Banter

Came here about a month or two ago before a Unilocal Event and boy am I glad I did. I don’t often find myself raving about craft beer bars in Williamsburg. I also don’t often find happy hours that entail $ 3 select beers until 8pm. At the time there was also $ 4 wine/​$ 5 wells/​whatever is a root shot. But the Beer Selection is AMAZING. Tried the Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Porter for the first time ever even hearing about this sucker (11.8% abv) as well as a Black Cherry sour from Transmitter Brewery. Things from Finback, Grimm, Greenpoint, etc. all at reasonable prices and not exceeding $ 7. Chips and pretzels for purchase and really super friendly bartenders. Very laid back pub and they apparently really enjoy that game of soccer.

My go to bar for soccer. All EPL, Champions League, MLS, etc. I’ve even seen them hook a laptop up to their screens for some second tier league games.
Friendly staff, good beer selection, relaxed vibe.

Impressive beer selection at reasonable prices. Super nice and accommodating bartender. I came on a Monday night after a Unilocal Elite Event and it was (refreshingly) not busy. I am sure it gets crazy on weekends because it’s a great space. Great mix of porters and sour beers etc — you will surely find one you love.

Best Foosball table in The NYC area. Thursday is Foosball night at Banter Bar with $ 4 craft beer and $ 5 shot specials for foosers. Pick-​up games start at 7:30 and go till 22am (or later).
All the bartenders are super awesome and totally nice.

Love the staff and great beer selection best of all they paltry football (soccer) live amazing

I only went into this place because they show The Walking Dead on Sunday nights. You know, it can be challenging for a bar to do a popular show «viewing» right, but they nailed it. It was well organized, they had the show on the big screens, and they turned up the volume just in time. Everyone was in the bar for the same reason so all conversations were saved for commercial breaks. It was a Walker Stalker’s dream.
As far as the bar itself — it’s spacious, clean and has a lot of that pub charm. The bartenders smiled! Hey, that’s a huge plus in NYC. They were very friendly, knowledgeable and willing to offer tastes of the beers on draft. You know a bartender stands behind his draft picks when he offers a taste before pouring a glass. They have a great selection of craft beers — even Unibroue, which is a Canadian craft that I sometimes have a little trouble finding in the city. I’d say this place is a real hidden gem. Check it out!

I went to Brooklyn looking for Spuyten Duyvil on a recommendation from a friend, and somehow wasn’t able to find it… but I stumbled upon Banter instead, and $ 3 beers got me in the door.
A friendly footie-​obsessed bar with good beer and cider? Pretty good deal in my book. Service was good and the drinks delicious, nice place to get out of the heat for a while (and to watch a couple of games while I did it.)

I came here with a group of friends on a Sunday afternoon. I can’t really say much about the drinks because beer is beer and my vodka tonic turned out to be a vodka soda, which I hate, but still drank because… alcohol. They have outdoor seating, which was convenient because I brought my dog. And they had a water bowl, which was perfect.

Best name ever. Be you truly want to hand here and banter. The owners are happy go lucky, the beer selection is Best and I even love the food. That was a surprise, wasn’t expecting great food.

One of the only bars in Williamsburg that was playing a soccer game that me and my niece wanted to watch which was great. The crowd was enjoyable not rowdy the drinks were fairly priced and the bartenders mad good drinks.

Soccer bar in Williamsburg!!! Love it. Prices are amazing, bartenders are beyond amazing and friendly. Two huge projector screens and board games incase your team is losing and still want to have a good time. I’ll be watching all NYCFC away games here.

Cool place to get drunk and watch soccer.
Bartenders are nice. The place is cozy.
They have a happy hour till 8 with awesome deals

This is a great place to watch premier league games on the weekend. Plenty of TVs, endless coffee, the normal beer and cocktail options, and some okay bar food (pretzels are recommended). There’s usually only one bartender working — you would think he’d get overwhelmed since the place is usually full during the games — but he’s always on top of his game, friendly, and quick with drinks. One of the best bartenders I’ve come across in Brooklyn.
I’m not sure what the night time crowd is like, but the soccer crowd is always a good group.
5 stars!

Without a doubt, Banter is the cleanest bar I have been to in my 20+ years of visiting bars.
Conor and Chris are top notch owners and the bartenders are cool and efficient. The panini and savory pies are outstanding! Looking for a great craft beer selection and a filling lunch? Check them out. I go here once or twice a month for lunch when I am in the area. Lots of big screen TVs for watching soccer as well and these guys are big fans and show all of the big games.
I’m a suit and tie businessman and I am usually surrounded by locals who are not suit and tie guys and we all talk like pals because that is the environment Banter has. You feel like an old friend after a visit.

Was excited to try this place for its big TV’s, nice selection of board games and decent draught list. Came on a Saturday mid-​afternoon and the place is PACKED. There was a soccer (futbol, whichever preferred) game going on, which is apparently a thing here.
Crowd made it hard to get a drink, but managed after 16 minutes. Wanted to try the board games out but would have been hell to ask the bartender for that request. On the plus side, did manage to snag a table near the back, but the place was loud. I think keeping a huge TV behind the bar is a mistake, since everyone will crowd around there, making it hard for people who actually want to order something.
Wouldn’t mind coming back if they’re playing a game I want to watch, but seems like a standard sports pub.

Not a bad place but was super crowded on a Saturday afternoon. We did find an open table at the back but it took a while to get the bartender’s attention (understandable though since they were really busy). I had a Moscow Mule which was good but not too strong. They have lots of board games but all the game pieces are behind the bar which can be inconvenient when it’s so crowded. They seem to have a lot of events and happy hours though, which is cool. I didn’t have the food because it was kind of an odd selection for a sports bar (more entrees than appetizers). I would probably come back here if I was in the area and it wasn’t too crowded.

Banter manages to be 2 different bars.
1. Mornings /​afternoons it is one of the best pubs to watch Soccer. Big crowds for the Premier League games and knowledgeable fans. 0% angry morons which is nice.
2. Late night they have some awesome DJ events and really quality music.
What always stays the same is great staff /​owners and 24 beers on tap that constantly change. If you like pubs /​bars, you will like this place.

We stopped in while waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant. Its like an Irish-​English football (soccer, to the uninitiated) pub but in the best sense – it didn’t seem cliché or anything.
They had bloody marys on special for $ 4. My friend said it was a little overly spicy and unfortunately did not have a chaser. They had magners cider on tap which i had and thoroughly enjoyed (no pear flavor though – boo!) Overall it seemed a decent place to stop into — while visiting the area or if you lived there. It looked like they served food too.

One of the best football /​soccer bars in Brooklyn. I’ve been coming here since it opened. The owners and staff treat the customers really well.
The place isn’t obsessively sports oriented so it’s good to have a drink or meet friends at a weekend.
Beer selection is great as are the pies.

Oh du mein Fußballherz! In einem Land, dass von Baseball, Basketball und Football bestimmt ist, finde ich hier in Brooklyn ein Kleinod mit europäischen Sportwurzeln.
Des Deutschen liebster Sport wird hier live übertragen, auf Fernsehern und Leinwänden! Mit englischem Kommentar, welcher nur vor Begeisterung ggü. dem Deutschen so sprudelt.
Samstag, 13:30 Uhr. Ich bin New York und gucke Hertha gegen Gladbach. Bin weder ein Fan der Gladdis noch mag ich Hertha, doch was tut man nicht für die Freunde und Reisemitstreiter und gönnt sich nach einer Woche Sightseeing und laufen mal etwas Ruhe. Man möchte ja auch nicht aus dem Fußball-​Alltagstrott heraus kommen.
Also ab ins Banter. Eine Kneipe/​Bar wie man sie sich wünscht. Lange Theke, Sitzecken und Toiletten. Parallel zum Bundesligaspiel läuft die Premier League aus England. Deswegen sind auch die meisten Leute hier. Arsenal London scheint hier recht beliebt zu sein. Man quatscht und freundet sich an. Nach ein paar Bitburger Bier lockert sich die Stimmung bei mir. Ja, einheimische Biere zu trinken kann ein Griff in oben kurz beschriebene Örtlichkeit sein, denn es schmeckt, sagen wir, gewöhnungsbedürftig. Aber probieren kann man alles mal. Das ist né feine Sache.
Der schlaue Unilocaler erkennt auch sofort, dass die Bar WLAN anbietet und das Passwort ist schnell in Erfahrung gebracht. Eingecheckt und gleich mal das Unilocal-​Special zum Banter eingelöst — Tullamore Dew Shots zum Preis von 4 US $. Drei Mal bitte! Geht runter wie Öl. Die gute Nachricht beim Bezahlen — die drei Drinks gingen aufs Haus! Yüäh!
Zu diesem Zeitpunkt liegt Hertha abgeschlagen mit 0:3 zurück. Da hilft auch nur noch trinken.
Da ich vor dem Besuch mir schon einen Bagel vom Bagel Store gegönnt habe, komme ich nicht wirklich in den Genuss hier die Currywurst zu probieren. Sah aber lecker aus und roch ordentlich.
Diese Bar wächst mir immer mehr ans Herz. Einer der Besitzer ist zudem Deutscher und man kommt ins Gespräch. Jene Atmosphäre lässt einen das ferne Deutschland fast vergessen. Freunde, ehemalige Bundesbürger und das Lokal-​Kolorit lassen diesen späten Mittag zu einem schönen Tag werden.
Kurz nach 15 Uhr. Hertha hat verloren und wir sind voll. Draußen ist es aber ausnahmsweise warm und wir schwanken zwischen bleiben und ins Guggenheim Museum fahren. Letzterer Plan gewinnt, aber vorher noch n Bierchen ausm Späti (hier heißen die Teile Grocery oder Deli) und schön assi mit ner Papiertüte um die Flasche gewickelt in den zubetonierten Park. Prost!

I was completely fooled by the reviews here on Unilocal because reviews insinuated that Banter is some sort of Sports bar and I REALLY wanted to watch the US Open Tennis match on a Friday night. Hence I came here, only to find only little TVs far away from the back area where my buds were sitting. I was kind of disappointed.
The bar itself was great with a great selection. I had a difficult time getting served since the bar was busy and apparently I am invisible. When I was finally up, I was carded… which is always fun for someone in their 30s, except when they don’t carry their IDs.