decent array of Belgian beers. I would recommend it as perhaps a first stop of the night not really comfortable enough for a full evening of drinking in my opinion. Thu Feb 28 11:22:22 -0800 2002 1259131 0 DeeDee 6 1259140 Abbylovi, So, let us know about some of your favorite places? DeeDee Thu Feb 28 11:23:23 -0800 2002 1259131 0 DeeDee 5 1259134 Dee Dee- Could you tell me about Vol de Nuit? That's a new one to me. Location, atmosphere, prices, clientele? Thanks Jonathan Thu Feb 28 10:17:40 -0800 2002 1259127 0 The Rogue 5 1259136 Is Vol de Nuit that small Belgian place on W. 4th St by 6th Av? Kind of dark and cramped with a grad student house feel? Several communal tables? They have Moules frites? If so, I tried it twice but found it claustrophobic. Maybe I will try it again. Thu Feb 28 10:43:23 -0800 2002 1259127 0 The Rogue 5 1259181 I am about to give up on Sparky's. The last 3 times I've been they were out of EVERYthing. Maybe if they'd bother to cross beers off the chalkboard I wouldn't mind so much. I'm also a bit disillusioned with Pete's Waterfront. Seems like they've stopped looking for new draft beers and settled on the same stuff all the time: Anchor, Brooklyn, Magic Hat, Jever, etc. Nothing wrong with those beers but c'mon! They've got all those taps; why not rotate some new discoveries into the mix? Anybody else share my gripe? Thu Feb 28 17:00:33 -0800 2002 1259127 0 pete wells 6 1259247 I definately know what you mean about being ordering a beer at Sparky's only to find out that half of the list is unavailable and Pete's Waterfront Alehouse has definately settled into a routine as far as their taps. I sometimes wish something new would open up to give them a bit more competition. Fri Mar 01 13:42:37 -0800 2002 1259181 0 DeeDee 4 1259128 Oh and I almost forgot. Best beer bar -- Staten Island: Adobe Blues: small draft list but over 200 beers in bottles. Thu Feb 28 09:27:28 -0800 2002 1259123 0 DeeDee 4 1259142 So what do people think of Zum Schneider beer garden at 107 Ave C and 7th St? I have heard a few good things about it in the evenings, but the one time I went was on a weekend day it was crowded with rowdy soccer fans glued to the tv. So I decided to head elsewhere. Although any place that has Aventinus Draft can't be that bad. Unless thay overcharge? I hear they serve steins that hold way more than a pint for $7-8? I was just checking out their website. Link: http://www.zumschneider.com Thu Feb 28 11:50:08 -0800 2002 1259123 0 The Rogue 5 1259143 Meet me on the Manhattan Board. Thu Feb 28 11:58:43 -0800 2002 1259142 0 Abbylovi 4 1259145 A little digression here which I think is warranted. FYI beer geeks, lately dba has had some Deschutes beers available on bottle. This is the 1st time I've ever seen them anywhere on the east coast. I just adore their Jubel (xmas beer). Every xmas I mailorder a case or two w/a pal. I don't know how much they have left but get it while they have it. Though, I think the Jubel is at the end of its lifespan. It's weird how they seem to hide it. it's only listed on the small sign that lists their handpumped beers. Cheers! Thu Feb 28 12:20:29 -0800 2002 1259123 0 Ivan Stoler 4 1259191 haven't had time to read the other replies yet, and of course there's an element of apples and oranges (marzens and stouts?) to this task but...in no particular order... DBA on first ave and 2nd st: I hate the dry ambiance, pretentious servers, and unfriendly crowd, but if the beer's the thing, this is the place. Mickey's Blue Room (171 Avenue C between 10th & 11th, tel 375-0723), a satellite of DBA's, has fewer beers than the mothership, but the manager cares a LOT, so they're well chosen and well-poured. A lot nicer hang. Mugs, aforementioned. Sparky's in brooklyn (481 Court Street at Nelson, 718) 624-5516) expansive and friendly place, sometimes great beers but dry stretches with merely very good. big problem: no half-pint glasses, so you can't sample). Blind Tiger (10th and Hudson 675-3848) the best special beer events in the city, but insanely mobbed and noisy. Also no half pints. gingerman: taps too cold, and overrun with stogie-puffing yuppies from 4 to 10, but pretty idyllic late nights and early afternoons. comfy couches. lotsa space. Like 50 taps or something, many good. zumm schneider (Zum Schneider, 107 Avenue C near 7th Street (212) 598-1098) is a genuine bavarian beer hall, with VERY under-rated food. Beer is perfect, but constraining oneself to german beers when there are such multitudinous options elsewhere means you gotta be in the mood for it. woops, that's seven. some beer geeks dismiss gingerman. I think that's a mistake. there are other good ones, but these are the heavyeights. Oh, write-ins for Waterfront Ale house (2nd and 31 in manhattan and atlantic ave in brooklyn). Terrif food and free popcorn atthe manhattan one. Good beer all around, but not enough rarities to please hardcore geeks like me Oh, and Killmeyer's in staten island. What a great place. A bit lacking in tap range if you're real picky, but great bottles. ciao Thu Feb 28 18:02:00 -0800 2002 1259123 0 Jim Leff 5 1259238 Like your list. I would also include the addition of The Gate, because of the beer, but more because of the garden in warmer weather. This allows friends to return to the bar and--buy rounds--then wander back outside, beers in hand. No waiters required. It may be the closest thing to a UK pub experience available in NY. If there are others I like to know. Fri Mar 01 11:37:45 -0800 2002 1259191 0 Ted Matern 2 1259119 Great to read that you plan to be active Laura. Having lived in Queens for only 5 years I still feel like a johnny come lately. Always wondering what is out there that I still have no clue about. By the way, unless you are really attached to your nick name change, I think it's pleasingly ironic to see a regular poster called Lurking... Thu Feb 28 05:34:51 -0800 2002 1259106 0 wrayb 1 1259135 Well, as a non-beer drinker, my friends thought that I was crazy for dragging them here. I love Mugs. I have to admit that when I have a nacho and burger craving and I do not want to go far from home, this is where I head. And my friends who like beer dig it too. Thu Feb 28 10:23:44 -0800 2002 1259050 0 abb 2 1259187 Teddy's, a block away, does real good burgers, too. And good steak sandwiches. I remember good nachos, too. I like Teddy's food more than most residents do. But, then, I don't love Oznot's Dish, which is soooo revered by the locals. Thu Feb 28 17:48:30 -0800 2002 1259135 0 Jim Leff 3 1259223 I hate to say it, but I did not love the food at Oznot's either. I think that the place is gorgeous, espeically the back greenhouse section, but I found the food to be fair at most. I have been to Teddy's once or twice, and each time I had a bad experience...maybe it was my company. I will definitele try again. Fri Mar 01 08:55:29 -0800 2002 1259187 0 abb 1 1259159 Loved Mugs. Used to eat there around once a week (and pop in for a beer when doing the laundry) when we lived on the Avenue a couplea years back. The first chef they had was excellent, the next just fair. Haven't been recently but I intend to. At a certain point, they rarely had any of the bottled beers that were on the list. We finally gave up and just ordered tap. Have they gotten their bottled selections back up & running? Thu Feb 28 14:19:20 -0800 2002 1259050 0 K. McB. 2 1259189 "The first chef they had was excellent, the next just fair." agreed on all 100%. Rejoice. The "fair" chef has (to my tastebuds) been replaced. "At a certain point, they rarely had any of the bottled beers that were on the list. We finally gave up and just ordered tap. Have they gotten their bottled selections back up & running?" also 100% true. they're working on it (I believe they just got in some beer from brewery 'Ij, one of my faves in Holland), but meanwhile the drafts are great...and (very hot tip), the daily "featured special" is often a mind-bendingly good deal (pints of perkuno's hammer for $2.50??). jim Thu Feb 28 17:50:52 -0800 2002 1259159 0 Jim Leff 3 1259459 As far as the food at Mugs is concerned, I've been sticking to the burgers and have been very happy with them. A few weeks ago, I got adventurous and tried a mahi-mahi special. The result was a very uncomfortable night of tossing and turning with indigestion (which I have had only about 5 times in my life). Back to the burgers for me. (Mahi-mahi...what was I thinking?) Fri Mar 08 02:47:55 -0800 2002 1259189 0 Cloudy 1 1259271 MUGS? i got your anti-MUGS right here. the finest beer pub in all the city is FARRELL'S in brooklyn. here's the deal---it's budweiser only on tap. served in stemed goblets or gigantic styrofoam to-go containers. you stand at the bar with the cops and firefighters and drink your beer like a man! no richkids. the place will make you ashamed to drink that microbrew and foreign syrup......aww just kiddin i go to MUGS and all the others too :) Fri Mar 01 22:05:10 -0800 2002 1259050 0 mrnyc 2 1259287 You almost had me there. LOL. Sat Mar 02 09:25:17 -0800 2002 1259271 0 Bob Martinez